Doorless Showers Open a World of Possibilities

Iyare I I love the idea of an open concept shower.... aaarrrgggghhhh, one can dream right lol

sailnmuffin I'm a big fan of the open shower. Similar to what was mentioned in the article, I experienced in Denmark an open-shower concept that essentially turned the whole bathroom into the shower (shower head on one end of the BR, drain in middle of floor). If you go that route, just make sure you have a squeegee or 2 on hand to wipe down the walls-toilet-sink. Sure keeps the whole BR clean but as an American I found it a bit impractical - I'm too lazy to do an extensive wipe-down of the room after I've had a nice hot shower.

I much prefer the partial-wall open shower design mentioned in the article, & that you see throughout Latin America - El Salvador, especially, has refined the concept to high art. Rectangular showers about 3' W x 6' or 7' L to contain all splatters, gorgeous tile work with the dividing wall about 6' high & about 8" wide i.e., one tile's width. Without a conventional door, there's less expense, less hardware, less to clean & it's way easier to clean too. Plus the top surface of the dividing wall is hyper-handy for holding all one's shower stuff. Lots of examples here at Houzz & elsewhere online; the partial walls can also be done in glass block for even more of an open feel.

Two thumbs up!

Desiree Davis I have tried to push curbless showers on a few occasions now and tend to get grief from the tradespeople involved; unfortunately their labor quotes, and uncertainty, have scared my clients away from the concept. They either tell me that they have to cut into the floor joists to create a downward slope in the shower for draining or tell me that the build-up WITH the shower membrane outside of the shower will be too thick for a nice transition. Can anyone recommend a good website or source that show details on how to build the slope up to the entry of the shower, how about the rubber membrane required under the tile/thinset; how far out into the room should it extend? Would thinset built up to the thickenss of the membrane solve their concern of the transition from tile with rubber below to tile without? Please help! I would love to design these spaces, I just need to tell my installers how to do it properly. (PS-I have visited the websites to well-know linear drain companies and they do not have these types of details).

fabulouslife They seem fun when you see these pics, however not as comfortable when you shower in these open spaces. Grew up with something similar. Not fun.

mamallama I have a completely open 9 x 4 sunken shower that I love. The bathroom floor extends seamlessly over the edge, down the step, and up the walls....all white. The hand held shower is a must....both to control splatter and for easy washdown of the walls. Nowhere to grow mold or catch dirt. It is just deep enough that it can be filled for a bath. Design takes some practical thought, but it can work beautifully.

katiekrafcik I love the look, but all of the open showers that I have used I have been so cold when not standing directly in the water.

Paul Lewing Custom Tile A while back, my health club was going to redo the men's locker room. They posted a poll on whether we wanted one large open room, or small individual rooms. The doorless option won hands down. Here's one that I did a few years ago featuring tropical fish, for some aquarium fanciers.

albertd It is a personal choice, but for sure you have to have adequate space. We are installing one and putting a heated floor outside the shower.

lindley2616 We have an open nautilus shaped shower. Love the look of it, the ease of no doors to clean -BUT - even here in Texas, it's a bit chilly, drafty in the winter months and be aware that there is nothing at all to keep the steam contained - it pours into the bathroom (kind of annoying when one person is showering and the other is doing hair, makeup!!) and unless we keep the large double sliding doors closed, it also warms/humidifies the bedroom. With an upcoming remodel, we'll design more enclosure.

DARIN FISHER DESIGNER KITCHENS I agree with Desiree. I have tried to push it was well, but it always falls back to the contractor not wanting to do it or not being able to. This is a beautiful and wonderful idea, main problem is building it when you never have.

BY DESIGN Builders A good resource is John Whipple of By Any Design LTD. He is here on Houzz and around the web as well. He is an expert in this field of open showers, doorless showers and curbless showers. He has an informative blog: http://no-curb.blogspot.com/
We have personally worked with John on many of our linear drain showers, some of which were doorless showers.
As a design professional and a building professional, when your trades hesitate that is not a good sign. Some have what it takes to learn this new skill, many do not.
Ask around, talk to architects, check the web. Usually your skilled professionals are online, in forums, posting photos of their amazing installations and discussing challenges and solutions with their colleagues.
Regarding cost, this is more intricate than a prefab shower pan. Design, layout, slope and waterproofing are all critical to a successful installation.
We have been brought in many times after a non-skilled tradesperson, handyman or homeowner didn't create a solid waterproofing system and water/moisture leaked and damaged the surrounding area and below.
Work with a seasoned professional and you will definitely receive your money's worth.
If it's cost prohibitive, find an alternate solution to your design objective.
Aloha.

Yagoona Design couple of images of our last house in Australia. The underwater bathroom took forever to complete. The bath/shower is resessed so when filled with water, its more a swimming pool than a bath. 2 can have a lot of fun in here!
Was great to fill it with cold water on those hot summer days and just go in for a quick dip when things gett too hot.

portpiro It may look good and I don't disagree on that score, but really this is just plain stupid. Mopping up wet floors is worse than cleaning glass. I hate impractical ideas that are picked up because they are trendy and pushed by designers. Why make life more difficult just so you can have the latest trend?

roguetroll We had a doorless shower in a room at a resort in Acapulco once. It was very well designed so you came around a corner from the rest of the bathroom (privacy) to meet the stream from the shower head (no overspray) and the floor was slightly recessed (no mopping up a mess.) It was fantastic, but took plenty of space.

zeebazeeba We love our open shower! When we first designed the total redo of our master bath (I'm an artist, my husband is an engineer) we were adament about wanting an open shower.

The building permit inspector gave us some grief at first about not having a traditional shower pan - but my spouse was able to point him to the specs online that showed that we would be in complete compliance with drainage, water barriers, etc. Not to mention that our shower is completely barrier free making it perfert for universal access. And, because it has proper slope for drainage, we never have to mop up wet floors, nor do we have to clean soapscummed and water spotted shower surrounds. Easy living at its best!


Our bathroom floor has hot water radiant heat everywhere except directly under the shower. We have found the shower to stay toasty warm despite our incredibly high ceilings. We would never go back to an enclosed shower.

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Great showcase of barrier free showers. I discuss these looks and outline some various install procedures on my blog site at http://www.no-curb.com. If any of you designers want some ideas or are curious how they build some of these designs please shoot me an email.

One thing to plan for in your barrier free showers is a secondary or back up drain if possible. Although this is not required in North America it is standard for much of Europe and Australia.

With careful design cleaning the bathroom can be easy as grabbing the handheld spray unit. With proper plumbing a second spray head can be used near the toilet and make cleaning this area much easier. The tile and your back end.

Longer drains make for easy installation of large format tile reducing the amount of grout and making shower floors safer for stools and walking aids.

If you haven't yet built a shower with a linear drain or without a curb you need to work this out. The look is clean, safe and stunning.

Best,

John Whipple
North Vancouver

myosotis I have a doorless shower and I hate it. I live in Florida, and the air conditioner is on all the time. I need it to be at 75 to be able to sleep comfortablel at night, but in the morning, the bathroom is too cold for a shower. I actually have an electric heater in the bathroom. My next project is to install a door.

Wayne Caswell "Great examples. Thanks, Lisa. For other ideas about technologies for aging-in-place, check out Modern Health Talk (http://mHealthTalk.com)."

KBDesign Open showers are growing in popularity. I do prefer a close shower if space allows. Large custom frameless clear glass enclosure still creates a spacious feeling. The chill factor is the biggest negative to me with open showers. The ideal situation is to create an enclosed shower large enough are so the drying off area with towel storage can be part of the enclosed space where one can remain in the warm space while drying.
Creating a shower space that can accommodate two people with dual shower heads is also a big plus. Many couples are working professionals that prepare for their day at the same time in the morning. Being able to shower together comfortably is convenient for their lifestyle.

cherylamb Great for handicap accessibility! I have an adult son that is wheelchair bound and this is beautiful way to make his bathroom useable for him while not looking institutional!

LUXE Linear Drains, LLC Great Article Lisa - Open plan baths are gaining in popularity for both functional and aesthetic purposes. Linear shower drains are essential elements to be incorporated into many of these designs.

Gary Porter The chill factor is a deal-breaker for me. I like my showers hot and steamy.

Tammy Rowland I recently remodeled my bathroom. I wanted an open shower and was talked out of it in favor of frameless shower doors. There was a delay in the delivery of the doors so I used the shower for two weeks open and I loved it! Unfortunately, it was to late to cancel the doors. I would suggest trying the open shower. You can always add doors later.

sailnmuffin I agree that the greatest challenge to a curbless and/or doorless shower is proper design and construction. I have used curbless/doorless showers in several different countries, from as far north as Denmark to as far south as Ecuador, from 1975 to the present, and they have presented zero problems with chills, flooding, etc. If the shower pan is properly sloped and drained; and if what walls there are are properly built to the appropriate proportions; and if the shower head is properly installed, there simply is no issue with flooding or splashing. Same thing with chills and drafts: I've experienced no difference with the bracing effects of stepping out of an enclosed shower versus a doorless shower, during a Denmark winter. I've had both, and winter in Denmark is cold regardless of your bathing preference. In the tropics, humidity & mildew are better-controlled (and regular cleaning is faster and easier) with a doorless/open shower, as opposed to an enclosed shower. If you happen to live in tropical climates like FL, and you still get chills and drafts in your doorless shower, it's a design/construction problem that you'll have to weigh against the mold & mildew problem you'll have with an enclosed shower. It would be a good idea to address what's causing such a large temperature differential in your bathroom in the first place.

I disagree with portpiro that this is some kind of a new trend; much of the world uses and has used this kind of shower for decades without the problems discussed in this thread. If it's a trend at all it's more like a "new-to-the-mainstream-US" trend. And because it's new to the US, it's new to US contractors, hence some suboptimal designs and builds leading to the complaints illustrated here.

Audrey Hennefer I love the open shower concept and did a hybrid of one for my guest bath....a partial glass wall with no door. The little bit of water that splashes out is easily contained by a fluffy bath mat. My guests have all enjoyed this shower, especially compared to the "before" shower.

lazidazi I love the look and concept of an open shower, and am planning to build a hybrid version in the 100 yr old house reno now working on. The bathroom is a gutted space, the original floor completely worthless and will be removed to the joists. [After structural modification of the floor joists] I plan to lower the shower pan such that one steps down [about 2"] into the shower. Also planning to slightly slope the entire bath floor towards the shower drain, just as an additional precautionary measure; it will be a slight enuf slope that noone [but me] will know it's sloped. So, instead of a curb, we'll have a sunken shower pan.

RE "impractical ideas that are picked up because they are trendy and pushed by designers": I've never understood why one would choose glass panels for a shower. Sure, they may look elegant, but I just think they'd be a cleaning/maintenance headache.

Now, at risk of getting a barrage of negative feedback [which can be a helpful thing], here's what I'm thinking for the shower walls. Shower will be built into a corner and I won't build a third [enclosure] wall. Thinking about using corrugated fiberglass [or polycarb...whatever they're actually made of] panels for the shower walls. [The ones that are used on commercial metal buildings, where these translucent panels are placed every-so-often on roof [or siding] to let in outside light.]

No, this isn't the first crazy notion I've had...

And instead of building/having the traditional third enclosure wall, I'm hoping to figure out a way to bring the panels off the walls [on both sides], to continue defining the rectangular shower space, cutting these two panels shorter to allow open space between floor and the bottom of the panels, possibly attaching them [at outside edges] to a vertical floor-to-ceiling galvanized pipe. Yes, I'm going for the "industrial" look. And I hope my description is adequate to envision what I'm planning [but it's likely not].

Thanks!

kika_basadre My shower is 5X6 open, and I would not change it for the world! It's natural honed marble with accents, abuts a large jacuzzi, originally I had planned on a glass divider, but decided against it after living with it for a while. The bathroom is very large and private and it's only cool for the first few minutes. The thought of cleaning glass is just not appealing to me. I am redesigning my girls bathroom (who are away at college) and plan on doing an open concept as well...

viviane_09 Love the concept of open shower... But not sure my dog would understand he his not welcomed :)

kaitlynsutherland By having the open shower you maximise your space and limit having to clean glass....need more privacy? Add a privacy wall

handyrob Tell your contractors to look into the Kerdi schluter system you can achieve anything you want with this product as far as waterproofing the rest of your bathroom

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. Just dropped off a new ACO Linear Grill for a builder in White Rock, B.C. The crew at KBC Developments killed this install!

http://www.houzz.com/pro/kbcdevelopments

The master ensuite has no door and looks amazing. Not sure if this is a custom home or if this gem is going on the market soon.

Michele I've worked a curbless shower into the master bathrooms of the last three homes we've owned. One as remodel, two from design stage. With forethought in layout, no lack of privacy problem as suggested with some of these photos. And everyone can use it at any stage of life. In our next home we're going to put a curbless shower in the guest room too as we have an increasing number of family members who need one.

Desiree Davis I posted about 9 months ago my desire to design open/curbless showers and my struggle to get info on how to specify them for my installers. I am excited to say that I have figured it out! It is one thing to have an installer that already knows how to build the spaces, but as a designer, I needed to know how these installers were doing it so I could design the space and specify the products properly for my clients. Anyone in the same boat as myself should really check out Schluter.com (and more specifically https://schluterevents.com/en/about.php ). They hold free training courses for their products on a regular basis all over North America. I recently attended their "Innovation 2 Day Workshop" where I received great information about how their products can help create wonderful designs that last. The best part for me was the hands-on portion where we got to assemble showers using their Kerdi shower systems with their linear drains, ultra thin waterproof kerdi membrains, pre-sloped shower bases & barrier free ramps, and so much more!! It was VERY educational; whether you end up using their products or not, the classes give you great hands-on information about how it all goes together and what our tile installers have to contend with when it comes to waterproofing and finishing details for successful long lasting shower & tile projects.

LUXE Linear Drains, LLC Thanks for sharing your article Desiree - We are seeing a big push for universal design elements especially in bath remodels, tub to shower conversions, and curbless entry showers in residential, hospitality, and health & rehabilitation building sectors.

There are a number of choices for linear shower drain designs and systems available. Schluter, Noble, and Laticrete are relatively new to the linear drain market and offer an integrated approach tying their drains to each of their respective proprietary waterproofing materials/systems.

LUXE and ACO linear drains install independent of any waterproofing method or material. These linear shower drains set just like tile into the tile bed and are compatible with conventional membranes as well as those from the aforementioned manufacturers. Both LUXE and ACO have been in the US residential market since 2009 and continue to be the market leaders, focused on linear drain design and "universal" installations.

farmladypa Help me here--how do you turn the shower on without standing in the cold water while it changes to desired temperature? My mother's shower in Phoenix gated community requires that you walk deep into the space (because there's no access from the sides), reach for the faucets and then keep reaching through the stream of water to get the temperature right. Most of these photos show the faucets right under the shower head. It doesn't seem sensible unless the space is so open you can stand to the side while the water gets warm.

BY DESIGN Builders GREAT question!
This is one of our signature shower designs, all volume controls are NOT under the shower spray. No one likes a blast of cold water when getting ready to take a shower.
The solution is moving the valve to the shower entry.
We do a lot of condo work and work in concrete buildings. There is always a design solution.
It will take some of your budget for copper pipe and fittings and plumbing labor, but every time you use the shower it will be worth it.
Here are a couple of our completed showers where we moved the valve away from the shower spray:

Michele I have a barrier free, doorless shower in my current home. This is the third home I've remodeled or built with doorless shower included. It is such a great idea for anyone. People age, get injured, develop disease. Just great design element. It may be that the hot water has less to do with the doorless design and more to do with putting in an "insta hot" which is a function of the type of hot water recirculating pump you install. A good contractor or plumber or electrician should know about this. It was a good general contractor who turned me on to it several years ago.

albertd Our curbless doorless shower turned out great.