The upc 2015 and california is a tough one :):) what is your san fransisco Plumbing/building inspector saying / allowing ? are you dealing with a crew that has passed these in your direct juristiction

it could be $$$$k it requires someone ON site with previous curbless build experience in your locale to answer dozens of variables and price points plumbing and structure related concerns.

removing that elevation of mud screed floor is definately gonna help in regards to going curbless. So, Infinity linear drains makes a linear drain that requires a clamping drain that does not help with curbless elevations but i hear they now partnered with USG and do have a bonding flange version to work as a system and that would assist in total elevation drop required and further assist in less structural requirements to achieve zero entry

so whats my point? just the type intinty drain alone is a major factor

Some posters on houzz here will post code and tell you it cant be done in California .....so id lean on your local people for this advice.

I recently came across the houzz curbless shower ideabook. It only described it as "easy" but wasn't specific about the cost. Hopefully, there is a resource that could help you price:

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/the-no-threshold-shower-accessibility-with-style-stsetivw-vs~741559

Curbless in San Fran actually got easier a few years ago due to a simple change to the code.

UPC and CPC, sections 408.5, read as follow (might have changed somewhat with the latest revision):

"408.5 Finished Curb or Threshold. Where a shower receptor
has a finished dam, curb, or threshold it shall be not less than 1 inch
(25.4 mm) lower than the sides and back of such receptor. In no case
shall a dam or threshold be less than 2 inches (51 mm) or exceeding 9
inches (229 mm) in depth where measured from the top of the dam or
threshold to the top of the drain."

The bolded part of the code above used to read "Each shower receptor shall have...".

The previous code required each shower to have a 2" minimum curb. Not no more. It was done explicitly for curbless construction.

As to the $5400 upcharge, that is steep. However, linear drains are expensive and sometimes floor structures need to be altered to accommodate curbless showers. GCs do try to sometimes price shock people out of doing something that is outside of the GCs wheelhouse. Not saying that is happening here, just a comment. If your GC (or his installer) is not comfortable with curbless showers you might want to avoid your GC doing his first curbless shower in your house. Especially if you're already having communication issues.

Material cost alone? Linear drains can be expensive. $200-$500 give or take, depending on manufacturer, finish, and length of the drain. Low-profile foam bases and the detailing that goes along with them can be several hundred dollars more.

In central FL, low cost of living area, a "high end" company gave us an estimate of 10K MORE just to do a curbless shower in our 6 X 8 mid-range 2nd bath remodel. We are also on a slab. We opted out and had the whole thing redone for about 12K

Lets just hold tite until fredS signs off on the code

My quotes were in the 6 k up grade cost for a 13 x8 new addition bathroom with a 3x5 shower to have a curbless set up. I am in the NYC metro area of Ct. So pricey cola aswell. It is a second floor master so it seemed silly to add it as it really could never be a wheelchair accessible room anyway and would only serve cosmetically.

"Lets just hold tite until fredS signs off on the code"

Who is fredS?

Price is very high. Clearly the builder does not want to do it. Mongo's post is very detailed and appreciated. I'm currently trying to gather information on how codes are being addressed for barrier free showers by various manufacturers. There are several systems making this type of installation easier. As stated. Do you want someone to learn on your project? If yes select a system and make sure the builder follows manufacturer instructions. I personally am using the USG / Infinity drain system that was mentioned above by thatsmuchbetter.

@mongoct

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/do-you-need-to-slope-the-entire-floor-of-bathroom-for-curbless-shower-dsvw-vd~4727606

Thank you all for the great feedback! We also think the contractor doesn't really want to do it, and we would prefer he not learn on our bathroom. But that puts us in a bind because to do curbless we probably need to find someone else to finish the job and I would assume most contractors don't want to be responsible for work that someone else started. I'm wondering if we could bring someone else in to just do the slope? Would that be a concrete specialist or a tiler or who?

The linear drain we had to buy ourselves so that isn't even included in the $5400 up charge. Here is the model we got: http://infinitydrain.com/products-fttif-65 

Sorry for all of the questions. We were expecting the contractor to be the expert on this stuff but given the situation we are trying to learn as fast as we can.

@creative...

Once I was blind, but now (thanks to you) I see.

I did find this to some what back up what I wrote in my previous post.

rooandcheese -You could bring in a professional tile setter. A clearly stated acceptable substrate by the tile setter would need to be established and your contractor responsible for providing it. Sorry but you are in a tough spot.

@mongo

Thanks for the link. Exactly what I needed.

If that includes the structural alterations needed, as in, there is not a separate line item for structural, then I don't think it's a bad price at all. Typical would be 5-10K extra to deal with all of those elements.

And yours would need to be done as a wet room, or the bathroom enlarged. 33" is not deep enough for this to physically work. You need 48" from the entry to the shower to the trench drain at the rear of the wall across from the entry. That gives you the 2" plumbing drop, and the steeper allowable 1/2" per foot slope.

So you will still need to jackhammers the slab and drop joists both. He's probably losing money on the job with only a 5K upcharge.

rooandcheese:

That's good to hear, especially since you admitted a curbless shower was not in your contract.

And you are doing this as an entire wet room with wall hung toilets and vanities? Because that is the only way to get enough slope to the drain.

@roadcheese , lets hope you have hired the right crew, sounds like it.. In regards to compliance and grading, drain type/location id let your professionals/inspectors handle all that on A LOCAL level. There is a ton of MISINFORMATION being repeated here on these forums. Do yourself a favor and research/request the often skipped cappilary break And take daily nightly pictures after everyone leaves.

I will add I have had to both jack/remove slab on grade, have a structural engineer redline drawings, cut and head off joists and drop/ carry/support to lower the elevation in traditional lumber homes to achieve curbless and it wasnt 5K. So now im wanting more details as to $5+K... but you are in the top 5 cost markets.- good luk

Curbless shower was on my list of "must haves", and I've decided it's something we can do without. My reasoning:

- I wanted it because my grandmother, in her extreme old age -- like past 98, had trouble lifting her feet even a small bit; for example, onto a curb or into the shower. However, this is a big expense for something that won't be an issue for many, many years.

- It's possible to go "minimal" instead of curbless. Right now we have something similar to this: It's a big, wide step into the shower -- plus we have a door, so there's another inch or so of track.

Instead we're going minimal with the divider. Look at the difference here -- a much shorter, skinnier divider. We're going to put a grab bar on each side of the 36" entrance (not unlike the white bar on the left of this picture), and we're going with a curtain rather than a door.
This may still become a problem in our extreme old age, but we feel like it's a happy medium between cost and function -- and we are all about value for the dollar.