DIY Shower Renovation

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The most significant part of this master bathroom reno has been the shower. A bunch of other projects got tagged on to this renovation (like tearing down the wall and retiling the floors), but this whole project started over one thing . . . tearing out the bathtub/shower combo and installing a walk-in shower.

Now that demo is done, it’s finally time to start making the dream come true!

The Floor

Because of the pop-outs on the outside wall in the shower area, buying a prefab shower pan wasn’t going to work. We were going to have to build it ourselves from the ground up.

First, we needed to replace the old, moldy insulation and add a plastic vapor barrier (if you remember from here, the old shower didn’t have a moisture barrier . . . hence the moldy insulation and rotted wood). Once that was done, it was time to start building the shower floor.

After doing a bunch of research, Hubby decided on using a GOOF PROOF Shower Kit to build the floor. The kit comes with long lengths of plastic that help you achieve the correct floor pitch. It makes laying the floor super easy and less stressful because we aren’t worried about getting it wrong (Not sponsored. We bought and paid for the kit ourselves). You can also buy this to create your shower curb, but we ended up just using bricks instead. (Sorry, I don’t have any pictures of the process. I’m a bad blogger!)

Once we laid the floor, we down a rubber membrane and then applied a layer of roll-on waterproof membrane on top. (RedGard is the one heard of most commonly, but we used AquaDefense just because that’s what was available when we were at Floor & Decor).

When the shower floor was done, we started laying the mosaic tile I picked for the shower floor and niches. Isn’t it beautiful! Tiny little hexagons of marble awesomeness!

The original plan was to carry the mosaic tile up and over the curb, but once we did it, we realized that you could really see any and all imperfections in the curb and in how the tile was laid. So we ran back to Floor & Decor and grabbed a few pieces of marble tile, cut them to size, and laid them on top of the curb. It instantly looked so much better!

We also ended up using the same marble for the ledges on the windows and the niches.

The Walls

After the floor was done, we hung the cement board up and coated it with AquaDefense. This was another step that the old bathroom didn’t have. Usually, you can get away with having a vapor barrier or a roll-on membrane, but the old shower had neither. So naturally, we remedied it by doing both! We want to make damn sure that we don’t have moisture issues again!

Then we started tiling the walls. That’s when you can really see it start coming together. We laid just a small section of floor tiles next to the curb because we knew that some of the wall tiles were going to go up and over the curb and come back down to rest on the tile. In a normal reno, the floor would probably already be done at this point, but because we were still waiting on electrical help before we removed the wall, we couldn’t tile the floor yet. So we did it this way instead.

Then it was finally time to grout! At the recommendation of Young House Love, we went with Mapei FlexColor grout and we’ve been super happy with it. It doesn’t require sealing and is even stain resistant! We went with the color Warm Gray.

The Finished Product

After grouting and caulking, the final step was to install a clear, glass shower panel. In my inspiration for this project, the one thing I’ve always talked about is having a door-less shower. I love the look of them and how open and airy they can make a bathroom feel.

I was initially a little worried about where we would find a glass panel for the shower, but we ended up finding and ordering it on Wayfair! So simple and delivered right to our door. Installing the mounting hardware was easy too. The only worrying part was trying to heft a huge, heavy piece of glass into place without damaging it. But we did it, and it looks AMAZING!

Hubby always wanted a rain shower head. He’s in heaven!

All the gorgeous marble tile makes me want to swoon! So elegant and beautiful!

Seeing the shower come together has been huge to help me stay motivated and keep us moving forward!

Next Up

Tile, tile, tile! During the shower building process, an electrician friend helped us move the wires so we could tear down the wall that divided the bathroom. Now we can finally tile the floor, so we can re-install the toilet (4 people, one toilet hasn’t been ideal) and then install our new vanity. I can’t wait to see it all come together!

Follow along on our bathroom journey from start to finish:
Master Bathroom Inspiration
Master Bathroom: Demo Day!
DIY Shower Renovation