Bathrooms
Taking out a bath that nobody uses and putting in a walk-in shower is one of the most popular bathroom changes. It can make a small room feel bigger and makes showering easier for anyone who struggles to step over a bath edge. The details underneath decide whether it works well.
The term covers a few different setups:
Water has to run away faster than the shower delivers it, and the waste pipe needs a steady fall to the soil stack or gully. With a raised tray there is room underneath for the trap and pipe. A low-profile or flush-floor shower leaves less room, so the waste may need to run between joists, or the floor may need to be built up slightly.
On a ground floor with a solid concrete floor, getting a flush finish can mean cutting a channel for the waste. Upstairs on timber joists, the direction the joists run often decides where the drain can go.
Without a door, the size and position of the glass matter. A longer screen and a shower head pointing away from the opening keep splashes inside. In wet room style showers, the floor and walls must be properly waterproofed before tiling, and the fall towards the drain has to be consistent across the whole wet area.
Where a bath sits against three walls, the space is often a good fit for a walk-in shower. The existing bath waste is usually not in the right place, so it is moved to suit the new tray or drain. If you have only one bath in the house, think about whether a future buyer, or a young family, may want one.
For anyone with limited mobility, small details make a difference: a level or very low threshold, a thermostatic valve to prevent scalding, a slip-resistant tray or tiles, controls within easy reach and space for a seat or grab rails. These are best planned at the start rather than added later.
A walk-in shower often comes with a bigger rainfall head, which needs a good flow of hot water. Combi boilers, cylinders and gravity systems each behave differently. Our shower installation page explains how to match the shower type to your system.
Most walk-in showers are fitted as part of a wider bathroom refit, with the plumbing done in first and second fix stages around the tiler and plasterer. Our bathroom installations page covers how a refit is planned, and the bathroom installation cost guide explains what drives the price.
Send a few photos of the bathroom, its rough size and what you would like. Call or WhatsApp 07429 632804, or use the quote form. Free, no-obligation quotes are available for planned work.
Common questions
Clear answers before you arrange a visit.
Often, yes. Replacing a bath with a walk-in shower can free up space. The layout depends on where the waste can run and how much glass is needed to stop splashing.
Not quite. A walk-in shower normally uses a tray and a screen. A wet room makes the whole floor area waterproof and drains it through the floor.
Not if they are designed and sealed properly. Screen length, head position and correct waterproofing behind tiles are what keep water inside.
Sometimes. Low-profile trays need space for the waste. Whether the floor needs building up depends on the joists or concrete underneath.
Fixings for rails and seats are best planned before tiling, so the wall has a solid backing where they will go. Mention this when you discuss the design.
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