Showers that you can just walk straight into are becoming less of an alternative and more of a mainstream amenity.

Called curbless showers, they were once considered as a convenience for people with a bit of a mobility problem, but are now growing in popularity. It does make sense, as it’s a no-nonsense, no-frills way to take a bath. Besides, sills and dividers can cause a few trips from time to time, so it’s understandable why people do away with them.

Install a Curbless Shower

So, you want to build a curbless shower? It’s easy; just follow these easy steps.

A Downward Slope

A curbless shower shares the same floor as the rest of the bathroom. This poses a not-so-obvious problem: water on a continuous flat floor like that would be difficult to drain, and that could lead to a bit of flooding. To prevent this from happening, make sure that the drain in your shower area is smack dab in the middle, and that the floor is slightly sloping downwards to the drain.

A Trenched-Out Alternative

Curbless ShowersIf you’re not a fan of the previously proposed idea, you can go for a trench drain instead, a kind of drain that goes along with the divider of the shower area. Aside from serving its primary purpose, which is to make sure that the shower area doesn’t get flooded, it can also be a non-impeding and an aesthetic divider of your shower area from the rest of the bathroom, making it a sleeker, more contemporary-looking, albeit a more expensive, solution than the last.

The Dividing Factor

One great advantage of a curbless shower is that you have more options to choose from when it comes to the divider you can use for it. In fact, if your shower area is quite large and has enough space between it and the rest of the bathroom, you can do away with it.

That, however, isn’t usually the case. The choice for a divider that is still the most accessible would be the shower curtain; it’s cheap and easy to install. But if you have the budget for a glass partition – complete with a door – then go for one, as it’s a popular option for a lot of people.

Promoting Diversity

showerDifferent styles of tiles or flooring material for the shower area and the rest of the bathroom, depending on the blending of the color schemes, can look beautifully and perfectly. This is more of a suggestion than a must; nevertheless, it’s definitely a refreshing and creative sight that you should try if you are bold and artistic enough.

A usual option would be smooth stones, granite slabs, wood, or even marble. But in the end, it’s just up to you to mix and match things up.

With a curbless shower, you can save space and unnecessary effort, not to mention that it looks modern and minimalist—a scheme that is very trendy nowadays. So, if you’re going to have a new shower built for your home, it’s best to go curbless.