Walk-in Shower Conversions

What actually happens to the hob

The hob (the tiled step you climb over) is not just trim: it is usually part of the old shower tray and the old waterproofing system. Removing it properly means cutting back the floor to sound substrate, not grinding it flush and tiling over the scar. We take the hob, the old tray and the surrounding floor tiles out together, check the substrate underneath, and rebuild from there. On timber-floored Queenslanders that often means a new structural wet-area sheet; on slab it means making good the set-down. Either way, the new shower starts from a known-good base, which is the entire point of converting.

Falls and drainage: the part you will never see and always feel

A walk-in shower has no door dam to hide behind, so the floor itself has to move water: a screed with a continuous fall to the waste, typically 1:80 to 1:100 across the wet zone. We set the falls out on paper at design time and choose the drain to suit the room. A linear drain against the back wall lets the rest of the floor run almost flat and suits large-format tiles; a centred point drain suits smaller mosaic floors that can bend around it. The screed is checked with a level before the membrane goes on, and the membrane is certified before a tile is laid. That sequence, falls, membrane, certificate, then tiles, is why our showers drain to the waste and not to the bathroom door.

Screens: frameless, semi-frameless, or none

A fixed frameless panel is the quiet hero of most conversions: no door to swing, no hinges to corrode, one sheet of glass to squeegee. Semi-frameless brings the cost down and adds a slim sill-line of structure where walls are not quite true (common in older homes). Fully open, screenless walk-ins look superb in big rooms but need generous dimensions, around 1.6m of run, to keep spray off the vanity, and we will tell you honestly if your room is too small to skip the glass. Every screen we fit is named by brand and glass spec in the proposal.

Built for the next twenty years, not the next open home

A conversion is the natural moment to build in ageing-in-place capability, because it costs almost nothing while the walls are open. Level-entry (hobless) thresholds, reinforced backing behind the wall sheets so grab rails can be fitted later without a rebuild, a handheld shower on a rail, and non-slip porcelain chosen from ranges that look like design choices rather than compliance. If the conversion is for a parent or for NDIS or home-modification funding, we quote in the itemised format assessors ask for and supply the certificates funders require.