Colonial Pine Hills Walk-In Showers
Plenty of houses in Colonial Pine Hills have a shower space nobody would draw on purpose: an angled wall, a window at one end, a footprint that follows the house instead of a catalog. Those are the showers we like building. Bruce Miller brings 50 years in construction to each one, and he sizes the pan, the bench, and the glass to your room.
Showers
A Shower Pan Built to the Floor You Have
A prefabricated shower base comes in a handful of rectangles. The hillside homes up here were often framed around their sites, so the space set aside for a shower might be deeper on one side, or butt into a wall set at an angle. Where the opening is close to a standard size, a panel system on a molded base is often the better call: acrylic or solid-surface walls, no grout to keep up, and a low step in. Where the opening is odd, a stock base will not sit right.
For those odd rooms we build the pan in place. The floor gets framed and leveled, the slope toward the drain is formed for the exact shape of the room, and a bonded waterproofing membrane goes over all of it and turns up the walls. Then we plug the drain, fill the pan with water, and leave it standing. If the level drops, we learn about it now, long before there is tile sitting on top.
A built pan also gives you choices a molded base cannot. A linear drain can run along the back wall, the floor can take larger tile, and the threshold can sit low enough to step over without a thought. Bruce goes through those options at the first visit and writes each one into your price, so you can compare them side by side.
Framing Choices That Are Hard to Undo
Bench and Grab-Bar Blocking
A shower bench or a grab bar is only as solid as the wood behind it. We set blocking in the walls while the studs are open, at the heights you pick, plus a few spots you may want later. Once tile is up, adding a bar means drilling through finished tile and hoping to hit a stud. Mapping the blocking takes a few minutes now.
Glass for Walls That Are Out of Square
Custom houses settle, and they were seldom framed perfectly square to begin with. A standard glass door hung on a wall that leans slightly will bind, or leak at the seam. We set the tile first, then have the glass measured in place and made to those exact dimensions, with hinges and clips located where the wall can carry them. It adds a wait near the end of the job, and it is the only way that door closes right.
Showers Against a Below-Grade Wall
On the lower level of a house built into a slope, a shower often backs up to a foundation wall with soil on the other side. That wall runs cooler and can carry ground moisture. We inspect it with the old finishes off, handle any drainage or seepage problem at the source, and then build the shower with a continuous membrane, so water from inside and dampness from behind never reach the framing.
Parts of a Walk-In Shower Build
- Site visit with Bruce, every wall measured, and a written price
- Removal of the old base, surround, and any damaged backer board
- Framing and leveling for a pan shaped to the room
- Blocking for a bench, grab bars, and a handheld shower bar
- Foundation wall inspection on lower-level baths
- Valve, supply, and drain work, including linear drain options
- Bonded membrane over the pan and walls, followed by a flood test
- Floor and wall tile, with niches deep enough for full-size bottles
- Low or curbless entry where the floor framing allows it
- Glass measured after tile and cut for out-of-square openings
- Exhaust fan on a timer switch, ducted to the outside
- Permits and inspections when the work requires them
Tile That Belongs Next to a Window Full of Pines
Many homes in Colonial Pine Hills were built with big windows facing the trees, and the bathrooms got them too. When a shower sits near one of those windows, the view becomes part of the room, and the tile has to work with it. A cold, bright white wall beside a window full of ponderosa pines tends to look borrowed from another house.
Owners here usually lean toward natural stone, or porcelain made to look like stone or wood. Stone-look tile gives the feel of rock with far less upkeep. Wood-look plank tile on a shower wall can pick up the tone of the trim or beams elsewhere in the house, and it takes water that would ruin real wood. Panel systems come in stone and marble looks as well, for owners who would rather skip grout altogether.
Grout color matters more than most people expect. A light grout against dark stone-look tile turns every joint into a grid line, while grout close to the tile color lets the wall read as one surface. On the shower floor we lean a shade darker, since it hides the everyday wear of a room that gets wet every morning.
A window in or near the shower needs its own attention. We check the sill for old water damage, bring it inside the waterproofing layer, pitch it so water runs back into the shower, and talk through the glass so privacy lands where you want it. Wooded lots give most of these houses plenty of that already, though we still ask.
Who Builds It and How the Days Go
The build follows a fixed order. Old base and walls come out, any framing or foundation wall repair gets done, then blocking, valve and drain work, the pan, and the membrane. Nothing is covered until the step before it has been checked.
A walk-in shower has a few moments that decide whether it lasts: the slope of the pan, the membrane seams, the flood test, the blocking. Bruce is there for those, and he will show you each stage if you want to see it. Materials are on hand before demolition begins, and any work that affects the rest of the house is set up with you in advance.
On the last day, Bruce runs the new shower with you there. He checks that water heads for the drain from every corner, that the door closes without a drip, and that the fan clears the steam off the mirror. He also shows you how to care for the grout and the glass, so the whole thing still looks right long after we are gone.
To talk through a shower for your house, call Bruce at (605) 636-2284.
Other Projects for Homes in the Pines
Colonial Pine Hills Bathroom Remodeling
Whole bathrooms with vanities and venting fit to custom hillside houses.
Colonial Pine Hills Tub-to-Shower Conversions
Pull out a tub nobody uses and put a shower in its footprint.
Colonial Pine Hills Full Home Remodels
Several rooms on several levels, sequenced and run by one contractor.
Planning a kitchen along with the shower? See our kitchen remodeling in Colonial Pine Hills. For how we approach shower work across the whole region, visit the main walk-in showers page. The project gallery has finished showers to look through, and you can tell Bruce about your space whenever it suits you.
Answers
Walk-In Shower Questions for Hillside Homes
Can a walk-in shower fit an angled or irregular space?
Usually, yes. For an irregular footprint we build the shower pan in place instead of using a molded base, so it can follow an angled wall or an uneven depth. The glass is made to measure after tile goes up, which lets the whole shower fit the room instead of the other way around.
When should I decide where grab bars go?
Before the walls are closed. We add solid blocking during framing at the spots you choose, plus a few extras for later. Even if you do not want a grab bar today, having wood behind the tile means one can be mounted securely whenever you decide you do.
Will a shower on my lower level have moisture problems?
It does not have to. A shower against a foundation wall needs that wall inspected first and any seepage handled at its source. After that, a continuous bonded membrane and a flood-tested pan keep water inside the shower and ground moisture away from the framing.
Why do you wait to order the glass?
Tile adds thickness, and walls in custom homes are rarely perfectly square. Measuring the finished opening lets the glass shop make panels that match it exactly, so the door swings freely and the seals meet the tile. Ordering early from framing dimensions is how gaps and drips happen.
Can the shower tile look like the wood in the rest of my house?
Wood-look porcelain plank is made for exactly that. It comes in many tones and handles constant water. It can pick up the tone of your trim or beams, and stone-look tile is another good match for homes with rock accents.
Should my walk-in shower be tile or a panel system?
Both work, and we build both. Tile over a pan built in place suits an odd footprint, a linear drain, or a curbless entry. Acrylic or solid-surface wall panels on a molded base leave no grout to clean and fit well when the opening is close to a standard size. Bruce shows you which ones your room allows.
Show Bruce the Space You Have in Mind
Bring the photos and ideas you have saved, and Bruce will bring a tape measure and a level. After one visit you will know how the pan, the glass, and the entry would work in your room, with a written price to go along with it. Veteran owned, 50 years of experience, serving Colonial Pine Hills and the Black Hills from Rapid City. Send us a note or call to set a time.