Custom Tile Showers

Shower Renovation In Port Alberni.

Custom tiled showers built from the substrate up by David Bennett, with Schluter waterproofing behind every wall and floor. Based in Port Alberni and working across Vancouver Island.

Request an EstimateCall David 778-676-3676

Built From The Substrate Up

The Tile Is The Part You See.

A tiled shower has to handle water, movement and daily use for years. The waterproofing, the slope to the drain and the preparation behind the tile are what decide whether it lasts. Bennett & Sons is a Schluter-Certified Installer and uses Schluter waterproofing products and installation methods.

  • Shower walls, floors and curbs
  • Schluter membrane and board waterproofing systems
  • Seams, corners and penetrations sealed as part of the system
  • Shower floors sloped to the drain
  • Niches and feature walls planned before the tile goes up
Schluter waterproofing board lining a shower enclosure, with the drain set and heating cable laid over the uncoupling membrane, photographed before tiling

What Is Under The Tile

Five Layers, One Of Them Visible.

Tile and grout are not waterproof on their own. In a tiled shower floor the work that keeps water out of the house is the layers underneath.

  1. 1Tile and groutThe finish. It sheds water, but it does not stop it.
  2. 2Thin-set mortarBonds the tile to the waterproofing below it.
  3. 3Schluter waterproofingThe layer that actually keeps water out, sealed at every seam, corner and drain.
  4. 4Sloped shower baseFalls toward the drain, so water never sits under the tile.
  5. 5Subfloor and framingChecked, solid and blocked where a grab bar or bench will go.

How A Shower Gets Built

Five Stages, Most Of Them Buried.

  1. 01

    Strip back

    The old enclosure comes out and the framing is checked, with blocking added where a grab bar or bench will need something solid behind it.

  2. 02

    Build the base

    The drain is positioned first, because every surface above it has to fall toward that one point.

  3. 03

    Waterproof

    Schluter board and membrane go over the framing, and every seam, corner and screw head is sealed.

  4. 04

    Tile the floor, then the walls

    The pan is tiled to follow its slope to the drain before the wall tile starts.

  5. 05

    Finish

    Grout, the joints where walls meet the floor and each other, and a walkthrough of the finished shower.

The finished walk-in shower in large white wall tile with a mosaic floor, two corner shelves, a chrome grab bar and a round drain

Step By Step

A walk-in shower, rebuilt from the studs out

Most of a tiled shower is buried before the tile goes on. These are the five stages of one rebuild, including the waterproofing layer nobody ever sees again.

Step By Step

A walk-in shower, rebuilt from the studs out

The same bathroom photographed at five stages over five days — demolition through to the finished room.

  1. A shower alcove stripped to bare studs, with a vapour barrier over the back wall, blue water lines run to a rough-in valve, and the orange Schluter curb already set on the floor

    Step 1 of 5

    Stripped back to the framing

    The old enclosure comes out entirely and the framing is checked before anything goes back in. Plumbing is roughed in and blocking goes between the studs now, because a grab bar fixed to tile alone is not fixed to anything.

  2. Looking down into the shower base: new plywood decking with the drain body set through it, bounded by an orange Schluter curb

    Step 2 of 5

    A base built to drain

    A plywood base goes down and the drain is positioned before anything else, because every surface above it has to fall toward that one point. The curb is set square to the opening.

  3. The shower walls fully lined in orange Schluter KERDI-BOARD with the brand name printed across it, every joint and fastener covered in grey sealing compound, and the pan bedded ready for tile

    Step 3 of 5

    Waterproofing — the layer nobody sees again

    Schluter KERDI-BOARD goes over the framing and every seam, corner and screw head is sealed. This is the layer that decides whether water leaves through the drain or through the wall, and it is completely invisible once the tile is on.

  4. The shower floor tiled in small square mosaic sloping to a central drain, with the walls still in orange waterproofing board above it

    Step 4 of 5

    The pan goes in first

    Small-format mosaic on the floor because it follows the fall to the drain without any single tile sitting proud of the next. The pan is finished before the walls start.

  5. The finished walk-in shower in large white wall tile with a mosaic floor, two corner shelves, a chrome grab bar and a round drain

    Step 5 of 5

    Handed back

    Large-format wall tile over the waterproofing, corner shelves set into the field rather than stuck on afterwards, and the grab bar anchored to the blocking that went in on day one.

Finished Showers

Large Format, Marble Look, Glass Mosaic.

  • Finished shower in marble-look large-format tile with a rainhead, handheld and recessed niche
  • Shower with a blue and grey glass mosaic feature wall, a wood fold-down bench and a linear drain in large-format floor tile

    Mosaic feature wall

Common Questions

Custom Tile Showers Questions

Are tile and grout waterproof?

No. Grout is porous, and tile on its own will let moisture through over time. That is why the waterproofing layer behind the tile matters more than anything visible: it is what keeps water out of the walls and the floor structure.

What is Schluter KERDI?

KERDI is Schluter’s waterproofing membrane for showers, and KERDI-BOARD is a waterproof building panel that goes up in place of drywall or cement board. Both make the layer behind the tile waterproof, rather than relying on the tile and grout.

Can you build a walk-in or curbless shower?

The shower in the walkthrough on this page is a walk-in shower, rebuilt from the studs out. A curbless shower, with no step at all, needs the shower floor recessed or the rest of the floor built up so it can still slope to the drain, and whether that is possible depends on the framing underneath.

Can a shower niche go in any wall?

A niche needs room between the studs, and is best kept out of an exterior wall, where it would cut into the insulation. It is planned before the waterproofing goes up so it can be sealed as part of the same system.

How long does a shower renovation take?

It depends on the size of the shower, what has to come out, and the other trades involved. A realistic timeframe can be given once the space and the scope are known.

Related Work

More From Bennett & Sons.

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Planning A New Shower?

Send photos of the bathroom, the tile you have in mind and roughly what you want changed, and David will follow up.

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