What is the proper slope for a shower floor?

For optimal water drainage, it's advisable to ensure that the shower floor maintains a gentle gradient of approximately 2-4 percent . This corresponds to a decline of ¼ to ½ inch for every 12 inches from the shower enclosure to the drain.

What is the minimum slope for a walk in shower?

Note: The industry standard for shower slopes is a range of 1/4″ to 1/2″ per foot . With certain installations, such as ADA barrier-free showers and standard shower stalls with three-dimensional pebble tile and river-rock mosaics, the minimum 1/4″ per foot for a slope may be insufficient.

What is the maximum shower slope?

Shower floors can slope to drains (a 1:48 maximum slope will help control water without impacting accessibility).

What is the slope for a shower floor with a linear drain?

For a curbless shower with a linear drain, the shower floor needs to be sloped from one side towards the drain, allowing water to flow off efficiently. The standard slope for a shower floor is 1/4 inch per foot , meaning for every foot from the drain, the floor should drop 1/4 inch.

What is the minimum slope for water drainage?

Using a minimum slope of 2% will encourage a good flow when directing water to a rain garden. For a 2% slope your pipe height will lower ~¼ inch for every foot of length. You can also approximate this by multiplying the pipe length in inches by .

Can you replace shower floor only?

The short answer is yes, shower pans can be replaced without requiring you to replace the entire shower unit . In fact, that's one of the reasons why they're separate components and not structurally connected to the rest of your shower.

How do you fix a low spot in a shower floor?

If you have low spots in your tile shower floor that are causing drainage issues, it is possible to use a self-leveling compound or clear epoxy to help level the surface and improve drainage.

What is the slope code for a curbless shower?

Threshold Height Changes in level between ¼ inch and ½ inch shall be beveled with a slope no greater than I in 2 (50% slope) . The shower receptor's water-tight liner shall extend a minimum 12 inches beyond the threshold and into the bathroom.

How much slope does plumbing need?

The ideal slope of any drain line is ¼ inch per foot of pipe . In other words, for every foot the pipe travels horizontally, it should be dropping ¼ inch vertically. Many drains either have too little slope or too much slope. That's right, it is possible to have too much slope in your drain lines.

Why is water pooling in my shower?

The problem likely lies with an obstruction that is clogging your shower drain . Clogs can be caused by: Soap: If you wash with soap in the shower, soap scum can end up in your shower drain, where it is prone to stick to the walls of the drain and bind to hair and other objects in the drain.

Should a shower curb have a slope?

Proper Slope on Shower Threshold Remember that water will travel in the path of least resistance. Thresholds should to be slanted inward at a 5-degree 1/4″ pitch or slope so water flows toward the drain .

Does a shower drain pipe need a slope?

Before you connect the shower drain to the drainage pipe, make sure that there is sufficient slope in the piping and as few bends as possible . This way, the water runs away easily.

Shower Floors - Slope - Master Builders WA (2024)

Tiling in Shower Recesses

The minimum standard required for wet areas in residential buildings is contained in the Building Code of Australia (BCA) and AS3740 – Waterproofing of wet areas in residential buildings. This includes tiling and gradients of bathroom floors including shower recesses.

The recommended ratio of fall within showers is between 1:60 and 1:80. However, the ratios may not be achieved due to:

(a) The size of the tiles used – falls become more difficult to achieve with larger tiles.

(b) The area of the flool to be drained.

In these cases, the effectiveness of the floor drainage should be measured by the performance of the floor. If water does not remain on the finished floor in a manner that can adversely affect the health or amenity of the building occupants or deteriorate building elements it may be deemed adequate.

Discuss your concerns with your builder with these factors in mind.

14 responses to “Shower Floors – Slope”

Hammersley says:
January 28, 2016 at 9:01 am
Please can you let us know if shower floors have spaces where water can get trapped under the tiles?
we are wondering this based on my husbands idea that there may be a space under the tiles for some design reason.
- mbawa says:
  January 28, 2016 at 12:10 pm
  Hi Sophie,
  Thank you for contacting Master Builders.
  The best thing to do would be to contact the Building Commission to seek advice. Their contact details are below;
  Phone: 1300 489 099
  Email: bcinfo@commerce.wa.gov.au.
  Website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission
  Best of luck
  Kind regards,
  Master Builders
Chris Greenall says:
May 3, 2016 at 4:08 pm
Hi I have a question…we have just had a bathroom reno completed _ open shower, walk in with no hob and small floor waste which the waste water fails to completely empty and flows to door and vanity areas – which we thought would remain dry. Waste water eventually drains away. The only way we have found to avoid this is to roll up a towel to dam the water from its course. Other than redoing this job and fitting a 600 to 800mm floor grate waste insitu. Any other options/suggestions out there please?
See Also
Is Water Wet?What You Need to Know About Building on a Slope How Foundation Soils Affect Your Foundation How to Fix the Wet Spot in Your Yard
- mbawa says:
  May 4, 2016 at 1:34 pm
  Hi Chris,
  Thank you for contacting Master Builders.
  The best thing to do would be to contact the Building Commission to seek advice. Their contact details are below;
  Phone: 1300 489 099
  Email: bcinfo@commerce.wa.gov.au.
  Website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission
  Kind regards,
  Master Builders
Peter O'Dea says:
May 12, 2016 at 10:40 am
I suggest the updating the AS reference and gradients to reflect the current AS3740-2010
AS3740-2004 includes the gradients range however AS3740-2010 only references a requirement for a minimum fall of 1:80 for showers
- mbawa says:
  May 30, 2016 at 11:39 am
  Hi Peter,
  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Our Technical Advisor is reviewing the information.
  Kind regards,
  Master Builders
SamBelle says:
See Also
Efficient Bathroom Design: Separating Wet and Dry Zones
June 12, 2016 at 11:07 am
We have a walk in shower no hob 1m wide by 1.5m in depth. We had it tiled and when we’ve tested the shower on minimal flow the water fills up and flows out onto the bathroom floor without most going down the shower drain. It also pools terribly in one corner. The overflowing water heads out towards the bathroom door on the other side of the room and some goes down the floor drain. The tiler at no point told us there was any issues. I’m concerned if we had a full length shower the water will flow out the bathroom into our laundry!! Is the tiler at fault or us? We told exactly what we wanted and we haven’t got anything near it??
- mbawa says:
  September 12, 2016 at 8:39 am
  Hi SamBelle,
  Thank you for contacting Master Builders.
  The best thing to do would be to contact the Building Commission to seek advice. Their contact details are below;
  Phone: 1300 489 099
  Email: bcinfo@commerce.wa.gov.au.
  Website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission
  Alternatively contact your local council regarding information on boundaries.
  Kind regards,
  Master Builders
Jeremy Summers says:
July 12, 2016 at 8:43 am
Hi. We have a shower in newly completed house that does not drain. The fall to the drain appears minimal and the shower drain itself sits slightly proud of the floor. Water sits for over 24 hrs or longer until it eventually evaporates. During our recent 6 month post completion maintenance inspection the builder stated that, as the shower was not leaking, they would not fix the fall or drain. Is this legitimate?
- mbawa says:
  September 12, 2016 at 8:37 am
  Hi Jeremy,
  Thank you for contacting Master Builders.
  The best thing to do would be to contact the Building Commission to seek advice. Their contact details are below;
  Phone: 1300 489 099
  Email: bcinfo@commerce.wa.gov.au.
  Website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission
  Alternatively contact your local council regarding information on boundaries.
  Kind regards,
  Master Builders
Lauren Thompson says:
August 23, 2016 at 10:16 pm
The water puddles in the bottom of our shower and does not flow towards the drain. The only way to get rid of the water from the bottom of the shower is to manually dry it, otherwise it will sit there dripping slowly for days. Our home is only 2 ys old. How do we measure the slant ratio to determine if it is within regulated parameters? Also, is this something we should bring up with our builder?
- mbawa says:
  August 30, 2016 at 3:02 pm
  Hi Lauren,
  Thank you for contacting Master Builders.
  The best thing to do would be to contact the Building Commission to seek advice. Their contact details are below;
  Phone: 1300 489 099
  Email: bcinfo@commerce.wa.gov.au.
  Website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission
  Alternatively contact your local council regarding information on boundaries.
  Kind regards,
  Master Builders
Kim says:
November 28, 2016 at 3:43 pm
Mid bathroom Reno and not happy with shower grading towards grate. It seems very minimal now tikes have been layed. We have install 800mm grate. Width 900mm length 1200mm walk in no hob. How should we approach this with builder? It seems that he has to pull it up and make it deeper! Eek
- mbawa says:
  November 29, 2016 at 8:33 am
  Hi Kim,
  Thank you for contacting Master Builders.
  The best thing to do would be to contact the Building Commission to seek advice. Their contact details are below;
  Phone: 1300 489 099
  Email: bcinfo@commerce.wa.gov.au.
  Website: https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/building-commission
  Kind regards,
  Master Builders

Shower Floors - Slope - Master Builders WA (2024)

14 responses to “Shower Floors – Slope”

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