Alexander Marchuk Tile & Renovation

Curbless walk-in shower installation, Etobicoke and Toronto.

The bathroom floor runs straight into the shower with no step — which only works if the waterproofing and the fall are right.

Send a few photos and the rough size — you get a written price the same day. No site visit, no sales call.

What's included

Everything in the quote, listed.

Written out so nothing appears as an extra later. If something on your job falls outside this, it is named in the quote — not discovered on the invoice.

  • Assessment of whether the floor structure allows a recess at all
  • Recessing the subfloor, or building the whole bathroom floor up to meet it
  • Linear or point drain set to the finished tile height
  • Slope formed across the shower area and, where needed, beyond it
  • Waterproofing membrane across the full bathroom floor, not just the shower
  • Large-format or mosaic floor tile set to fall correctly
  • Glass panel opening set out so the tile joints work with it

How it is done

The parts of the job you will never see again.

Once the tile is down, every quote looks the same. This is what separates them while the floor is still open.

  1. 01

    The floor is recessed, or the whole room comes up

    A curbless shower needs the substrate under it to sit lower than the rest of the floor. In a joisted floor that means recessing between joists; over a slab it usually means bringing the entire bathroom floor up instead. Which one is possible is decided from the structure, not from preference — and it is the first thing checked.

  2. 02

    The waterproofing covers the whole room

    With no curb there is nothing stopping water at the shower edge, so the membrane runs across the entire bathroom floor and up the walls. Treating a curbless shower like a normal shower with the kerb left off is exactly how they fail.

  3. 03

    The fall is set so water cannot travel out

    The slope has to be enough to move water to the drain quickly and even enough that nothing pools. It is formed in the substrate, then flooded and checked before any tile goes down.

  4. 04

    The drain height is set to the finished surface

    The drain is set to the top of the tile, allowing for the tile thickness and the bed. A drain set to the substrate ends up proud or sunk once the tile goes on, and both are visible forever.

  5. 05

    Large-format tile needs the slope planned around it

    A big rigid slab cannot follow a slope in two directions. With a linear drain against a wall the fall runs one way, so large format works. With a centre drain the tile has to be cut smaller or the format changed — that gets decided at quote stage, not on site.

From his jobs

  • Curbless shower floor tiled level with the bathroom floor around a central drain
    Curbless — the shower floor runs level with the room
  • Linear drain set at the wall of a shower with the tile falling towards it in one plane
    Linear drain, floor falling to it in one plane
  • Bathroom floor in a custom interlocking-circle mosaic with a marble border, running into a glass shower enclosure
    Custom mosaic floor, cut and set on site

What it costs

What actually moves the number.

Anyone quoting this job without seeing these four things is guessing, and the guess gets corrected halfway through the work.

  • What the floor structure allows

    Recessing between joists is straightforward. A concrete slab, or joists running the wrong way, means raising the whole bathroom floor instead — a much bigger job.

  • Linear versus point drain

    A linear drain against the wall costs more as a component but lets the tile be large format and the slope run one way. A point drain is cheaper and forces smaller tile.

  • How far the waterproofing has to run

    With no curb, the membrane covers the whole floor. Bigger bathroom, more membrane and more detailing.

  • Glass and the opening width

    A wide walk-in opening with a single fixed panel changes how the tile is set out and where the joints have to land.

Get a quote

Six short questions. A written price the same day.

No site visit to get a number, and no sales call afterwards. If the budget is not right, you will know from the reply instead of from an afternoon off work.

Rather just talk? (437) 875-1982 · English, русский, українська

  • Liability insurance in place. Certificate on request.
  • Written warranty on the workmanship, on request.
What are you looking to have done?

Pick the closest one — you can add detail at the end.

Roughly how much area?

A guess is fine. It only has to be close enough to price.

Have you chosen the tile yet?

Either answer is normal — it changes the quote, not the welcome.

When would you want it started?

This is the answer that decides whether he can take the job.

Add a few photos

The room as it is today, and a wide shot if you can. This is what lets him price it properly without coming out. Optional, but the quote is much sharper with them.

Where should the quote go?

Written reply the same day. He will not call unless you ask him to.

Your details go to Alexander only. No mailing list.

Questions

What people ask about this job.

Can any bathroom have a curbless shower?

Most can, but not all in the same way. If the floor is joisted the shower area can usually be recessed. Over a concrete slab the whole bathroom floor normally has to come up instead, which is a bigger job. Photos and the age of the building are usually enough to say which one you are looking at.

Will water run out onto the bathroom floor?

Not if the fall is right. The slope is formed in the substrate, flooded and checked before tiling, and the membrane runs across the whole floor so the room is protected either way.

Can I have large-format tile in a curbless shower?

With a linear drain, yes — the floor falls in one direction only, which a large slab can follow. With a centre drain the tile has to slope two ways at once and a smaller format or mosaic is needed.

Is a curbless shower harder to keep clean?

The opposite, usually — there is no kerb to scrub and, with a linear drain, fewer grout joints in the floor.