Walk-In Showers: Design, Sizes and Getting the Falls Right

A walk-in shower is a shower with no door. You walk in past a fixed glass panel, the floor tile usually runs straight through from the rest of the bathroom, and in the best versions there is no step at all. It is the most requested change in bathroom renovations, partly because it looks cleaner and partly because it is easier to live with — no door to squeegee, no frame to clean, no lip to trip over.

It also puts more work into the part of the room nobody sees. This guide covers the design decisions, the sizes that tend to work, and what has to happen in the floor to keep the water where it belongs.

Walk-in, enclosed and level entry

The terms overlap, so it helps to separate them.

• Enclosed shower: glass on two or three sides with a hinged or sliding door. Water is contained by the door.
• Walk-in shower: no door. Water is contained by the length of the shower, a fixed panel and the floor falls.
• Level-entry (step-free) shower: the shower floor meets the bathroom floor with no hob or step. Most walk-in showers aim for this, but it is not automatic — some have a low hob.

A walk-in shower does not have to be level entry, and a level-entry shower does not have to be doorless. The best results usually combine both, which is also why they are the most demanding to build.

Typical sizes

There is no single "correct" size, and the figures below are practical rules of thumb rather than code requirements.

• Enclosed shower: around 900 × 900mm is a common minimum. It works, but it is compact once you are inside.
• Walk-in shower: because there is no door, the shower needs extra length so the spray zone sits well away from the opening. As a practical guide, a walk-in footprint of about 1200–1500mm or more along the panel side, with a depth of around 900mm or more, is where most people find it comfortable and dry.
• Fixed panel: a single panel often covers most of the shower length, leaving an opening at one end. A panel in the region of 900–1200mm wide is common, with a walk-in opening of roughly 500–600mm or more beside it.

The bigger the gap between the shower head and the opening, the less water escapes. In a narrow room, a slightly longer shower and a shorter vanity is often the better trade.

Stopping the splash

Splash is the main complaint about walk-in showers, and it is almost always a design issue rather than bad luck.

• Position the shower head so it sprays along or away from the opening, not toward it. A rail or hand shower on the back wall is easier to control than a fixed head on the side wall.
• Size the panel to the spray, not to the room. The glass should cover where the water actually lands.
• Consider a return panel — a short fixed piece at 90 degrees at the end — if the shower is on the short side.
• Give the floor enough fall in the right direction, so water runs to the waste rather than toward the bathroom.

Falls, drains and why they matter more here

In a shower with a moulded base, the base does the job of directing water to the waste. Take the base away and the tiled floor has to do it instead. That means the screed under the tile must be shaped to fall toward the waste, the waterproofing membrane has to follow it, and the tiler must lay to it accurately.

How much fall is needed depends on the shower type, the tile and the relevant requirements. Falls and waterproofing for wet areas are governed by the National Construction Code and AS 3740, so the exact requirements should be confirmed with your builder and waterproofer rather than taken from a website. What you can check for yourself is that water drains cleanly, does not pond, and does not run toward the doorway.

Linear (strip) drains make a level-entry walk-in much easier. With a centre waste, the floor has to fall from all four sides to a point, which forces cuts across every tile and can make large formats awkward. A linear drain along one wall or across the entry lets the floor fall in a single plane, which suits large tiles and keeps the rest of the bathroom floor flat. Where the drain goes — back wall, side wall or at the entry — changes how the falls work, so it is decided with the set-out.

Level entry takes height. To get a fall inside the shower without a step at the threshold, the shower area usually needs to be set down slightly, or the bathroom floor built up around it. On a concrete slab that can mean a recess or careful screed work; on a timber floor it can mean lowering joists or packing. Ask early how your builder plans to achieve a step-free entry in your construction.

Waterproofing

A walk-in shower puts more water across more floor than an enclosed one, so the waterproofing is more consequential. The membrane covers the shower floor and walls, the junctions and the penetrations, and in most bathrooms the whole floor. In NSW, waterproofing wet areas is licensed work. Ask who is applying the membrane, what is being covered, how the entry is detailed, and for the documentation and photos before the screed and tiles go down.

Ventilation and heating

With no door, the steam in a walk-in shower is not contained — it goes straight into the room. Good extraction matters more, not less: a fan ducted to outside, sized for the room, placed near the shower and on a run-on timer. Without it, mould on the ceiling and grout is a matter of time.

A doorless shower can also feel cooler in winter because warm air escapes. A heated towel rail, underfloor heating or a ceiling heat unit can make a real difference; decide at rough-in, because each needs its own wiring.

Glass and hardware

Shower glass is toughened safety glass, and the thickness and fixing depend on the panel size and how it is supported. A single fixed panel is usually secured with a floor channel or clamps and often a wall-to-glass or ceiling stabiliser bar. A low-iron glass reads clearer than standard glass, which has a faint green edge. A clear protective coating helps water bead off and makes cleaning easier.

Accessibility

A level-entry walk-in shower is one of the most useful changes for ageing in place, or for anyone with limited mobility. A few extra decisions make it genuinely accessible rather than just stylish:

• A wider opening and enough clear floor to turn around, including with a walking aid
• Slip-resistant floor tiles suited to wet barefoot use
• Solid backing in the walls for grab rails, even if they are not fitted yet
• A hand shower on a rail, reachable while seated
• Room for a shower seat or a fold-down seat

If accessibility is the main goal, ask an occupational therapist or a specialist for guidance on your specific needs.

Getting it built

A walk-in shower is a design decision, a waterproofing job and a tiling job at once, and the three need to be planned together before anything is ordered. Our bathroom renovations page sets out how the whole room is sequenced, and the renovation cost page explains what shapes the budget.

If you are around Kellyville, we can look at your room and tell you which walk-in layout it will take.