Porcelain shower walls are a construction project before they’re a finish. The photograph that sold you on the look shows the end of the job. Everything that decides whether the shower lasts happens well before that, and it’s covered up before the first slab goes on the wall.
Behind those slabs sit framing, a drain in the right place, a waterproof pan and prepared walls. Porcelain doesn’t forgive a crooked wall the way small tile can. A slab running the full height of the wall shows every bump behind it.
So this is not one trade’s work. It takes demolition and framing, plumbing, hot mopping, wall preparation, fabrication, tile setting and glass. Hire us directly and you coordinate none of it. We do.
Key Takeaways
- Six stages happen before a single slab is set: demo, wood blocking, curb framing, the drain, the hot mop and wall preparation. Those six are the shower’s structure and its waterproofing. The porcelain sits on top of them.
- Hiring us directly means one company. Our crew does the demo, the framing, the wall preparation, the templating, the fabrication, the installation and the shower floor tile. We schedule and coordinate the plumbing, the hot mop and the glass.
- The slab is not the waterproofing. Porcelain and quartz are finished surfaces. The hot mop pan and the prepared walls behind them are what protect your framing.
Porcelain Shower Walls: The Short Answer
Porcelain shower walls replace tiled walls with slabs cut to fit your shower. You get far fewer grout lines, and the pattern flows across the wall instead of stopping every few inches.
Getting there is a full rebuild, not a resurfacing. The framing is opened up and corrected. The curb is framed and the drain is set. The floor is hot mopped and the walls are prepared. Only then do we template, fabricate and install.
The part that matters to you is who runs it. Our crew performs everything except the plumbing, the hot mop and the glass, and those three go to trades we bring in ourselves. You’re dealing with us, not with a bathroom full of subcontractors.
What We Build, and What We Arrange
Here’s the split, plainly.
Our own crew does all of this:
- Removing the shower drywall and exposing the framing
- Installing the wood blocking the hot mop pan needs
- Framing the shower curb
- Framing and preparing the bench, if there is one
- Preparing the walls so they’re flat, plumb and level
- Templating the finished space
- Fabricating the porcelain slabs, niche pieces, curb cap and bench pieces in our shop
- Installing the porcelain slabs and every piece that goes with them
- Installing the shower floor tile
We arrange and coordinate three things: the plumbing, the hot mop and the glass. Those are separate trades, and we bring them in on our schedule at the right point in the build. You don’t have to find them or book them.
That’s the whole arrangement. One company, one sequence, one person to call when something needs deciding.
The Build Sequence, From Demo to Glass
A porcelain shower is built from the framing out. Every stage has to be finished before the next one starts.
We start by removing the drywall and exposing the framing. This is the only chance to see what’s behind the wall and correct it, so we take it. While it’s open we install the wood blocking the hot mop pan needs, and we frame the curb from three stacked 2-by-4s.
The curb has to be right at this stage because of what it carries later. Waterproofing goes over it. The porcelain curb cap sits on it. The glass mounts to it, and people step on it every day for years.
Then the drain. A new hot mop compatible drain goes in, and in many remodels the existing one isn’t where the new shower wants it. If it sits off-center, or somewhere the floor can’t slope toward it, it gets relocated before waterproofing. A finished tile floor has to drain without low spots.
Then the floor is hot mopped. The hot mop creates the waterproof pan underneath the finished tile floor. It’s one of the most important stages in the project, and once the tile is down it’s covered for good.
The rest of the build runs in the order below.
The Typical Installation Sequence
- Remove the existing shower drywall and expose the framing.
- Install the wood blocking the hot mop pan needs.
- Frame the shower curb from three stacked 2-by-4s.
- Set a new hot mop shower drain, relocating the existing one if it is off-center or does not work with the new layout.
- Hot mop the shower floor.
- Float the walls with mortar or install DensShield, making sure the walls are flat, plumb and level.
- Template the walls, niche, curb, plumbing openings, bench and planned glass locations.
- Fabricate the porcelain slabs, niche components, curb cap and edge details.
- Install the porcelain slabs and every piece that goes with them.
- Install the shower floor tile with the proper slope into the drain.
- Measure and install the glass after every finished surface is complete.
What Goes In Behind the Slab
All of the waterproofing is finished before a single slab goes on the wall.
The floor is hot mopped once the curb, the blocking and the drain are in place. That pan sits below the finished tile floor. It’s a system rather than a coating, and it’s why the framing stays dry.
The walls get their own preparation, and it happens before we template. Depending on the framing and what the job needs, we either float them with mortar or install DensShield backer board. Either way the target is the same: flat, plumb, level and ready for porcelain. Where DensShield is used, the fasteners, the joints and the corner transitions all have to be treated correctly too.
Wall preparation matters more here than it does in a tile shower. A slab covering most of a wall reveals an uneven surface or an out of square corner that smaller tile would have absorbed. Accurate preparation lets the slabs install cleanly and keeps the corners aligned. The niche, the curb and the glass then fit the way they should.
Here’s the part worth carrying away. The slab is not the waterproofing system. Porcelain, quartz and grout are finished surfaces, the last layer of a shower rather than the protective one. A properly constructed pan, a waterproof wall assembly and correct drainage are what protect the structure behind them.
Templating a Shower, Where the Walls Are Never Straight
We template a porcelain shower the same way we template a kitchen, by building a physical pattern off the space as it sits rather than from a drawing.
Then we scribe the templates to the shape of the wall. Walls are rarely straight. Most have curves, bumps or angles that are slightly off, and a slab cut to a drawing shows every one of those gaps at the corner.
Templating captures the wall dimensions, the ceiling height and the corners. It also captures the valve locations, the showerhead openings, the niche and curb dimensions, and where the bench and the glass will sit.
We plan the slab layout at the same time. Vein direction, seam placement and how the pattern flows around the niche are all decided before anything is cut. It’s the same planning that goes into book matched slabs, applied to a wall where the eye follows the pattern upward.
This is where changes stop being free. Once the shower is templated, moving a valve or resizing a niche can affect the fit, push the installation back, or mean new templates.
The Niche
We usually make the niche from the same porcelain as the walls. It keeps the pattern flowing through the space instead of turning the niche into a separate feature.
Tile inside the niche is also an option, and some clients prefer it. It gives you contrast or a way to tie the niche to the floor tile. That one is your design decision. It just has to be made before we template.
Sizing and location come before templating too. The niche has to hold your shampoo, conditioner, body wash and whatever else lives in a shower, while still working with the framing, the plumbing and the slab sizes. Go and look at what’s in your shower right now, and count it. That will tell you more than a photograph will.
Horizontal, vertical, more than one, or shelves instead. Decide that before fabrication begins. Location matters just as much. A niche should be easy to reach without crowding the valve, the showerhead or the glass. If there’s a bench, we can put it where it works for somebody sitting down.
When the niche is porcelain, we fabricate the back as one solid piece wherever we can. One piece looks cleaner and puts fewer joints in a wet area. A very large niche or an unusual shape can force a seam, and we place that where it’s least noticeable.
The sides, top, bottom and back are fabricated to your exact shower, and the niche installs with the slabs so the edges line up. If you choose tile, the niche is framed and waterproofed first, and the tile goes in with the rest of the tile work.
The Curb, the Seat, and the Waterfall
The curb is framed at the very start and finished before the floor is hot mopped. Once it’s prepared and waterproofed, we fabricate and install a porcelain curb cap.
The curb cap is set with thinset and cut to fit the finished opening. It gives you a clean transition between the walls, the floor tile and the glass. We set it with a slight pitch so water drains back into the shower instead of sitting on top.
A bench is structure first and a surface second. It has to be built and supported before we arrive to template. That means secured framing and blocking, and a solid substrate tied into the walls and floor, strong enough to sit on.
The porcelain is the finished surface. It is not the structure.
Once the bench is framed and waterproofed, we fabricate the seat top and any exposed pieces. It’s set with thinset over the prepared structure, and like the curb it gets a slight pitch so water runs off.
A waterfall is the vertical piece of porcelain that continues down from the front edge of the seat, and it makes the bench look thicker and more finished. It attaches with thinset to a flat, prepared vertical face, and the framed bench underneath carries it. The seat top alone is not holding it up.
The walls, the curb cap and the seat are all set with thinset. If you want a bench, please tell us early. It changes the framing and the waterproofing and the templating, and all three happen before anybody cuts porcelain.
Why the Floor Tile Goes In Last
The shower floor is tile, not slab. We don’t run porcelain slab across a shower floor. Drainage is the reason: the floor is built with a correct slope so water leaves instead of collecting in low spots.
The tile goes in after the slabs. We set the slabs first, including the niche and the curb cap, and the floor tile comes in and meets them. That order lets the tile meet the slabs cleanly while we hold the slope.
Where the tile meets the porcelain wall, we leave a proper transition joint rather than forcing the two materials tight together, finished with a flexible sealant. Floors and walls move slightly. The joint is what absorbs it.
Several of these decisions have to be agreed before any work starts. The finished floor height, the drain type and location, the curb height, the slab layout and the glass door location all constrain each other, so we go through all of them with you at once.
Porcelain or Quartz, and How Thick
Porcelain and quartz can both give you a shower with far fewer grout lines than tile. Which one is better for you depends on your design preference, the specific product, the slab size, and whether the manufacturer approves that material for a wet wall.
For a shower, I recommend porcelain first. It’s made for wet areas, it has very low water absorption, and it comes in slabs that can produce a nearly seamless wall. Marble-look veining, a concrete look, a natural stone look, porcelain gives you those without the maintenance some natural stones ask for. It still needs a proper waterproofing system behind it.
Quartz can be the right answer too, especially when you want the shower walls to match a quartz vanity top. Quartz is non-porous and easy to look after. Before we install any in a shower we verify that the brand and color are approved by the manufacturer for vertical wet-area use, because not every quartz product is intended for it. Our comparison of porcelain and quartz goes further into how the two differ.
Neither material replaces waterproofing. That is worth saying twice.
On thickness, in a shower we use 12mm porcelain, and I don’t put 20mm in a shower. That’s my own call rather than anything the material forces on us. People like the 12mm.
What to Decide Before We Start
A porcelain shower is fabricated for your bathroom and nobody else’s, so the layout and the material decisions are settled before we measure. The more of this list you close out early, the smoother the rest goes.
Please have these decided before we begin:
- The porcelain or slab material, including color, finish and pattern direction
- The shower layout, and whether there is a curb, a bench or a half wall
- The niche location, size, shape and how many, and whether shelves are included
- Whether the niche is porcelain or finished with tile
- The glass design: a swinging door, a sliding door, a fixed panel or a full enclosure. It goes in last, but its location and mounting are planned before we fabricate the curb and the slabs
- The plumbing layout, including the valve, showerhead, handheld, body sprays and drain
- Whether the drain needs relocating or centering before the hot mop
- The shower floor tile, the drain style and the floor layout
- Whether there is a bench, what size it is, and whether it gets a waterfall
- The waterproofing and wall preparation plan, including floating versus DensShield
By the time we template, the framing, the curb, the plumbing and the drain should be complete, along with the hot mop pan, the niche framing and the wall preparation. We template the finished space, not a drawing.
Have a look through that list and mark what you haven’t settled. Those are the conversations to have with us early rather than late.
How Long a Porcelain Shower Takes
Once the shower is framed and the material is selected, we coordinate the work in order. How long it takes depends on the design and on how quickly each phase can be booked.
Plumbing usually runs about one to two days. That covers the hot mop drain, and relocating or centering it when the existing one doesn’t suit the new layout.
The hot mop comes next, typically one to two days. The curb, the blocking and the drain all have to be ready first.
Then we prepare the walls, template and start fabrication. Our fabrication and installation of the porcelain slabs typically takes about seven days. That seven days includes the slabs, the niche pieces, the curb cap and any bench and waterfall pieces.
The floor tile follows and usually takes about two to three days, depending on shower size, floor layout, the drain detail and the tile you chose. The glass is measured and installed last, and that schedule varies with the hardware and whether the enclosure needs custom glass.
The Typical Shower Timeline
- Plumbing: about one to two days for the hot mop drain and any relocation.
- Hot mop: about one to two days for the shower floor waterproofing.
- Wall preparation, template, fabrication and slab installation: about seven days.
- Shower floor tile: about two to three days after the slabs are installed.
- Glass: measured and installed last, once the walls, curb and tile floor are complete.
Material availability moves those numbers. So do the number of niches or benches, access to the bathroom, plumbing changes and custom glass.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do porcelain shower walls really have fewer grout lines?
Yes, and it’s the main visual reason people choose them. The walls are porcelain slabs cut to fit your shower rather than dozens of small tiles, so the grid of grout lines becomes a small number of planned seams, placed where they’re least noticeable. Veining flows up the wall instead of restarting at every tile. The floor is still tile, so grout lines remain down there.
Can my existing shower drain stay where it is?
Sometimes, and it depends on your layout. In a lot of remodels the current drain is not in the best position for the new shower. If it’s off-center, too close to a wall, or sitting where the floor can’t slope correctly toward it, it gets relocated. A new hot mop compatible drain goes in either way. This is decided early, because the drain has to be finished before the hot mop pan goes over it.
What happens if I change something after the shower is templated?
Changes after templating can affect the fit, delay the installation, or require new templates. Every piece is fabricated to measurements taken from your finished space. Moving a valve or resizing a niche leaves you with porcelain cut to dimensions that no longer exist, which is why the waterproofing, the plumbing and the wall preparation are all finalized before we measure.
Can the shower floor be porcelain slab as well?
No. The shower floor is tile. It’s built with a correct slope so water drains instead of pooling, and it goes in after the slabs so it meets them cleanly. Where the two meet we leave a proper joint finished with a flexible sealant, which lets the floor and the wall move slightly.
Does a porcelain shower need to be sealed?
The porcelain itself does not. Porcelain is non-porous, so it never needs sealing, and that’s one reason it suits a shower so well. What protects the shower is not a sealer on the surface at all. It’s the hot mop pan under the tile floor, the waterproofed wall assembly behind the slabs, and the sealed transitions between the two.
Talk to Us About Your Shower
If you’re planning a porcelain shower, the useful next step is having us come and look at the actual bathroom. We’ll walk through the layout with you and talk about the curb, the niche and whether you want a bench.
We work with a network of partnered showrooms across San Diego County. Call or email us with the material you’re looking for and we’ll direct you to the partnered showroom that has it in stock, so you can see full slabs in person.
Two ways to start:
- Call us at (619) 202-0017 to schedule your free in-home estimate.
- Email albert@graniteandmarbleconcepts.com with photos of your bathroom, a rough sketch or drawings if you have them, and anything you have already decided.
Granite and Marble Concepts handles the sequence from there. You deal with us, and we deal with everybody else.