Built to order
Your bathroom is not a standard size. Your shower does not have to be.
We build shower pans and wall systems to the quarter inch, in the color you want, with the drain where your plumbing already is. Roughly a third of what we ship is a dimension that appears on no catalog page anywhere.
Custom costs less than almost everyone expects. Numbers are below.
The problem
Why stock sizes fail in real houses
Take a tape measure into your bathroom and measure the alcove at the floor, at hip height, and just under the ceiling. In a house built before 1990, those three numbers are usually different. Half an inch of difference is normal. An inch is common.
Studs twist. Plaster builds up in corners. Floors settle. Somebody tiled over the old tile in 1987.
A stock kit is built to one number. When the opening is narrower than the kit, the kit does not go in. When the opening is wider, you get a gap, and the gap gets filled with trim and silicone. That joint is now the thing you maintain forever, and it is the first place water finds.
A built-to-order unit is cut to your smallest measurement plus the tolerance the installer needs. It goes in clean.
There is a second, less obvious reason people end up custom. The drain. A tub drain sits at one end, tight to the wall, usually on a 1.5″ line. Many shower pans want the drain somewhere else, and moving a drain in a finished house is the single most expensive thing on a bathroom invoice. Ordering the pan with the drain where your pipe already is can save more than the entire custom premium.
The most expensive four words in a bathroom remodel
"We'll move the drain."
If the existing drain does not align with a new shower pan, rough-in plumbing can jump from a few hundred dollars into the thousands, and on a slab it gets worse. Building the pan around the pipe is almost always cheaper than moving the pipe to suit the pan.
What happens with a stock kit and a 58½″ opening
- A 60″ kit does not fit. You are opening walls.
- A 54″ kit leaves 4½″ of wall to finish and trim on one side.
- You buy the 54″, build out the wall, and lose usable shower width forever.
Or you order a 58½″ unit, and none of that happens.
Interactive
Do you need a custom size?
Enter your opening. We will tell you whether a stock footprint covers it or whether building to size is the better answer. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Enter both numbers and press the button.
Options
Nine things you can change
"Custom" gets used loosely in this industry. Here is what it means on our order form.
1. The footprint
Width and depth to the quarter inch, from small corner units up to large roll-in compartments. This is the most common custom request and the simplest.
2. Wall height
Standard panels run 72″ to 84″. Low ceilings, soffits, sloped ceilings in attic conversions and 9-foot rooms all get handled by changing the panel height.
3. Threshold height
0.5″, 0.75″, 1″, 1.25″, 1.5″, 1.75″ or 2″, beveled or traditional, plus the conventional 4″ curb. Pick the number, not a marketing phrase.
4. Drain position
Left, right, center, front trench, or a trench built into the threshold at 1″ or 2″. Custom drain locations are available when the plumbing dictates.
5. Wall configuration
Single backwall or split backwall, multi-piece for retrofits or single-piece for open framing. The split layout is what gets a large shower through a small door.
6. Color
Stock gelcoat colors are the economical route. Beyond them, custom colors are available, and color-matched silicone ships with multi-piece units so the joints disappear.
7. Accent bands and backsplashes
An integrated accent band at eye height, or a contrasting backsplash. Molded in, so there is no trim strip and nothing to re-caulk.
8. Real tile integration
Actual tile built into the unit, for projects where the shower has to match something specific. This is the premium route and it takes longer.
9. Openings in the walls
Windows in the wet wall, plumbing chases, niches, and trim kits that cover the cut edge left by the old surround so the job does not turn into drywall work.
Send the three numbers and we will price it properly
Width, depth, ceiling height, plus where the drain sits. That is a real quote, not a range.
Cost
What custom actually adds
People expect a custom unit to cost double. It does not, because the manufacturing is already build-to-order. The tooling exists; the panel gets cut to a different number.
Typical premium over the nearest stock size
Typical ranges from our own quoting, not a price list. Combinations stack, and some combinations are cheaper together than separately. Call for a real number.
Where custom saves money
It is worth framing this the other way round, because the arithmetic often lands in your favor.
- No drain relocation. Ordering the drain where your pipe already is can save four figures on a slab.
- No wall framing changes. A unit built to the opening means the carpenter does not build out a wall, and you do not lose shower width.
- No filler and trim. Less labor, fewer joints, nothing to re-caulk in two years.
- Fits through the door. A split-backwall custom unit avoids the "it will not turn the corner" problem that sends one-piece showers back onto the truck.
The comparison that matters
Compare the custom premium against the labor it removes, not against the stock kit price. On most retrofits the custom unit is the cheaper finished project even though it is the more expensive box.
How to measure
Measuring for a custom unit
Ten minutes with a tape measure and a phone camera. Do it once, properly, and the rest of the process is easy.
- Step 01
Width, three times
Wall to wall, measured at the floor, at about 36″, and near the ceiling. Write down all three. We build to the smallest one.
- Step 02
Depth, three times
Front edge to back wall, same three heights. In a tub alcove, measure to the face of the finished wall, not the framing.
- Step 03
Height to the ceiling
And note anything in the way: a soffit, a sloped ceiling, a light, a fan, a vent.
- Step 04
Find the drain
Left, right or center as you face the opening, and roughly how far in from the front edge. A photo helps more than a number.
- Step 05
Check the floor
Slab, or wood joists? Ground floor, or upstairs? This decides whether a barrier-free pan is straightforward or whether you want an above-floor-rough unit.
- Step 06
Measure the path in
Narrowest doorway, tightest turn, staircase width. This decides multi-piece versus one-piece before anything else does.
- Step 07
Photograph everything
Four corners, the plumbing wall, the doorway, and the room from the hallway. Send them with the numbers.
Things that change the answer
A window in the wet wall
Very common in older homes and completely solvable. The panel gets an opening and a window trim kit seals the reveal. Tell us early, because it affects the wall layout.
An out-of-square alcove
Expected. We build to the tight dimension and the trim absorbs the difference. What we cannot do is fix a wall that bows two inches; that needs a carpenter first.
A plumbing wall that has to stay
If the valve is where it is and moving it means opening a wall on the other side of the house, say so. There are usually panel layouts that work around it.
A second-floor bathroom
The question is always whether the drain can be reached without cutting joists. If it cannot, an above-floor-rough unit with a trench threshold solves it with no structural work and no engineer.
Do not worry about precision on the first call
Rough numbers and a few photos are enough for us to tell you what is possible and roughly what it costs. Exact measurements come later, once you know which direction you are going.
Common cases
Four situations that always end up custom
These are the calls we take most often. If one of them describes your bathroom, you already know the answer.
The 1950s alcove that is not 60 inches
Post-war houses were built to whatever the framer felt like. Openings of 57″, 58½″ and 59¼″ are routine. A 60″ kit will not go in and a 54″ kit wastes five inches of bathroom. Build to the number.
The slab with the drain in the wrong place
Concrete floor, existing drain two feet from where a standard pan wants it. Cutting the slab means a saw, spoil removal, a re-pour and a week. Ordering the pan with a custom drain position removes the entire line item.
The upstairs bathroom over a finished ceiling
Dropping a barrier-free pan usually means notching joists, which means an engineer and a change order. An above-floor-rough unit with a 1″ trench threshold keeps everything above the existing floor line.
The wheelchair that needs turning room
A compliant roll-in is 30×60 or 36×60 clear inside, but the clear floor space beside it is what makes it usable. Sometimes the answer is a wider, shallower unit than anything on a catalog page.
Process
How a custom order runs
Numbers and photos
You send rough measurements and a few pictures. We tell you what is possible, what we would recommend, and roughly what it costs.
Spec and quote
We write the unit up: size, threshold, drain, wall layout, color, accessories. You get the spec sheet and the warranty in writing before any money moves.
Build
The unit is made after you order it. Most kits take about a week and a half. Real tile integration and some custom colors take longer, and we tell you the number up front.
Freight and install
It ships crated by freight. Inspect on delivery and note anything on the bill of lading. Then a one to three day install, either your contractor or ours.
One thing to know about custom
A built-to-order unit is made to your numbers, so it is not returnable in the way a stock item is. That is the trade for getting exactly what your room needs. We are deliberately slow and annoying about confirming dimensions before an order goes in, and that is why.
For the trade
Custom for contractors, builders and facilities
If you are buying more than one, the arithmetic changes and custom usually wins by more than it does for a homeowner.
One non-standard dimension, repeated
On a multifamily or senior living project, the unit plan is the unit plan. If the bathroom opening is 57½ inches in forty apartments, a stock kit means forty wall build-outs: forty lots of framing, forty lots of drywall, forty lots of paint, and forty bathrooms that are half an inch narrower than they had to be.
Ordering one custom dimension in quantity removes all of that. The premium on the unit is paid once per bathroom; the labor it avoids is paid once per bathroom too, and labor is the more expensive of the two.
Repeatability matters more than price
For a crew running the same install forty times, consistency is worth real money. A build-to-order unit arrives identical every time, with the drain in the same place, the same trim, and the same sequence. That is a schedule you can plan against.
Compliance is easier when you control the dimension
ADA, ANSI A117.1 Type A and Type B and California Title 24 all describe clear dimensions inside a finished compartment. When you can specify the unit rather than work around it, hitting those numbers stops being a problem to solve on site and becomes a line on a purchase order.
Send drawings and a unit mix and we will spec the range. See commercial and ADA.
What we need from a trade inquiry
- Unit countBy type
- Opening dimensionsPer unit type
- Threshold requiredPer unit type
- Compliance targetADA / Type A / Type B / Title 24
- Floor constructionSlab or framed
- Accessory scheduleBars, seats, valves
- Delivery windowTarget dates
Fire-rated construction
There is a 1¼″ flange trim engineered specifically for fire-rated new construction assemblies. If your detail requires it, say so at spec stage rather than at rough-in.
Color
Choosing a color you will still like in year twelve
Custom color is available and people ask for it constantly. Here is the advice we give, which sometimes talks people out of it.
A shower is not an accent wall
Wall paint gets repainted. A molded shower surface is there for twenty-five years or more. The color choice you make is effectively permanent, and taste in bathroom color moves faster than that.
The colors that age well are the ones that read as materials rather than as colors: white marble, limestone, grey slate, warm sand. The ones that age badly are the ones that were distinctive at the time of purchase.
Light behaves differently on gelcoat
A gelcoat surface is glossier and more reflective than a painted wall, so a color that looks soft on a chip can look considerably stronger over six feet of wall in a small room with a bright light in it. If you are matching to something specific, look at a sample at the size and angle it will actually be seen at.
Contrast is a safety feature
This is the one place we will push back on aesthetics. Aging eyes need strong edge contrast to locate things quickly, especially in steam. A white grab bar on a white wall is nearly invisible to someone in their late seventies. If grab bars are part of the plan, choose a wall color and a bar finish that stand apart from each other.
The cheaper route that usually looks better
Stock gelcoat colors with a custom accent. An integrated accent band at eye height or a contrasting backsplash gives a shower a designed look at a fraction of the cost of a fully custom color, and it dates far more slowly.
Color-matched silicone ships with multi-piece units, so the seams between panels disappear rather than announcing themselves as a grey line.
One practical note
Dark colors hide hard-water marks better than pale ones, and pale colors make a small bathroom read larger. If your water is hard and your bathroom is small, that is a genuine trade-off rather than a style question.
Custom shower questions
How much more does a custom shower kit cost?
In our experience a custom width or depth typically adds 5% to 15% over the nearest stock size. Custom colors run higher, and real tile integration is a different order of magnitude. The better comparison is against the labor a custom unit removes: no drain relocation, no wall build-out, no filler strips. On a lot of retrofits the custom unit produces the cheaper finished job.
What is the smallest and largest you can build?
Our stock range runs from a 30 by 30 inch footprint up to 78 by 48 inches. Custom goes beyond both ends. For anything unusually large, the limiting factor is normally freight and the path into the bathroom rather than manufacturing.
How long does a custom kit take?
Most kits run about a week and a half from order to ship. Custom dimensions rarely add much because the whole line is build-to-order. Custom colors and real tile integration do add time, and certain valve and fixture brands have their own lead times. We give you the number before you order, not after.
Can you match a specific color?
Custom colors are available. Send a reference, a paint code, or a sample of what it needs to sit next to. Bear in mind that a gelcoat surface and a painted wall reflect light differently, so an exact match in a chip is not always an exact match in a room. We will tell you honestly when we think a stock color will look better.
Can I get a custom pan but standard walls?
Yes, and it is common. Many people want a factory-made, pre-sloped floor with tile on the walls. Ordering a custom pan alone is straightforward, and it removes the highest-risk part of a tiled shower, which is the floor.
Do you do custom commercial and multi-unit work?
Yes. Multi-unit projects are often where custom makes the most sense, because one repeated non-standard dimension across forty units removes forty wall build-outs. Send the plans and the unit mix. See commercial and ADA.
Is a custom unit still covered by the warranty?
Yes. The 30-year limited warranty against manufacturing defects applies to fiberglass-reinforced showers, walls and pans from the date of installation, whether the dimensions are stock or custom.
Related pages
Get your quote
Tell us the room. We will tell you what fits.
Send your measurements and we will come back with the sizes that work, the threshold height we would recommend, and a price. If you want it installed, say so and we will quote that too.
Not sure how to measure? Do not worry about being precise on the first pass. Give us rough numbers and a photo, and we will tell you exactly what to measure next.
Rather just talk?
1-888-779-2284A real person answers, and they know the product. No call center, no script.
Send the numbers. We will build to them.
Width, depth, ceiling height and drain position. Rough is fine on the first pass.
1-888-779-2284