Drop down shower levelling

[Bernie-Babe13]

I have a drop down shower in an old 90’s townhouse but I want to make it level. Don’t really want tiles anymore just an easy to maintain I wanted wall panels but want to raise the floor. Has anyone ever done this or would I need to get a professional for this part. It’s 9cm deep 

Thanks

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Bernie-Babe13,

That drop-down shower was almost certainly done for compliance reasons at the time, usually to manage falls and ensure water stayed contained within the shower area. Because of that, all of the original waterproofing will have been designed around that lowered floor, not just the tiles you can see.

Technically, you can raise the floor, but it is not a simple build-up job. The moment you change the shower floor height, the waterproofing requirements change completely. Any new raised layer would need to be fully waterproofed, and that waterproofing must tie seamlessly into the existing wall and bathroom floor waterproofing. Waterproofing has to be a continuous system, from the walls, across the shower base, and out into the rest of the bathroom, applied as one complete membrane. You cannot reliably patch or “join” new waterproofing onto old waterproofing and still meet best practice or compliance.

This is where it becomes impractical. To do it properly, you would likely need to remove the wall linings or tiles, remove the bathroom floor tiles, and re-waterproof the entire bathroom as one homogeneous layer before finishing it again, whether that is with tiles or wall panels. Because of this, many waterproofers will not touch a partial raise like this, as they cannot guarantee the integrity of the membrane.

So while it is possible in theory, it is rarely feasible or cost-effective in practice without a full bathroom strip-out. This is definitely not a DIY job, and even trades will be cautious.

It would help to understand what is driving the desire to raise the floor, whether it is accessibility, cleaning, water pooling, or something else. Depending on the reason, there may be alternative solutions that do not involve changing the floor height. At the very least, I would suggest speaking directly with a licensed waterproofer and running the idea past them, as they will be able to tell you very quickly whether it is achievable in your specific bathroom.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Bernie-Babe13]

Thanks. I actually wanted to put in a different shower and there has been some water damage which I wasn’t aware of so I thought I could maybe raise but if that’s going to affect the entire bathroom I guess I will have to stick with getting the same shower