Herringbone Tile Custom Shower Suite — Fallingbrook, Orléans

The Project

The homeowners in Fallingbrook — one of Orléans' established neighbourhoods along the Ottawa River — had an existing bathtub and surround that hadn't been touched since the house was built in the early 1990s. They wanted the tub removed entirely and replaced with a walk-in custom shower with a curbless entry, which would also make the bathroom more accessible for aging in place.

The existing space was 36 square feet — workable for a custom shower, but tight enough that every decision about layout, drain placement, and tile scale had a meaningful impact on how the finished room would look and function.

Waterproofing First

Before any tile selection or layout planning, the shower space needed a proper waterproofing system. We removed the old tub surround down to the studs and replaced the backer material with cement board, then applied Schluter KERDI membrane to all wall surfaces and the floor pan.

All inside corners and changes of plane were reinforced with KERDI-BAND — a fabric-reinforced membrane strip that creates a continuous, uninterrupted waterproof layer at the joints most susceptible to movement and failure. The drain was integrated with a KERDI-DRAIN flange, which bonds mechanically to the membrane and eliminates the most common leak point in shower floors.

Once the waterproofing membrane was fully set, we conducted a 24-hour flood test: the drain was plugged, the shower pan was filled with water, and we waited. Passing this test before any tile is installed is the only reliable way to confirm the waterproofing is continuous. This is standard practice on every shower we build.

Tile Layout and Herringbone Floor

The homeowners chose a 3×6 inch white subway tile for the walls and a 2×4 inch herringbone mosaic for the shower floor. The herringbone pattern was an intentional contrast — the geometry of the floor adds visual interest without competing with the clean, vertical lines of the wall tile.

For a curbless shower, the floor slope has to be built into the mortar bed from the beginning. We installed a pre-sloped shower pan that transitions smoothly from the bathroom floor level into the shower at the required 1/4-inch-per-foot pitch toward the centre drain. The transition at the entry is a thin schluter profile — barely visible underfoot, no trip hazard.

Wall tile was set in a standard running bond (each row offset by half a tile) from floor to ceiling, with large-format matching tile on the ceiling to keep the grout lines clean. A continuous accent strip at shoulder height separates the lower and upper wall tile zones and gives the eye a horizontal break across a vertical room.

The Built-In Niche

A single niche was framed into the back wall of the shower — 12 inches wide, 24 inches tall, positioned at a height that works for both standing and seated use. The niche was waterproofed with KERDI membrane independently before tiling, with the tile running continuously from the wall into the niche interior. Grout lines align across the transition, and a pencil liner tile trims the opening.

Built-in niches require planning before framing — the depth needs to fit between studs (typically 3.5 inches) without cutting into plumbing or structural members. In this Orléans home, the back wall of the shower was an interior partition wall, which gave us a clean run of stud cavity to work with.

Results

The finished shower is approximately 36 square feet with ceiling height tile, a curbless entry, herringbone floor, and a built-in niche. The homeowners gained significant usable space compared to the original tub, and the room reads larger because of the consistent tile scale and the elimination of the tub's visual bulk.

From a technical standpoint: flood test passed, slope confirmed at 1/4 inch per foot, KERDI membrane continuous at all penetrations and transitions. Grout lines are consistent throughout, and movement joints at all changes of plane are filled with colour-matched silicone, not grout.