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Custom Shower Design & Construction in Boise, Idaho
The widest range of shower conditions in the region — from 1910s North End bathrooms to Foothills primary suites with steam.
Short answer
Boise has the oldest and the most varied housing in the Treasure Valley, and shower scopes vary with it. In the North End, the East End and on the Bench, showers are typically small, previously remodelled by unknown hands, and full of surprises behind the tile: galvanised supply lines, mud-set walls, occasionally no waterproofing at all. Southeast Boise, West Boise and the Foothills are the opposite problem — the space is generous and the question is design rather than discovery.
Housing stock in Boise and the showers it produces
- Early-1900s to 1940s homes in the North End and East End, where the bathroom was often carved out of another room and the shower added later.
- Post-war Bench and Central Bench neighbourhoods with a single compact hall bath serving the whole house.
- 1970s to 1990s Southeast and West Boise homes with fibreglass surrounds now at the end of their service life.
- Foothills and Harris Ranch construction with large primary suites where the shower is the centrepiece of the room.
What we build in Boise
- In older central Boise homes we scope after demolition, not before. What is behind an eighty-year-old shower wall is genuinely unknown until it is open, and a fixed price quoted sight-unseen is either padded or about to change.
- Small original bathrooms usually gain more from a well-planned 32-by-60 tiled shower with a proper niche than from any attempt to enlarge the room.
- Where a Boise home has one bathroom only, sequencing matters as much as design — we plan the shutdown window before we plan the tile.
- Foothills and Harris Ranch projects lean toward large-format porcelain, curbless entries, and occasionally steam, which changes the ceiling detailing and the enclosure completely.
Permits and jurisdiction
Permit thresholds, inspection sequences and contractor-registration requirements are set locally and change over time. We confirm current requirements with the authority having jurisdiction before work starts, and you should expect any shower contractor to tell you which office that is. In Boise that is the City of Boise planning and development services department.
Older central Boise homes are wood-framed over basements or crawlspaces, which usually makes a recessed curbless floor practical and gives good access for drain relocation. The trade is that framing in these houses is rarely plumb or square, so wall correction is a real line item before any tile is set.
Boise's supply is predominantly groundwater and is hard across most of the city. Combined with the older homes' original galvanised or mixed-metal supply lines, we often recommend replacing the supply runs within the shower wall while it is open, rather than tiling over pipe we would not choose to leave.
Our guide on what to ask a shower contractor covers the permit, scope and waterproofing questions worth asking before you sign anything.
Areas we cover in and around Boise
- North End
- East End and Warm Springs
- Central Bench and Depot Bench
- Southeast Boise and Columbia Village
- West Boise and Maple Grove
- Foothills and Harris Ranch
Services available in Boise
Preparing for the build
Before the first day, clear the bathroom and the route to it, take anything off the walls that shares framing with the shower, and tell us which bathroom stays in use and where the crew can park. We bring floor protection, door containment and dust control, isolate the water supply at a point we show you, and clean the work area at the end of each day.
- Selections — tile, grout, valve trim, drain and glass — are confirmed before demolition so a lead time cannot stall the build.
- In a single-bathroom home we sequence the work so the shower is out of service for the shortest possible stretch, and we say up front how long that is.
- Pets and children are kept clear of the work area; there are open drains, power tools and wet membrane in there for days.
Timeline and site conditions
Most single-shower projects in Boise run roughly two to three weeks on site once materials are on hand: protection and demolition, framing corrections and blocking, plumbing and electrical rough-in, the complete waterproofing system with its cure and flood test, tile setting, grout, then glass. Glass is templated after tile is set, so the panel often arrives a week or two after the shower already looks finished. Your written scope carries the schedule for your specific shower rather than a stock number.
Conditions found after demolition change that schedule more often than anything else — rot at the base of a wall, a drain that is not where it should be, framing out of plane, or an older pan with no membrane behind it. We photograph what we find, price it, and get your agreement before we carry on.
What drives the price of a shower in boise
Estimates are written after we have seen and measured the shower. We do not publish prices, because a shower quoted sight-unseen is a guess. These are the factors that move the number most, in roughly the order they matter:
- Size of the wet area and how high the tile runs — square footage of tile and membrane is the base of the estimate.
- Whether the drain and valve stay where they are. Moving either means opening the floor or the wall and coordinating a licensed plumber.
- Floor structure. A joisted floor lets a curbless pan be recessed; a slab often means either a ramped approach or cutting concrete.
- Tile choice. Large-format panels, mosaics, natural stone and any pattern that needs mitred or mapped joints all add setting time.
- Waterproofing system specified, and whether a linear drain, bench, niche or steam enclosure has to be integrated into it.
- Glass — a fixed panel, a door, low-iron glass or a custom radius each price differently.
- Conditions behind the old shower, which is why nothing is quoted before we have seen it.
Written scope, exclusions and change orders
Every project is built from a written scope that names the waterproofing system by manufacturer, the drain type, the tile and its layout, the glass, the schedule and the price. It also lists what is excluded, because that is where disputes come from.
Typically included
- Protection, containment, demolition and disposal
- Framing corrections and blocking for benches, niches and grab bars
- Plumbing and electrical rough-in for the valve, drain and any light or fan in the wet area
- The complete waterproofing system, flood test and pan slope verification
- Tile setting, grout, sealing where the material requires it
- Glass templating and installation, final clean and a punch-list walkthrough
Typically excluded and stated as such
- Work outside the shower: vanities, mirrors, bathroom flooring, paint beyond patching
- Hidden rot, mould remediation or structural repair discovered after demolition
- Moving walls, windows or the room's ventilation route
- Whole-house water treatment, though we will tell you when hard water is the real problem
- Owner-supplied materials, which we install but do not warrant
Anything that changes the scope becomes a written change order with its price and schedule effect, agreed before the work is done. Nothing is carried out on a verbal instruction.
Permits and inspections
A like-for-like tile shower replacement often needs no permit, while relocating a drain, altering supply plumbing, changing framing or adding electrical usually does. Jurisdiction follows your address, and the Treasure Valley has several — Boise, Meridian, Eagle and Star each issue their own permits, and county addresses go through the county. We identify permit-triggering work in the written scope and confirm the requirement with the authority for your address before work starts, rather than assuming.
Warranty and aftercare
Our craftsmanship is covered by a 1-year warranty, alongside the manufacturer warranties that come with the waterproofing system and materials specified in your scope.
Idaho contractor registration RCE-57919. Bonded and insured, with the current certificate of insurance provided in writing with every estimate. At handover you get the product documentation for the waterproofing system and tile, plus written cleaning guidance suited to the surfaces we installed and to Treasure Valley water. If something is not right, tell us and we will come back. Request an estimate or call (208) 891-1890.
Shower questions from Boise homeowners
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Planning a shower project in Boise?
Tell us about the shower and what is not working. We will follow up, arrange a visit and put a written scope and price in front of you.