How to Make a Curb for a Shower

Calculate the distance between the bathroom’s shower walls and record it. The length of the bathroom curb should match this distance. Use the saw to cut two or three identical lengths of 2-by-4-inch lumber for the curb, depending on how high you want it, to the noted length.

Lay the two or three cut 2-by-4s on top of one other, ensuring their ends and edges are flush and forming a wooden block. Set the boards on the floor between the shower walls. Hammer a nail through the sides and center of the boards to secure them to each other and the floor.

Wear thick gloves before handling the sheet of galvanized metal lath. Use tin snips to cut a piece of lath large enough to extend over the back, top and side of the wooden block.

Lay the metal lath over the block until it's completely covered. Drive galvanized staples through the lath along the front or outside of the curb to secure it to the wooden block.

Pour a sack of mortar in the wheelbarrow. Add water until the mortar achieves the consistency required by the instructions, usually similar to cake batter. Use the garden hoe to mix.

Apply an inch-thick layer of mortar over the top of the curb, using the margin trowel. Don’t worry about applying an even layer; at this point you want to provide a workable base for the straightedge.

Lower the straightedge over the mortared top of the curb. Press it into the curb to create suction that secures the straightedge to the mortar. Align the straightedge so its front edge extends the front of the curb by 3/4 inch.

Pack mortar over the front of the curb, directly under the protruding edge of the straightedge, until the gap is filled. Continue to pack mortar along the entire length of the curb.

Press the straightedge on top of the curb with one hand and scrape the mortar over the front of the curb with a flat trowel to smooth its face. Ensure one edge of the trowel falls flush against the floor while extending it along the front of the curb.

Reposition the straightedge so its opposite long edge extends past the back edge of the curb by 3/4 inch. Repeat the process of packing mortar over the back of the curb until the gap is filled. Leave the mortar to dry for the time specified on the label directions, usually at least 24 hours.

Install tiles on the sides of the curb before covering its top. Apply a thin layer of mortar over the back of each tile with a notched trowel before lowering it over the curb. If required, cut a tile to size with the tile saw.