How to Frame a Doorless Shower

Measure out the size of your doorless shower on the subfloor of your bathroom with a measuring tape. Start with the drain hole in the floor and measure out from it so the drain stays centered in the shower enclosure. Mark the subfloor with the pencil, then snap chalk lines between the marks to indicate where walls need to go.

Construct partition walls just outside the lines you snapped on the floor, perpendicular to the bathroom wall. Measure the perpendicular lines then cut a 2-by-4 down the length of each line with the circular saw. Nail a 2-by-4 to the subfloor on the outer side of each chalk line. Measure the distance between one floor plate and the ceiling. Cut a 2-by-4 to that length, then toenail it to the floor plate and into a ceiling joist above. Measure 16 inches from the stud you just nailed into place down the length of the floor plate toward the bathroom wall and mark the floor plate. Measure down another 16 inches and continue making marks until you reach the bathroom wall. Toenail other studs into the floor plate and ceiling at those marks. Install studs in the same way on the other floor plate.

Choose a wall on which to place the shower head and controls in your doorless shower. Determine which stud cavity will hold the water supply pipes. Mark the studs on each side of that cavity at the height of 48 inches and 72 inches, the standard heights for shower controls and heads. Measure the distance between the two studs. Cut two lengths of 1-by-6 board to that distance. Nail the braces to the studs, placing their faces flush with the backs of the studs. The braces support shower controls and the shower head when you install them.