The shower is the hardest-working square footage in your home. It takes hot water, steam, soap, and hard Georgia water every single day, and it is the first place a cheap build shows its age. A custom tile shower, built correctly from the pan up, will outlast and outperform any prefab insert — and it will look like it belongs in your home instead of like it was dropped in from a warehouse. Alpine Development Groups LLC designs and builds custom tile showers and walk-in showers for homeowners across Austell, Cobb County, and Metro Atlanta.
Custom Tile vs. Prefab Showers: An Honest Comparison
Let us be honest about prefab versus tile. Acrylic and fiberglass inserts have one real advantage: they are fast and inexpensive. But they flex, they discolor, and when they fail you replace the whole unit. A custom tile shower costs more up front and gives you everything else: any size, any shape, any tile, a proper waterproofing system underneath, and the ability to repair or refresh it decades later without tearing out the room. For a forever home, tile is the only serious answer.
Walk-in showers are the most requested design we build, and for good reason. Removing the curb — or keeping just a low threshold — opens the room visually and makes entry effortless. A curbless walk-in with a linear drain is the cleanest look in modern bathroom design, and it happens to be the most accessible option too. For homes on a concrete slab, which is common across Metro Atlanta, a true curbless entry takes careful planning around drain depth, and we will tell you during the consultation whether your slab allows it or whether a low-profile curb is the smarter build.
Size and layout are design decisions, not afterthoughts. A comfortable walk-in starts around 36 by 48 inches, but many of our clients go larger once the old tub comes out — 48 by 72 gives you room for a bench and a rain head without feeling crowded. Benches can be tiled to match, floating corner seats, or teak for warmth. Niches go in at the planning stage, not as an afterthought, so they land centered and waterproofed. A handheld on a slide bar is worth including in almost every shower we build — for cleaning, for kids, for pets, and for anyone who may need seated showering down the road.
Walk-In Shower Design Options
Glass is the frame around the tile work. Frameless glass panels and doors are the premium choice — minimal hardware, maximum sightline, and they let the tile do the talking. Semi-frameless is a solid middle ground. Fixed panels with an open entry work beautifully in larger walk-ins and eliminate a door altogether. We measure for glass after the tile is set, because glass cut to the finished opening fits the way it should.
Now the part you will never see: waterproofing. Every custom shower we build gets a complete waterproofing system — waterproof backer boards, sealed seams and corners, and a sloped pan with the membrane tied directly into the drain assembly. Tile and grout are not waterproof; they never were. Water passes through grout with every shower, and the membrane is what stands between that water and your framing, subfloor, and the ceiling below. Most shower failures we are called to repair — the slow leak into the dining room ceiling, the mold blooming through grout lines — trace back to a pan or a niche that was never properly waterproofed. We build every shower as if we are the ones who will be called back, because we are local and we will be.
Tile selection is where your shower gets its personality. Large-format porcelain on the walls means fewer grout lines and a calm, modern surface. Natural stone — marble, travertine, quartzite — brings veining and depth that porcelain is still chasing, and we seal it properly for wet service. Mosaic tile on the floor is not just a design choice; the small tiles let us shape the slope to the drain correctly and give your feet grip. Handmade-look and zellige-style tiles bring variation and warmth that flat porcelain cannot. We will walk you through options from budget-friendly porcelain at Floor & Decor or Home Depot up to natural stone from local yards, and we will be straight about what each choice costs to buy and to live with.
Waterproofing: The Work You Never See
Grout deserves its own conversation. Epoxy grout costs more than cement grout and earns it — it resists staining and does not need sealing, which matters on a shower floor that sees shampoo and hard water daily. Grout color changes the whole read of the tile: contrasting grout draws out the pattern, while matching grout lets the surface read as one quiet plane.
Fixtures are the parts you touch every day. We install pressure-balancing or thermostatic valves from established manufacturers — the brands whose cartridges you can still buy in ten years. Rain heads, handhelds, and body sprays are all on the table, but we will also talk honestly about your home's water pressure and water heater capacity, because a three-head shower system on a tired 40-gallon heater is a disappointment waiting to happen. In much of Metro Atlanta, hard water is a fact of life; we will recommend finishes and maintenance routines that stand up to it.
Tile and Stone Choices for Your Shower
Accessibility is worth planning for even if you do not need it today. A curbless entry, a well-placed bench, blocking in the walls for future grab bars, a handheld shower — these cost little during construction and mean the bathroom never has to be remodeled twice. We frame blocking for grab bars as standard practice in our showers, whether you ask for it or not.
Our process is straightforward. Free in-home consultation with real measurements. Design and material selections together. Demolition of the old shower or tub with dust protection for the rest of your home. Rough plumbing and any framing adjustments. The full waterproofing system, flood-tested before tile begins. Tile setting, grout, fixtures, and glass. Then a final walkthrough where we check every grout line, every corner, and every valve with you.
Shower Fixtures, Glass, and Details
A shower-only project typically takes one to two weeks from demolition to done, depending on tile complexity and whether plumbing is being relocated. If the shower is part of a full bathroom remodel, it folds into the three-to-five-week schedule for the whole room. We order tile and glass on the front end so the job does not stall waiting on materials.
What affects the cost? Size of the shower, whether the drain is moving, tile selection, glass type, and fixture package. A straightforward replacement of an existing shower footprint in porcelain with semi-frameless glass is the most economical custom build. Going curbless with a linear drain, natural stone throughout, and frameless glass is the premium build. Most of our clients land somewhere in between, and we will show you exactly what each upgrade costs so you can choose with open eyes.
Our Shower Installation Process
A lot of our shower work starts with a phone call about a leak. If your shower is leaking into the room below, if grout is crumbling, if there is a musty smell that will not go away — call us before it gets worse. Water damage compounds. We will assess what failed and give you an honest answer about whether a repair is sensible or whether the pan has reached the end of its life.
Showers are our core craft. Waterproofing systems, pan construction, tile layout, drain placement — this is what we do every day, and it is the work that separates a shower that lasts twenty years from one that fails in five. When you hire a company that specializes in bathrooms, you are hiring people who have already solved your problem a hundred times.
Shower Projects Across Austell and Metro Atlanta
We build custom showers all over our service area — Austell, Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Mableton, Powder Springs, and across Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Forsyth, and Clayton counties. The housing stock varies, from 1960s ranches with cast iron drains to new construction with PEX and plenty of pressure, and we adapt the build to the house. Local matters for showers especially: when the company that waterproofed your pan is twenty minutes away, accountability is real.
If you are living with a tired fiberglass insert, a leaking pan, or a shower that just is not big enough, let us design the replacement with you. Request your free in-home consultation and we will measure, talk through tile and layout options at your budget, and give you a detailed quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to install a custom tile shower?
A shower-only installation typically takes one to two weeks from demolition to final walkthrough. That covers demo, any plumbing adjustments, the full waterproofing system, tile setting, grout, fixtures, and glass. Relocating the drain or building a curbless entry can add time, and custom glass is measured after tile is set so it fits exactly. If the shower is part of a full bathroom remodel, expect the three-to-five-week schedule for the whole room.
Are tile showers better than prefab shower inserts?
For longevity, repairability, and design, yes. Prefab acrylic and fiberglass units are faster and cheaper up front, but they flex, discolor, and must be replaced as a whole unit when they fail. A custom tile shower is built to any size with a proper waterproofing membrane underneath, and it can be repaired or refreshed decades later. For a home you plan to keep, tile is the better investment — and it appraises and photographs like it.
What is the best tile for a walk-in shower floor?
Small mosaic tile — porcelain or natural stone — in a two-inch or smaller format. The small tiles let us shape the slope to the drain properly and give your feet grip on a wet surface. Large-format tile on a shower floor is a common mistake; it cannot follow the slope and it gets slippery. For the walls, large-format porcelain or natural stone slabs mean fewer grout lines and easier cleaning.
My shower is leaking. Who should I call in Austell, GA?
Call a bathroom remodeling specialist — not a handyman. Most shower leaks trace back to a failed pan, an unwaterproofed niche, or a compromised drain assembly, and diagnosing them correctly requires someone who builds waterproofing systems every day. We are headquartered in Austell and serve all of Metro Atlanta. Request your free in-home consultation and we will assess what failed and give you an honest answer about repair versus rebuild.