As we discussed the framing layout at our site meeting this morning, I thought it would be a good idea to write a post on how important early planning is in any project. As it is the case in this project, we have a final design that calls for all sorts of things to be aligned with a tile layout – door openings, location of the tub, shower fixture locations etc etc. all need to be aligned with tile and grout lines – and btw – we have 1/8″ tolerances. So in order to arrive at this exact design, we have to take everything into consideration early on – framing dimensions, subfloor dimensions, exact tile dimensions including thickness for adhesives and grouts etc etc – and it all starts with?? You guessed right: FRAMING! So in our case, in order to get to the level walk-in shower with no shower curb, we have to lower the subfloor structure just enough to allow for a shower mud pan to be recessed in the floor. As you can see to the left, the area of the new shower floor has been recessed to allow the addition of a sloped shower pan. After this, the layout of the walls and exact framing will be super important. It is not easy to get to super tight tolerances working with wood, that’s why sometimes we use engineered studs or even metal for interior wall framing. Again, proper planning for all of this is detremental for a good final product.