New Construction in Toluca Lake
A new Toluca Lake house with wet rooms built to hold water: shower membranes, sloped floors, recessed slabs for curbless showers and a flood test first.
Inside a new Toluca Lake house, the showers give water the most chances to escape. Each one is built over a waterproof layer that runs under the tile, up the walls and across the curb or threshold, with the floor sloped to the drain. Before any tile is set, the pan is filled with water and left standing, so a leak shows up while it is still easy to fix.
The waterproof layer
A shower can be waterproofed with a traditional liner under a mortar bed or with a bonded sheet or liquid membrane applied over the backer board. Either way, the layer turns up the walls well above the shower head on the wet side and laps into the drain's clamping ring. Niches, benches and valve openings get their own preformed corners and patches, since leaks often start there. Cement board or foam board goes behind tile, and paper-faced drywall stays out of the wet area entirely.
Floors that drain and the flood test
The floor slopes toward the drain at a steady pitch so no puddle stays behind. A curbless shower needs the slab or subfloor recessed under it, which has to be settled before the foundation is poured. The inspector checks the pan with water standing in it for a set period, and we photograph the test before the tile setter starts. Laundry rooms and bathroom floors outside the shower get a membrane along the edges where splashing is likely, and the washer sits in a drained pan.
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New Construction in Toluca Lake: questions
Surveyed lines, soil conditions and the parcel's zoning envelope come first. We also want the sewer depth and where it connects, because bathroom and laundry drains need enough fall to reach it. Where water and power enter the lot rounds out the list before the floor plan starts.
Survey, soils, engineering and the permit set make up the opening stage. After approval, construction is priced in phases, with the shower pans and their tests inside the rough plumbing phase. Each phase has a written figure you see and approve before its work starts on site.
Our office manages that. Lot lines come from the surveyor, ground conditions from the soils engineer, and the structural engineer designs from both. If a curbless shower needs a recessed slab, we make sure that detail reaches the engineer early. Contracts can run through you or us, on one schedule.
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Tell us about the property and what you have in mind. We reply with a written next step.