The recessed shelf in your shower looks like a simple detail. It is one of the most common spots we find water damage when we open up an older Loveland bathroom. A shower niche cut into the wall without proper waterproofing has a nice tile face and a wet mess behind it, soaking into the framing where nobody can see it until the drywall on the other side starts staining. So before we talk about the fun part (tile, shape, trim), we want to walk you through how we build a niche and a bench that will still be dry in fifteen years.
We are TMC Construction Services. Our founder Brian Martin has been in this trade for about 27 years, and he started the company in Loveland back in March 2015 focused on bathrooms before we grew into kitchens and outdoor living. Almost every primary bath we do gets stripped to the studs, so we’re building these niches from scratch, correctly, every time.
What a shower niche actually is (and why the build matters more than the look)
A shower niche is a recessed shelf framed into the wall to hold your shampoo, soap, and razors without a corner caddy hanging off the showerhead. That’s the whole idea. The reason it’s worth a blog post is that it’s a hole in a waterproof wall, and every edge of that hole is a place water wants to get in.
We build ours recessed between the studs, not surface-mounted. A surface-mounted box sitting proud of the wall reads cheaper and collects more soap film on its lip. Recessed sits flush with the tile field and looks like it belongs there. The trade-off is that recessing means cutting into the framing, and that’s exactly why the waterproofing has to be right.
Waterproofing a tiled shower niche with Wedi
Waterproofing a tiled shower niche is where most niche failures actually start, because the bottom shelf holds standing water and the seams around the opening are the weak points. On our bathroom builds we use the Wedi (“wheaty”) system, a bonded waterproof board that we seal at every joint, or a properly sealed concrete board assembly depending on the job. Wedi gives us a continuous waterproof surface from the shower wall right into the niche, so there’s no seam where the field membrane stops and the shelf begins.
Two details we don’t skip. First, the bottom shelf of the niche gets a slight pitch toward the shower so water runs out instead of pooling on the ledge. A dead-flat shelf holds a puddle that sits against the grout until it finds a way through. Second, every inside corner and the transition from wall to niche gets sealed. That’s the spot a rushed installer misses, and it’s the spot that leaks.
We want to be honest about what we don’t do: we don’t offer basement waterproofing or the EverDry-type foundation systems, and we don’t do mold remediation as a standalone service. What we do handle is building your shower so water never gets behind the tile in the first place. During our roughly week to ten days of prep before any tile goes in, we’re strengthening the shower floor and framing and making the whole enclosure waterproof. That prep is the part homeowners never see and the part that decides whether the niche lasts.
How do you size and frame a niche that fits real bottles?
Size the niche to your tallest bottle, then add room. A niche that’s too shallow means your conditioner bottle tips out onto the shower floor. We frame most niches to land the opening around eye and chest height on the wall opposite the showerhead, so water spray doesn’t blast straight into it and the shelves are easy to reach.
On framing: the niche has to fit the stud bays. A single niche fits neatly between two studs. If you want a wider double or a taller stack of shelves, we may need to head off a stud and reframe the opening, which is more labor but gives you the layout you actually want instead of the one the studs happened to allow. A horizontal shelf divider inside the niche keeps tall shampoo separate from small soap bars, and it also breaks up a big empty box visually.
Where should you not put a shower niche?
Not on an exterior wall if we can avoid it. Cutting a recess into an outside wall eats into your insulation and puts a cold, condensation-prone cavity right in the wettest part of the house. Not directly in the path of the showerhead spray, where water pounds the shelf all day. And not on a wall with plumbing or wiring running through the bay we’d have to cut. When we plan your bathroom, you’ll see all of this in the 3D rendering before you sign anything, so the niche location is a decision we make together on screen, not a surprise during demo.
Benches, and building a curbless shower for aging in place
A bench gets waterproofed the same careful way as the niche, with a pitched seat so water sheds off it, a fully bonded top, and framing strong enough to sit on wet. We build both floating benches (cantilevered off the wall for a lighter look) and full corner benches. The waterproofing rules don’t change: continuous membrane, sealed seams, pitch away from the body of the seat.
Benches come up most on the aging-in-place projects, which are a growing part of our bathroom work as clients plan to stay in their Loveland homes long-term. Curbless shower design for aging in place means a zero-degree entry (no lip to step over), a bench to sit on, room to move, and often a niche placed lower so it’s reachable from the seat. That zero-degree entry is one of the bigger cost drivers in a bath remodel, because getting the floor to slope to the drain with no curb takes real framing and waterproofing work. It’s worth it. On a recent primary bath we moved a wall to enlarge the shower, pulled out an old Jacuzzi tub, and built a zero-degree entry shower with all-new tile and plumbing. That homeowner made her selections with our designer, stayed patient through the process, and now sends us her neighbors.
Tile selection for shower niches
Tile selection for shower niches is where you get to have fun, and it’s the part clients underestimate for how many decisions it holds. A niche is a natural spot to do something different from the main field, a contrasting accent, a mosaic, or a slab of the same quartz as your countertop for a clean, groutless back. Our designer Carlie takes clients around the city to source materials rather than picking from a stocked showroom, so your niche tile isn’t limited to what one supplier keeps on the shelf.
A practical note on grout: the more grout lines inside a niche, the more scrubbing later. A small mosaic looks great but holds more soap film. A single large-format piece or a stone slab back wipes clean fast. If low maintenance matters to you, we’ll steer the tile choice that direction. Metal or tile trim frames the niche opening so the cut tile edges are hidden and clean; that trim detail is one of the small things that separates a niche that looks built-in from one that looks cut in.
How we build it, day by day
When we start a bathroom on a Monday, we’re there Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 5, until it’s done, usually about four weeks. There’s no day where nothing is happening in your bathroom, because we’re not waiting on another trade and we’re not waiting on materials that were selected months earlier. Kitchens and baths are 100% in-house, our own crews, not a rotating cast of subs.
The sequence runs demo to studs, fix any mold and strengthen the shower floor and framing, waterproof, concrete board, tile, then cabinets, electrical, and paint.
Our clients tell us the same thing more than anything else: we’re the cleanest contractors who’ve been in their home. We contain the dust, and we vacuum and dust at the end of every day, so you’re never stepping over tools. People often say we leave it cleaner than we found it.
Serving Loveland and the east side
We work out of Loveland and cover the eastern corridor, Montgomery, Mason, Madeira, Hyde Park, and Indian Hill, traveling as far as West Chester and Mount Lookout when the project fits. TMC Construction Services is insured and bonded, carries a $2M liability policy, and stands behind the work with a 1-year labor warranty plus help navigating any material manufacturer warranty.
We’re a Best of Houzz remodeler and a Certified Therma-Tru door installer. This is a family business, so you’re reaching us directly, not an 800 number.
Ready to plan your shower?
If you’re planning a bathroom in the Loveland area and want a niche and shower built to stay dry, the first in-person consultation is always free. We’ll look at your space, talk through niche placement, bench, and tile, and put a 3D rendering in front of you so you see the finished shower before we build it. Call us at (513) 781-3000 or email team@tmcbuild.com to set it up.
