Custom Tile Shower Installation in Lexington, KY

What does a tile shower cost in Lexington?

Most custom tile showers here land between $9,000 and $20,000. A rough guide:

Tile price per square foot matters less than people expect. Labor follows the pattern: herringbone, vertical stack, mitered corners and small mosaics all take longer to set than a simple offset layout. Frameless glass is often one of the bigger single lines on the quote.

Weighing tile against a panel system? See acrylic vs. tile showers and, for an acrylic option, shower replacement. Overall bathroom numbers are in our Lexington cost guide.

What actually keeps a tile shower from leaking?

Not the tile. Grout is porous, and water moves through it every time you shower. A tile shower stays dry only if the layer behind the tile is waterproof and the floor underneath slopes to the drain.

Many older Lexington showers we tear out were built over a mortar bed with a tar-paper or lead liner, or on plain drywall in later homes. Those last a while and then rot the framing from behind. Our build is different:

• Cement board or foam board walls covered by a continuous waterproof membrane, sealed at seams, corners, screws and pipe openings.
• A pre-sloped pan so water never sits under the tile.
• A flood test. We plug the drain, fill the pan and leave it, so any leak shows up before tile hides it.
• Niches and benches waterproofed with the same care as the walls, since those corners are where leaks start.

Which tile and grout work in a shower with hard water?

Central Kentucky sits on limestone, so the water is hard and leaves white mineral spots on glass, fixtures and grout. That shapes what we suggest:

• Porcelain tile absorbs very little water, wipes clean and comes in stone, concrete and wood looks. It is our usual pick for walls and floors.
• Glazed ceramic costs less and is easy to work with on walls. Classic subway tile is ceramic.
• Natural stone like marble is beautiful but etches from acidic cleaners and needs sealing. Hard-water cleaners and marble don't mix well.
• Small mosaics on the floor give more grip because of the extra grout lines.
• Grout. We usually recommend an epoxy or high-performance grout in a mid-tone color. It resists staining, and mineral film doesn't stand out the way it does on dark or bright white grout.
• Glass. A factory protective coating on the glass makes hard-water spots much easier to wipe off.

How long does a tile shower take to build?

Plan on about one to two weeks on site:

1. Tear-out and rough plumbing. Old shower removed, valve and drain updated, blocking added for future grab bars.
2. Pan, walls and waterproofing, followed by the flood test.
3. Tile. Walls, floor, niche and bench. This is the longest stretch.
4. Grout and cure.
5. Glass. Frameless glass is measured after the tile is up and installed once it is made, which usually adds a short wait.

Our guide on how long a bathroom remodel takes covers full-room timelines.

Tile showers in Lexington homes, old and new

In the 1920s to 1940s houses of Chevy Chase, Kenwick and Ashland Park, removing an old shower usually means cutting into plaster and finding galvanized supply lines and walls that are out of plumb by a surprising amount. We swap the worn pipe while it is exposed and straighten the walls, because large tile shows every wave.

In Hamburg, Beaumont, Palomar and Andover Forest, the job is usually the reverse: a builder-grade fiberglass stall comes out, and often the unused garden tub next to it goes too, making room for a larger tiled walk-in with a bench. Moving the drain or valve to do that is plumbing work that needs a state permit from the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. A retile in the same footprint usually doesn't. We confirm and pull what's needed; see our permit guide.