Linear Drains for Curbless Showers | Are they a good idea?

Don't get me wrong, I love the look of a linear drain in a curbless shower. I've installed many of them over the years. Bu I finally installed one in my own master bathroom 2 years ago. In this video I want to share why I will not be installing one in my next home. 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

The problem with a linear drain is the trough design itself, and the hair that can get stuck and build up gunk. I'm not sure there is much getting aways from this. If you have a solution or have a similar issue, Please leave a comment, I'd like to hear your story. Another issue is the tile-able drain covers that have exposed thinset or grout on the edges; this area will always get nasty over time.

🎁Affiliate links to products used in video (appreciate anyone purchasing through these links. This helps out my channel tremendously-thanks!)

🎬🎬Here are the key points - skip to chapters if your needing help on a specific topic:

0:00 Intro - Curbless shower for a master bathroom
0:22 Best sized shower for a bathroom
0:41 Single panel glass for a shower verses a full shower enclosure
1:06 Will water overspray a shower with just a glass wall
1:15 Best way to install glass in a curbless shower
1:53 Heated flooring in a bathroom in a shower
2:10 Best shower faucet with handheld for a shower
3:16 LED lighting in a shower - recessed niche for shampoo
3:31 Best grout for a shower - epoxy grout
3:54 Problems with linear drains in a shower
4:14 Why I will not be installing another linear drain in one of my showers
4:53 Why Schluter linear drains can be a problem with hair clogging
5:25 Problem with tile-able drain covers in a shower
5:54 Let me know if you have had a similar issue with channel drains in a shower
6:00 Bathroom design idea overview
6:27 Like and subscribe! 🙏🙏

#bathroom #cleaningashower #lineardrain #bathroomremodelingteacher #shower #bathroomremodel #diy #remodel #renovation #construction #homeimprovement #homerenovation #bathroomdesign #tile #work #stevewhite #tipsandtricks #tutorial #howto #youtubetutorial #interiordesign #tiledesign #schluter #lineardrains

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Twitter: @bathremodeltchr

[BathroomRemodelingTeacher]

If any manufacturers or contractors want to chime in here on the linear drains, please do. If your drain is superior, or can eliminate this maintenance issue, I’m all ears
I absolutely love the look of them!

[Flux_Flow]

This video just sold me on a standard drain. Thanks.

[markstipulkoski]

I look at it as a benefit, not a problem. I've had hair get clogged in the trap of a traditional drain. The hair with this lineat drain gets intercepted before it can clog a pipe. Seems like it is easy to clean, IMO. Use a cleaning wipe to pick up most of the hair and scum off the cover and trough, then spray them with bathroom cleaner and finally, use the hand held spray wand to wash it down the uncovered drain.
Nice looking modern shower BTW. Green subway tile accent wall, but still mostly white and bright. This has given me inspiration for my future home, including the linear drain.

[VoiceoftheMummy]

Glad I saw this. I'm a occasional DIY guy. I am working on a 5' shower project now. I saw this and went eeewwww more cleaning workload! Looks like cleaning and bleaching effort on this. The plan is to use a 24" in the center or rethink to have a center drain. EDITED-- yea. I started to look at the drain parts and realized the center tiled section standoffs will catch everything passing by and will need constant cleaning... moving back to a standard decorative drain!

[TheExcellentLaborer]

Meaning you can go back to your work years later and your work is in good shape is a sign you are an excellent remodeler. Keep up the good work!

[leeboriack]

The lighted shelf spanning the width of the shower visually expands the width of the shower. Perfection.

[rebeccaveasey]

I found your videos last night, while looking for information on the linear drains and how to install them, and now I see your point on cleaning issues. As a woman who has cleaned more then her fair share of showers, but never a linear shower drain, I believe I would rather deal with the linear then the standard. I would much rather be able to open the linear drain cover and clean out the build up than dig blindly into the standard drain, sometimes fighting the standard drain cover as well, to get out the built up hair and yuck that collect in any drain. I see that precautions would need to be taken to kfrom cutting my hands on the linear drain covers underside, but all of that is just done with a scrub brush and a vacuum cleaner. When I have my new bathroom built I will be going with linear shower drain. Thank you for showing all of the issues with this product.

[taylormade]

I went with a Schluter non-grid full stainless steel linear drain with no tile on the top. Very sleek, smooth and easy to clean. I prefer to have the ability to lift that up and clean it. My old standard round drain use to smell funky and I could never get in there to clean it. My new linear drain has a little strainer to catch hair so I don’t have to worry about my sewer pipes getting clogged. I love my new stainless linear drain. Mine is up against the entire length of the back wall so the water drains away from the shower glass. I wouldn’t change a thing.

[Tuberder]

One thing not mentioned is the big reason people want linear drains is to have continuous large format tiles to create a unified floor all the way across your bathroom and into the shower. It’s a great look, makes a bathroom look larger, and the reason I did it. It’s not about the look of the linear drain. People don’t seem to get that. If you go with a normal round drain then you must switch to small tiles in the floor of your shower to be able to conform to all the curves and slope surrounding the drain. You obviously can’t do that with large tiles. Linear drains allow large tiles to just slope one direction and direct water flow along a single long line rather than curved around a point.

[ebbeman]

Hi Steve! This is Larry from ebbe America. I really like that you've shown the real-world cleaning issues Linear Shower Drains have always had. Thanks especially for mentioning our INNI linear Shower Drain on the TileCoach session last night! We took notice! As you may already know, the INNI Line drain solves all the problems you mentioned in your video. Quickly and easily cleaned. No full-length Tiled cover to remove etc. No stink and no gunk! Sloped flow surfaces inside. Always installs fully from wall to wall because it is site-sizeable. We have sold over 14, 000 of them in the past few years. No failures. I wish more people knew they existed. Keep up the great work!

[suemclaughlin]

Just googled “how often should I have to clean my linear shower drain” and your video came up. Wish I would have watched this a year ago before we did our bathroom remodel. We took out our unused tub in the master bathroom and installed a larger glass shower with bench and linear drain. We love our shower but hate the linear drain. Someone needs to design a fix for this. How about you😉. Thank you for putting my mind at ease that we’re not the dirtiest family in the universe lol.

[bigbob]

I put my first linear drain in 3 yrs ago. The client (single male) never looked at the drain. After a year, we pulled it up (same style as yours) and there was very little in the drain portion much to my surprise. I put the drain (55” schluter) under the shower head end where I figured it had longer area to drain as opposed to how you ran it. It has worked flawlessly.

[julieball]

We love our linear shower drain, it is not high maintenance at all. It just needs cleaning from time to time but is a piece of cake! Just remove the linear drain cover with a key or something similar, even a butter knife works, in the center is a small plastic basket that has captured all the hairs and soap residue, thus backing up the water after awhile. Clear the little basket into a trashcan, rinse it off, wash out the drain
area using a little brush like
a toothbrush, rinse the drain, replace the little basket and then pop the cover back on! Our cover doesn’t have all the little legs and stuff mentioned in this video so I’m guessing design has been improved since this video was made. We have a 2023 Schluter Closed Linear Drain. Love it!❤

[gigistar]

In Germany we had a stainless steel grate — all smooth and very easy to lift out- superior engineering of course. It was right under the shower not at the entrance But yes you still had to clean out the drain weekly although it only took a minute. Grates are the way to go.

[norrisonian]

I was all sold on a linear drain and I heard the Tile Coach guy say the same thing but he glossed over that it clogs. Now you! Thank you for your honest review. I'm going with a reg drain.

[packatak]

We had a shower remodel several years ago and did the Moen version of the shower head. It was absolutely wonderful! Had a huge rain head, and hand held. The hand held came in handy when my husband had hip surgery and couldn’t stand in the shower. He was able to sit on the built in bench while using the hand held.

[trevor]

I thought I wanted one of these trench drains in my new shower build. NOT NO MORE! Thank you for the heads up.

[robertaylor]

I really like the linear drains for water management, and because they allow larger tile. Larger tile means less water getting into the thinset, which contains cellulose. Cellulose holds extra water (that’s why it’s in thinset) and also molds (it’s organic, so mold can eat it). Thinset also breaks down from constant water exposure. Cement does as well, but thinset deteriorates more.

[dmech]

As a bathroom remodeler, I show this video to my clients during the design phase. I am not a fan of linear drains, we did two in our home and boy do we regret it. It is constant cleaning!!! I'm building and ADU now in my home and you could not pay us to install a linear drain. We call them "high maintenance girls!"

[karenroberts]

I heard about this problem from watching videos, so I went with the standard drain on my remodel! Love the full glass tile install!! I’ve learned a lot from your videos, THANKS!!!!