Wood Village Shower Remodeling

A shower is only as good as what's behind the tile

The part of a shower that decides whether it lasts is the part you never see: the pan and the waterproof membrane behind the tile. JDI Construction is a family-owned, Vancouver-based design-build remodeler, and we build a shower from the framing out — pan, membrane, and slope first, then the tile and glass you actually notice. Wood Village is a small east-county city tucked between Troutdale and Gresham, and the homes here deserve the same hidden-first approach we bring to every shower across the metro.

Our designers and installers work as one team, so the shower you approve is the shower that gets built. We don't hand finished plans to a separate contractor and hope the waterproofing gets done correctly — the crew responsible for how it looks is the same crew responsible for whether it stays dry.

Where a shower is won or lost

A shower has to look good, but first it has to keep water where it belongs. These are the details that decide whether it does — and most of them disappear the moment the tile goes on:

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   WaterproofingDone right behind the tile, it's the difference between a shower that lasts decades and one that leaks in a few years.
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   Curb vs curblessCurbless is barrier-free and clean, but it needs recessed framing and an exact slope.
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   GlassFrameless or semi-frameless, with the right coatings for hard water and easier cleaning.
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   Niches & benchesPlanned into the framing and waterproofed, not tacked on after the tile.

A few decisions worth making early

The choices that shape a shower's cost and layout are best settled before demolition, while they're still adjustments on paper. Converting a tub to a walk-in shower is the one we discuss most — it's a natural move when the tub goes unused, though it's worth keeping at least one tub in the house so resale isn't hurt down the road. Next is curbed versus curbless: a zero-threshold shower is easier to step into and cleaner to look at, but it needs recessed framing and a slope held to an exact pitch, so it changes how the whole floor is built. The extras that make a shower feel finished — a bench, recessed niches, a second head, blocking for a grab bar later — all have to be framed and waterproofed in from the start rather than added on. And we choose the glass and drain early, because those two decisions ripple back into how the pan and walls are constructed.

What Wood Village showers tend to need

Wood Village is a compact community of modest mid-century houses alongside newer infill, and that mix shows up behind the shower tile. In the older homes, we most often replace a small tub-shower combo or a fiberglass insert that has started leaking where the walls meet the pan — and the real repair is rebuilding the waterproofing underneath, not re-tiling over a surface that's already failing. Opening the wall is also the moment to correct a pan that never sloped correctly to the drain.

In the newer homes, the shower is typically sound but builder-basic: a molded pan, a plastic surround, and an entry-level door. There the work is upgrading to a tiled walk-in with better glass and the storage and slope details that make a small footprint feel custom. Either way, in the wet Pacific Northwest we treat the membrane and a properly vented exhaust fan as non-negotiable, because a shower that dries between uses is a shower whose finishes hold up.

Showers we've built around Wood Village

A few recent bath and shower projects near Wood Village — click through for the full before-and-after:

Camas · Nearby

Modern Bath with Hex Wood-Grain Tile

See the project

Camas · Nearby

Minimalist Primary & Guest Bath

See the project

Camas · Nearby

Refreshing Full Bathroom Remodel

See the project

Vancouver · Nearby

Walnut & Green Tile Primary Bath

See the project

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What does a shower remodel cost in Wood Village?

What a Wood Village shower costs comes down to what you're building, not the address. Replacing a prefab insert with another unit sits at one end; a fully tiled, curbless walk-in with frameless glass and a linear drain sits at the other. The levers in between are size, tile versus a molded pan, whether the drain moves, the glass, and the waterproofing system behind it all. Curbless costs more because the recessed framing and the exact slope take more labor to get right. Because our design and our trades are both in-house, we can steer the plan toward what matters to you — and you get an itemized estimate after we've seen the space, so the number reflects your shower rather than an average.

How long does a shower remodel take?

A shower-only remodel is usually quicker than a full bathroom, but it isn't a weekend job. Waterproofing and mortar need time to cure before tile goes on, and the tile and grout need their own set-and-cure time before the shower can be used — that cure schedule is the schedule, and skipping it is how problems appear later. Moving the drain, going curbless, or opening walls in an older Wood Village home adds time. We give you a realistic timeline before demolition, pull the permits the work requires, and sequence it so you're not without your only shower any longer than necessary.

Why homeowners in Wood Village choose JDI

Design-build means one team is accountable for the whole shower — the framing, the waterproofing, the pan, the tile, and the glass — so the part that matters most isn't quietly handed off to whoever's cheapest. We take care of the permitting, coordinate the trades so the job moves instead of stalling between them, keep you updated through our client portal, and back the finished shower with a five-year workmanship warranty. Wood Village is a short drive for us from the Portland–Vancouver area, close enough that we stay responsive during the build and reachable long after.

JDI Construction — "Built by family. Trusted by neighbors." Design-build remodeling based in downtown Vancouver, WA, serving Wood Village and the greater Portland–Vancouver metro since 2007.