The Challenge
This ensuite renovation called for Carrara marble on the vanity top, shower walls and a built-in shower niche. The tiler had already laid the floor tiles and the waterproofing was complete, but the wall surfaces were not perfectly flat — varying by up to 6 mm across the width of the shower. In a wet area, an uneven substrate means gaps behind the stone, which can lead to water penetration and failure over time. We also needed to cut precise holes for the wall-mounted spout and mixer without chipping the marble.
Our Approach
We took our own template on site rather than relying on the builder's measurements. This let us document the exact wall dimensions and the locations of pipe penetrations. Back in the workshop, we cut the wall cladding panels to compensate for the out-of-plumb walls — the panels were slightly tapered on one edge so they sat flush against the wall on site. The shower niche was fabricated as a single unit with mitered internal corners, so there were no visible joints inside the recess. All cutouts for taps were polished on the inside edges to match the honed face finish.
Installation
We used a flexible waterproof adhesive rated for wet-area stone installations. Each wall panel was bedded fully — no spot bonding — to eliminate hollow spots. The vanity top was installed after the tapware was fitted, and we used colour-matched silicone around the basin cutout to keep the water seal clean. We applied a penetrating sealer to the entire installation before handover, and gave the clients a care sheet explaining how to maintain the marble in a wet environment.
The Result
The shower walls have no visible joints. The single-piece niche has no grout lines in the recess. No call-backs on this installation.