Allowing easier access to the bathing space, a curbless shower is not a new feature in bathrooms, but creating one can be a time-consuming and involved process. Now there is a much easier way.
Tuff-Form Shower Systems is a prefabricated shower pan that can be installed easily, allowing tiles to be installed in as little as eight hours. Manufactured in the United Kingdom by AKW Medicare and distributed exclusively in North America by Accessibility Resource Center in Neillsville, Wis., Tuff-Form is made from solid glass-reinforced plastic that can hold up to 560 pounds.
“Tuff-Form Shower Systems are unique because they are curbless,” says Jon Adamek, president of Santa Ana, Calif.–based Design Without Barriers, the authorized Western U.S. sales, marketing, and regional distribution agent for ARC. “Our level-entry shower systems combine style with functionality and universal design with safety.”
The level-entry systems are structural, Adamek says, so “they are faster to install than traditional mud bed installations, which generally require significant sub-floor and structural modifications for new and remodel level-entry applications.” Moreover, the pans are pre-sloped, eliminating the need to "float" a mud bed to achieve proper drainage.
Priced from $1,250 to $1,500, Tuff-Form comes in nine sizes and can easily be cut with a circular saw. In addition, the product comes complete with a heavy duty drain; a paint-on, low VOC water-proofing system that provides moisture mitigation; and a crack isolation membrane.
In this short video, Adamek explains how the installation process works.
