Renovation Series - Installing a Built-in Shower Shelf

The Appliance Educator team is excited to bring you the next blog in the Renovation Series! One of our Appliance Educators has been renovating his bathroom and has created a complete tutorial for each step in the renovation process. Last week, our Appliance Educator showed you how to install insulation and a cement backer board in your shower. This week, we’ll dive into installing a built-in shelf for your shower! Built-in shelves are a great addition to any shower because they offer a more custom and personalized way for you to design the storage in your bathroom. 

Once you have the cement backer board installed properly, you’ll want to measure out the shelving or shower niche you have purchased. Our Appliance Educator purchased a pre-made Shower Niche Storage Organizer through Amazon. You can shop for the shower shelf here.

When shopping around for a niche, be sure to check the dimensions, material, and versatility of the piece. You’ll want to ensure that the material is waterproof and leakproof and depending on your shower space, you may want the option to install the shelf vertically or horizontally. Some brands of pre-made shower niches can only be installed in a specific way, so it’s important to do your research prior. 

After our Appliance Educator measured the cement backer board to shower niche, he used an angle grinder to cut the board accordingly. However, since he had already installed the backer board, it created quite a big mess in the bathroom. If you plan to install some type of shelving unit in your shower, we do recommend you to measure and cut the backer board beforehand! This will eliminate any extra waste and debris for you to clean up. 

To properly install the shelf, you’ll want to use rust resistant screws that are designed for screwing into concrete backer boards and then tiled over. Our Appliance Educator ordered the 1-¼” Serrated Head Star Drive Cement Board Screws from Amazon for this project. 

Once the shower niche is in place and properly secured, it’s time to lay some tile! Laying shower tile within a shelf can be extremely challenging. But after some trial and error, our Appliance Educator came up with some tricks and tips for your own renovation. Next week, we’ll share all of our shower tiling secrets!  Be sure to follow Appliance Educator on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to get the latest updates on our AE Renovation Series!