Bathroom Renovation Edmonton: Project in Magrath Heights

Tracing a Bench-Corner Leak, Full Demo, and a Lit-Niche Schluter Shower Rebuild in Magrath Heights

Magrath Heights is one of southwest Edmonton’s upper-end estate neighbourhoods, sitting east of Rabbit Hill Road and south of Whitemud Drive, with a housing stock dominated by 2000s and 2010s custom builds that are now hitting the age where original-construction shower failures are starting to surface. On this Magrath Heights bathroom renovation The Tile Experts were called in to address a shower that had been leaking since original construction. The water was originating from the bench form inside corners and tracking through the back shower wall into the homeowner’s walk-in closet. The remediation scope was a full bathroom rebuild: complete demolition, fresh rough-in with the homeowner-selected Riobel fixture, a lit niche, full Schluter waterproofing, tile, grout, glass, and final silicone detail.

Diagnosing a Shower Leak That Originates From a Bench

The original shower on this Magrath Heights build had a tiled bench, and the leak originated specifically from the bench’s inside corners where they met the back shower wall. Why bench corners are the most common shower leak point: a tiled bench has more inside corners per square foot of tile than any other shower assembly. The bench top meets the bench front, the bench front meets the bench end, the bench top meets the shower wall, and the bench end meets the shower wall, all in a small concentrated area. Each of those inside corners is a transition that demands continuous waterproofing across the geometry change. Why bench corners fail: on a shower that was built with conventional moisture-resistant green board and no bonded waterproofing membrane, water reaches the inside corners through the grout joints, the corner sealant, or simple capillary action, finds the unsealed substrate transition behind the tile, and tracks along the substrate into the wall cavity. From there it follows whatever path the framing provides until it surfaces somewhere visible. On this build the path led from the shower bench through the back wall framing and into the adjacent walk-in closet, which is where the homeowner first noticed the damage. The diagnostic conclusion: a bench-corner leak that has been active since original construction cannot be remediated by surface re-caulking or re-grouting. The substrate behind the tile is already saturated, the framing behind the substrate is showing moisture damage, and the only correct repair is a full shower demolition and a rebuild with bonded waterproofing across every corner.

The Full Demolition: Why Half-Measures Fail

The remediation on this Magrath Heights shower started with a complete demolition. Every tile, every backer board, every layer of substrate down to the studs came out of the shower enclosure. Why a full demo and not a partial: a partial demolition (just the bench, or just the affected wall) leaves the unsuccessful substrate from original construction in place adjacent to the new work, and the leak path simply migrates to whichever poorly-waterproofed section remains. The only diagnostic-correct repair on a shower that has been leaking since original construction is to take the entire enclosure back to studs and rebuild it as one continuous waterproofed assembly. What the demolition revealed: moisture damage in the framing behind the back wall, especially behind the bench corners, plus deteriorated drywall in the adjacent closet. The closet repair: the affected closet wall section was opened from the closet side to assess the framing damage and confirm that no mould remediation was required, then sealed and refinished as part of the renovation scope. The plumber and electrician rough-in: with the shower enclosure open to the studs, the plumber and electrician came in for the rough-in stage, which is the right sequencing window for any in-wall fixture work.

The Riobel Fixture: Preset Temperature and a Handheld With Anchored Bar

The homeowner selected a Riobel fixture for the new shower, with two outlets serving an adjustable handheld on an anchored bar and a fixed showerhead at dead centre of the back wall. Why a preset-temperature mixer matters: the Riobel fixture includes a preset temperature mixture valve that lets the homeowner set the desired water temperature once and never adjust it again. Every shower starts at the preset temperature; the only daily adjustment is turning the water on. Why this is a meaningful upgrade from a conventional shower valve: a conventional shower mixer requires the user to balance hot and cold every time they enter the shower, and the balance has to be re-found whenever the water heater state changes, whenever another fixture in the house is drawing hot water, or whenever the inlet pressures shift. A preset valve removes that daily friction. The dual outlet configuration: the handheld on an anchored adjustable bar handles every cleaning use case (rinsing, washing hair from any position, accessibility seating), while the fixed showerhead handles the standard standing shower experience. The two outlets share the preset temperature, so switching between them is a single lever rather than a re-balance.

The Lit Niche With Two Pot-Lights

The homeowner specified a lit niche for the new shower, with two ceiling pot-lights mounted inside the niche enclosure. Why a lit niche is the most impactful shower detail upgrade available: the niche is the design focal point of any modern shower, and lighting the niche from above transforms it from a functional storage recess into the room’s hero design moment. The pot-lights wash the niche back wall with light, which makes the tile selection (often a mosaic or a contrasting accent) read with full colour and texture even when the rest of the bathroom lighting is dim. Lighting product selection: American Lighting and Prizm Lighting both offer wet-rated pot-light solutions that perform inside a shower niche, where the lighting fixture lives in a continuously high-humidity environment that would destroy a standard interior pot-light. The install discipline: a lit niche requires electrical rough-in before the niche is framed, waterproofing detail around every fixture penetration, and tile layout that lands the niche dimensions on full tile (or planned cut tile) rather than scrambling to fit the fixture box. The tile crew has to coordinate with the electrician on the niche dimensions and the fixture cutout locations before any tile is set.

Why Schluter on Every Shower We Build

The new shower on this Magrath Heights renovation was waterproofed with the Schluter Kerdi Membrane system across every shower surface. The substrate stack: moisture-resistant backer over the studs, Schluter Kerdi membrane bonded over the backer with a polymer-modified thinset, then tile bonded to the Kerdi face with the same polymer-modified thinset. Why Kerdi is the right specification for every shower: Kerdi creates a continuous waterproof barrier across every shower surface (back wall, side walls, bench top, bench front, bench end, niche, curb), with corner detail strips at every inside corner and joint tape at every seam between sheets. Water that reaches the tile face has nowhere to go; the Kerdi membrane behind the tile is continuous and bonded, and the bench-corner failure mode that drove this entire renovation cannot happen on a properly-installed Kerdi shower. Why we default to Schluter: we also work with the Wedi shower system, Custom Building Products waterproofing, Ardex, Laticrete, and Mapei systems when the client has a preference. Most clients look to us to make that specification call, and Schluter has been the system we trust across hundreds of installs. The bench detail: on this new shower the bench was rebuilt with full Kerdi waterproofing across every face, including the critical inside corners where the original construction failed. Schluter manufactures pre-formed corner pieces specifically for this geometry, and using them is the install discipline that prevents the leak from recurring.

The Final Detail Stage: Glass, Silicone, and Sign-Off

With all tiling and grouting complete, the new shower moved into the final detail stage. The glass install: the shower glass arrived after the tile was set and grouted, so the glazier could measure to the actual finished tile face rather than to drawings. This is the right sequencing because any tile install carries small dimensional variation from drawings, and a custom glass shower door measured to the finished tile fits perfectly the first time. The lit niche finishing: the lit niche requires a few additional finishing steps to integrate the electrical fixture cleanly with the surrounding tile. The pot-light trim has to land flush against the niche tile, the fixture seal has to be water-tight, and the wiring has to be invisible from the shower. The electrician and plumber final: after the tile and glass were complete, the electrician returned to terminate the lit niche fixtures and the plumber returned to install the Riobel trim. The silicone detail: every vertical inside corner and every horizontal substrate transition in the shower got a continuous silicone bead. Silicone (rather than grout) at these transitions is the install discipline because silicone remains flexible across the seasonal movement that every Edmonton building lives through, while grout in the same locations would crack and fail. The sign-off: we want to thank the homeowner and the family for choosing us for this rebuild. It was a wonderful project to deliver and a meaningful opportunity to remediate a shower failure that had been bothering the home since original construction.

Planning a leaking-shower rebuild, a lit-niche build, or any custom shower waterproofing project in Magrath Heights or anywhere in southwest Edmonton? Call The Tile Experts at 587-333-9800 or request a quote.

Magrath Heights Shower Rebuild FAQ

How much does a leaking-shower full rebuild with lit niche and Schluter cost in Magrath Heights?
For a project of this scope (full demolition back to studs, framing assessment and repair, adjacent-closet drywall remediation, plumber and electrician rough-in, Riobel fixture install, lit niche with two pot-lights, full Schluter Kerdi waterproofing across every shower surface and bench corner, tile and grout, custom glass install, complete final silicone and trim detail), plan on 18,000 to 32,000 dollars depending on tile selection, glass complexity, and the extent of framing repair behind the original failure.

Why do bench corners fail in original-construction showers?
A tiled bench has more inside corners per square foot than any other shower assembly, and each corner is a transition that demands continuous waterproofing. On a shower built without a bonded waterproofing membrane, water reaches the inside corners through grout or sealant joints, finds the unsealed substrate transition behind the tile, and tracks into the wall cavity. The fix is a full demolition and a rebuild with a bonded membrane like Schluter Kerdi.

Why is a partial shower remediation not the right call on a long-standing leak?
A partial demolition leaves the original unsuccessful substrate in place adjacent to the new work. The leak path simply migrates to whichever poorly-waterproofed section remains. The only diagnostic-correct repair on a shower that has been leaking since original construction is to take the entire enclosure back to studs and rebuild it as one continuous waterproofed assembly. See our bathroom tile installation service.

Tile Installation in Magrath Heights and Southwest Edmonton

Magrath Heights sits east of Rabbit Hill Road and south of Whitemud Drive, with neighbours in MacTaggart, Ambleside, Rutherford, Heritage Valley, and the broader southwest estate corridor. Leaking-shower diagnostic and rebuild projects, lit-niche custom shower scopes, full Schluter waterproofing installs, and original-construction failure remediations are some of the most common high-value tile projects in this 2000s and 2010s estate housing stock. The Tile Experts install bathrooms, kitchens, floors, custom showers, fireplaces, and feature walls across Magrath Heights, MacTaggart, Ambleside, Rutherford, Heritage Valley, and the rest of southwest Edmonton, plus the full capital region. Contact us or call 587-333-9800 for a free in-home walkthrough.