Yes, and it is one of the most requested upgrades in Pinellas County, but on a slab it means either recessing the shower area into the concrete or building the rest of the floor up. Budget an extra $2,500 to $5,000 over a standard shower, and expect a week of it.
Why the slab is the whole conversation
A curbless shower needs the shower floor to sit lower than the bathroom floor so water runs the right way. In a house with a crawlspace or a basement you drop the joists and it is straightforward. Almost every home in Pinellas County is slab-on-grade, and concrete does not move.
So you get two options, and they cost differently.
Option one: recess the slab
Saw-cut and break out the shower footprint, dig, re-run the drain lower and at the correct fall, then re-pour with the slope built in. This is the version that looks right — the rest of the bathroom floor stays where it is and the transition is genuinely flat.
It is also the version with the concrete work, the plumbing inspection, and the week of extra time. This is where the $2,500–$5,000 goes.
Option two: raise the floor
Build the entire bathroom floor up two or three inches on a mortar bed or a self-levelling compound, and slope down into the shower. Cheaper, no slab cutting, no concrete inspection.
The catch is everything at the edges. You now have a step at the bathroom door, the door itself has to be cut down, the vanity and toilet sit higher, and the transition to the hallway needs a threshold. In a small bathroom it can read as an odd raised platform. It works, but look at a finished example before you commit.
The things that actually make it succeed
- A linear drain against the wall rather than a centre point drain. It lets the floor slope in one direction only, which means large-format tile can be used and it looks intentional.
- A proper waterproof membrane, taken well beyond the wet area. With no curb, there is nothing but the slope containing the water.
- Enough slope, and no more. A quarter-inch per foot. Less and water sits; more and it reads as a ramp.
- Length. Curbless works best with a bit of run between the showerhead and the opening. In a very small bathroom, a low-profile curb may genuinely be the better answer.
Worth saying plainly
If the reason for wanting curbless is ageing in place or a wheelchair, it is worth doing properly and worth the recessed-slab version. If it is purely aesthetic and the budget is tight, a low tiled curb with a frameless glass panel gets most of the look for a fraction of the cost.
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