Where a shower niche should go, how high and how wide it can be, and what has to be settled at framing. Read through four finished niches from our bathrooms.
Bathroom Renovations · November 8, 2026 · 7 min read
A shower niche is decided when the wall is framed, long before the tiler arrives. Three things fix its place by then: the tile you picked, the wall it goes in, and the line the valve and its pipes take up that wall. Put those three on one drawing and the height and size of the niche mostly follow.
Moving a niche later means cutting into a wall that has already been waterproofed. So the questions below belong to the design stage, and each comes with a photo from a bathroom we finished, so you can see what the answer looks like once the tile is up.
Usually the wall you face under the spray, as long as it's an inside wall with no pipe in the bay you want. The wall with the valve comes next, with the niche beside the controls rather than over the pipe to the head. An outside wall is the last choice in a Toronto house, for the reason given below.
Two of the three photos below are the same shower seen from two angles. The fourth is at the top of this page: a tub surround with one white-edged niche set beside the controls, its top and bottom landing on joints of a large textured tile. The bright frame to its left is a lit mirror on the opposite wall, reflected in the glass.
None of these is lit by accident. A strip in a niche needs its wire run by an electrician while the wall is open, a fixture made for a wet place and a driver that can be reached later. Our post on lighting a renovation in layers explains where such a strip fits with the rest of the bathroom's switches.
High enough that the person who uses the shower most can reach in without bending, and low enough to read the labels on what's inside. In a standing shower that usually lands between that person's elbow and shoulder. Then the outline moves up or down to the nearest tile joint, and over a tub it has to work sitting down too.
| Shower | Measure from | Check before framing |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-in, used standing | The finished shower floor at that wall, up to the main user's elbow | After moving to a tile joint, the bottom edge still clears the valve trim |
| Shower with a bench | The top of the bench | Someone seated can reach it without standing up or leaning past the spray |
| Tub with a shower | The tub rim | Reachable from the water and from standing, which often means lower than in a walk-in |
| Shared with children, or a seated user | The shortest regular user, or a seat | A second, lower niche, kept clear of any blocking for grab bars |
Take the measurement inside the shower. Its floor slopes down to the drain, so the bathroom floor outside the curb or the glass gives a different number.
As wide as one stud bay, if no framing is to be cut. With studs at 16 in. (406 mm) on centre, the gap between them is about 14.5 in. (368 mm), and the finished niche comes out near 12 in. once board, membrane and tile line its sides. Wider than that, a stud is cut and a header goes over the opening.
The height comes from the tallest bottle you keep in the shower, plus room for your fingers over its cap, rounded to whole tile courses. Depth is whatever the stud leaves after the board, membrane and tile at the back, so a little under 3 in. in a 2x4 wall. A header is routine carpentry. On a wall that holds up the floor above, though, which stud may be cut is a structural question that gets answered before anyone picks up a saw.
Everything that decides the outline. Bring this list to the framing walk-through, when the studs are still open and every trade can see the same wall.
Most problems show up as something you can see from the shower. The cause is almost always a decision that was made too late, or made by one trade without the others.
| What you see | What usually caused it |
|---|---|
| A thin strip of cut tile above or below the opening | The niche was framed before the tile was chosen |
| Water sitting on the sill, grout darkening along its back | A flat sill, or one tipped toward the wall |
| Cracked grout or loose tile at the inside corners | The membrane was broken at the corners, or the framing around the opening moves |
| Damp or mould found behind the niche when the wall is opened | An outside wall lost its insulation to make room for the niche |
| Tall bottles only fit lying down | The height was set by the tile alone, not by what goes in it |
| A light strip that went dark and can't be reached | Its driver was closed into the wall |
A niche is a small opening, but it involves the framer, the plumber, the electrician and the tiler. That's why we plan it with the tile layout as part of a bathroom renovation, and mark it on the studs before the walls are closed.
Only by taking tile off and opening the wall around the new opening, then rebuilding the waterproofing over that whole area. It usually makes sense only when the shower is being retiled anyway.
In a Toronto house an inside wall is the better choice. A niche in a 2x4 outside wall leaves almost no room for insulation behind it. If that wall is the only option, it can be built out toward the shower first.
About the depth of the stud, less the board, membrane and tile at the back. In a 2x4 wall that comes to a little under 3 inches.
Yes. The sill should fall slightly toward the shower so water runs off instead of sitting against the back of the niche. A slope you can barely see is enough.
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