Plumbing and shower stuff... (Page 1/1)
82-T/A [At Work] FEB 19, 08:40 AM
Can someone tell me how you create a shower this big?




Ok... I've completely re-done two showers in my life. Both of them were on the ground floor, and with a concrete slab underneath.

Here's the first one I did...

started like this:




Ended like this:


(almost done in this pic, just needed some more trim work, etc.)


... and officially done in this picture:




... in both cases though, I used one of these... a rubber liner on top of an already existing concrete slab, and then poured more concrete on top of that so I'd have a substrate to put tile down on...




...


My question though... how do you create a shower like this?




I've seen nowhere that you can buy a large rubber membrane this size, anywhere. And for that matter, is this even something you want to use on a 2nd-floor? Although my home is concrete, the trusses are still wood. The shower I have now is a tiny one, and the bathroom has a "Roman Tub" or whatever they call it. It's not something any of us really use, and I'd like to build a larger shower. I've been somewhat hampered because I don't have a conceivable place to start... and the basic foundation of the shower is what I need to build first before I can build out the rest of it. I'd also like to replace the roman tub with a smaller claw-foot tub, and reclaim some of the space for the shower... but have the shower and the tub share the same "shower floor" if that makes sense...


Thoughts? Do you use a rubber liner on the second floor, I assume so, and how do you order one that's that long. Only thing I've ever seen at Home Depot and Lowes seems to be like 3' wide.


Thanks!
maryjane FEB 19, 09:43 AM
I have no idea, but it looks cool.
However.. a question you want to ask yourself.. Is it really worth the work and expense for something you only turn on and use for less than 30 minutes/person/day?

Is this a forever home, that, after your daughter is grown and moves out that you and wife intend to live the rest of your lives in?
Would this huge shower add to the value of your home but restrict the possible sale to some potential buyers?


It looks like it would use a lot of water too. My water bill here is over $120 every month. (I have ONCE, used as much as 30,000 gallons in one month during summer.) Granted I use a lot on the yard and topping off the swimming pool, but still try to limit our household water use.
82-T/A [At Work] FEB 19, 11:16 AM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:

I have no idea, but it looks cool.
However.. a question you want to ask yourself.. Is it really worth the work and expense for something you only turn on and use for less than 30 minutes/person/day?

Is this a forever home, that, after your daughter is grown and moves out that you and wife intend to live the rest of your lives in?
Would this huge shower add to the value of your home but restrict the possible sale to some potential buyers?


It looks like it would use a lot of water too. My water bill here is over $120 every month. (I have ONCE, used as much as 30,000 gallons in one month during summer.) Granted I use a lot on the yard and topping off the swimming pool, but still try to limit our household water use.




Sorry, I probably needed to be more clear. I definitely don't want a shower that big... but I do want to make my shower and bathroom more modern. Predominantly, I want to make it more usable. The shower is the size of a phone booth right, which is odd... especially since the bathroom itself is palacial. Like... you walk into this huge room... and then there is a massive roman tub in the corner raised on a pedestal, and then a tiny phone booth shower off to the side, and then a separate room with a toilet. I don't know who designed this, but it's completely ridiculous.

I'd like to combine the tub and shower area to one long "shower floor" ... but make the shower open on one side where you would walk in from (so I don't have to have a shower door), and then replace the huge tub with a smaller modern tub that sits within the larger shower stall. I have a whole rainforest kit from Kohler that I bought like a decade ago from Amazon (pieced together). So I kind of want to use that. I just want to make the shower a bit larger and make better use of the space that's in there. Like... I could have a campground in the center of the shower, complete with sleeping bags and a fire pit in the middle. It makes no sense to me what the point of it was. And the tub is big enough for like 4 adults to bath at once. I mean, I understand some people want that... but that's not really my thing, and I think most families will want a single tub that's big enough for a large adult... and anything extra is unnecessary.

I'm probably going to be renting this house out when I move... but either way, I want to improve the value of the home overall though just in case I do decide to sell it. But everything I do is an improvement... some nuance, unique... but also for a broader client base (which upsets my wife, because she wants it all based on just what she wants). So I have to say... "would a potential buyer want that?"

This is not our forever home.

[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 02-19-2024).]

maryjane FEB 19, 12:11 PM
And you never know what the next desirable big thing would be by the time/whenever you decide to rent it out or sell it.
My master bathroom is dated back to late 80s early 90s style, with a big garden tub, and a kinda small walk-in shower with seat and square tiled all over including top. Very functional for me at my age but probably not too desirable for a younger family if we were to sell. We've used the big tub exactly once in 2 years.
I really need to regrout the walk in shower but have never done that kind of thing.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 02-19-2024).]

82-T/A [At Work] FEB 19, 03:34 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:

And you never know what the next desirable big thing would be by the time/whenever you decide to rent it out or sell it.
My master bathroom is dated back to late 80s early 90s style, with a big garden tub, and a kinda small walk-in shower with seat and square tiled all over including top. Very functional for me at my age but probably not too desirable for a younger family if we were to sell. We've used the big tub exactly once in 2 years.
I really need to regrout the walk in shower but have never done that kind of thing.





MJ, when has an younger person ever taken the advice of an older, more experienced individual?

I recall something about North Korea being really cold, and you thinking, that sounds awesome, I'm going to join the Marines. Hahaha...


Look, I know you're right... but dammit if I don't want to re-do all of this **** .
IMSA GT FEB 19, 03:35 PM
The only time I've seen full room showers here in California are on the ground floor and the concrete is textured and sloped right into the drain. No underlayment was used. I have no idea how you would do this on a second floor where the subfloor is wood.
Jake_Dragon FEB 22, 08:03 PM
We were looking at houses some 20 years ago. One of the houses was set up for a disabled person. It had a huge "roll" in shower in one of the largest bathrooms in any house I have ever seen. It had two shower heads, one at about 4 foot and one at 7 foot. Nothing fancy as in your picture but I wouldn't have had any issues getting clean. It had a place to sit while you use the lower shower head.
The sink was ok but the toilet would have to be replaced as it was taking up way too much room. We ended up buying something else.