DIY shower pan?

[Mike]

Besies not doing this, any thoughts on building a wooden shower pan? I have a small cabin that has space at a premium. My bathroom has enough room for a 24"x24" shower pan. My idea is to build a pan out of plywood and 1"x4" sides. Once the pan is built paint the wood. When the pan is in place bore a hole through the pan, through the sub floor, between the joists of the raised floor. The waste, gray water would drain through a hole cut in the wall.

This pan is only for collecting the water and will not be submerged. The water, once collected, should drain quickly out of the cabin. This pan is inside my cabin and not outside exposed to heat, weather, etc.

My questions include:

- What to use as paint so the wood becomes water proof?

- Is there a better way to do this?

- Should I abandon this project and buy a 32"x32" pan?

Mike

[Ralph Mowery]

Maybe coat it with fiberglass. Probably not practical to coat it with some of that spray in bed liner for trucks.

[Frank]

I don't think it is a good idea. Water is bound to leak into wood somewhere and eventually cause rot. Plastic pan material over wood, with mud base and tiles would allow building any size pan.

[bob haller]

a 24 by 24 inch shower is tiny and will be very hard to shower in. you wouldnt have room enough to move.build a cardboad box, cover with a tarp then add a garden hose.

wood will rot, just buy a shower pan, they are cheap on craigslist....

[Jon Danniken]

Redgard comes to mind, or fiberglass it. I don't like your idea of drilling through it *after* you waterproof it, though; your goal should be to produce an item comparable with one you purchase, all of which are waterproof with the holes already existing.

Water heater pan?

Depends on the quality of your workmanship and the amount of time you want to spend on it. Do it right the first time, or you will come to regret it later.

Jon

[trader_4]

I think we have a winner folks. I can't fathom how a 2ft x 2ft shower would work either.

you wouldnt have room enough to move.build a cardboad box, cover with a tarp then add a garden hose.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Damn, you must be one skinny dude to fit in a 24" shower. I'd not bother at that size.

No matter what you do with wood, it is not a good long term solution. I just took out a 34 x 34 fiberglass shower to make it larger (34 x 48). Maybe it could have been cut down to work for you. Probably Craig's list could help with that.

Where is the gray water running to? You made no mention of a drain and it sounds like it is just getting dumped on the ground. Over time you can have a mess from hair and soap scum.

[clare]

Fiberglass it.

[dadiOH]

I did something similar on my sailboat years ago...shower drained into a pan in the bilge, pan was pumped dry by flipping a switch while drying myself. I had the pan fabricated from sheet copper.

None. If you want the wood to stand up, paint it with thin epoxy. There is one named Gluvit made for the purpose. I made a plywood water tank for the same boat...about 100 gallon, inside coated with Gluvit, used it for 10+ years, still good when I sold the boat.

I thought you only had a 24 x 24 space.

[dadiOH]

If you decide to make the wood thing and epoxy it, don't use lumber for the sides, use ply.

[Mike]

In my 12'x16' cabin I built a "bathroom" that is 58"x59". I can go to 32"x32", but I hate to spend the space for something that seems to only have a single function. I'll look for the Gluvit. Thanks.

Eventually I want to harvest the rain, build a porch, raised plant beds, solar panels, batch solar water heating, etc.

Mike

[Mike]

I have plywood scraps that I can put on the sides. Thanks.

Mike

[Tekkie®]

Mike posted for all of us...

And I know how to SNIP

Don't use wood.

Yes

Yes

I think you must do something with the gray water other than just dump it.

[rbowman]

Why don't you glass it?