Cheap shower ideas.

[Jeff Thies]

I have a utility room off the kitchen in the rental. I'd like to put a second bath in there. It's about 52" wide. I can take up as much of

10' as I need, the remainder will have the water heater and be needed storage for outdoor tools and such.

I'd like to do this frugally and need some ideas. Layout options are wide open. Got a pedestal sink which should conserve floor space.

Kit, pan with some kind of walls, or something else? I see complaints on the kits and the pans!

Got a friend who can do tile and a few builders surplus places around. I'd like the bath to look like a lot more money than was actually spent on it. There seems to be an art to that!

Not a bad day here today, got some cement curing that we poured earlier to fix my front door landing and wall problems. I had wood siding that came to the edge of my front porch landing pad and a sill that was below that. Not any more!

Jeff

[hallerb]

My 2 piece shower stall works fine its about 2 years old. I went with

2 piece since a one piece wouldnt fit.

use upgraded showe valve, temp control type to add class:)

[hrhofmann]

Consider a 4.5 foot long bathtub instead of a full-sized 5' tub. We made a second bathroom using the slightly shorter tub and it has worked out fine, I don't think anyone except me realizes it is 6' shorter.

[Jeff Thies]

I like that. My Dad put one in, I bet right around when they came out! I aim to have the classiest 14K house!

I'm thinking the tub is less trouble than the pan. The shorter tub might just fit against the back wall. Nice shower curtain. I've seen some nice

16" slate tiles lately, cheap. I wonder if that would work in the shower or should I go with a nice ceramic:

I don't mind working my friends that owe me, just having to pay for it. I can throw some labor in and the tile is no more than the kits. Not that I can tell. If I tile the little bit of floor, it could be a knock out with good lighting.

Jeff

[DT]

If you remove the drywall or whatever and get a full 54", you are good to go. I did that in a narrow bathroom and it looks great. I used a fiberglass mobile home tub but real plumbing houses have steel 54" tubs. They also make 48" tubs that are inexpensive.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "I see complaints on the kits and the pans!"

You can probably find complaints on *anything*! ;-)

What kind of complaints are you referring to? Looks? Longevity? Ease of use?

I installed a fiberglass pan and 3 piece shower surround over 20 years ago and use it daily. I've never had a single problem.

In the main bath I installed a fiberglass tub and 3 piece shower surround about 5 years ago. It gets used daily by 3 people and I've never had a single problem with it.

Wait, that's not right. A year after I installed the tub I replaced the drain pop-up since the fancy one I tried required disassembly every few months to clean the hair out. Tip: If you have anyone with long hair using the shower, do not use one of those foot-operated pop- ups. The hair gets under the stopper and gets caught on the X-shaped part of the drain.

You have to take part of the stopper assembly apart to clean it every few months.

[gfretwell]

If you can do tile that may turn out to be the cheapest way to go and it will always look better than some cheesy fiberglass surround. It is probably easiest to go with a premade pan but putting a mudbed/membrane floor is not really that tough if you are slab on grade. There are tile outlet places that have great deals on small lots of tile.

[Jeff Thies]

I was wondering about cement earlier as I was watching my porch footing getting fixed. Quick work. Very cheap.

I Googled this up:

Is that about right?

Can I use something like slate, or does is it need to be impervious? Small tile easier to work with? Less surface prep?

I'll start looking around. Any suggestion for the shower floor?

I'm liking the whole custom bit, and easier to make fit in whatever space is available. And now that I think of it, I know at least 4 people who know how to work cement, and also owe me a favor! Oh boy!

Jeff

[Jeff Thies]

Thanks. I'll look around. I'm thinking the steel tub is better, near as I can tell mobile home fixtures are designed with the sole consideration to be as cheap as possible which is why nothing ever has an overflow drain. I thought it was odd at first, and then I caught on.

Jeff

[Colbyt]

You omitted the two biggest details needed. Where are the door and any windows located. Also nice to know is which if any are outside walls.

For starters I would stick the shower and WH on the same 52" wall side by side if possible. If the water heater is electric then both can be screened with a single fabric shower curtain to dress the half bath portion up. Of course storing outside tools in there kinda ruins the look.

[Colbyt]

Be very cautious about using a steel tub in rental property. A dropped bottle can chip them. Most stuff is in plastic now so it is not as big a problem as it was 15 years ago. When they scorch the acrylic with their cigarettes it can be sanded and repaired.

Colbyt

[RogerT]

You can get 4-foot (Bootz Honolulu) or 4-1/2 foot (Bootz Kona) steel tubs. Probably any plumbing supply place could order the size you need.

The 4-foot version is also more narrow (27 inches instead of 30 inches), so maybe that would enable you to place a tub along the long wall in your room and still have room to get past it.

Here are a few links:

[HeyBub]

I have no idea on the shower, but if you need a compact toilet, I mean REALLY compact, like one that will fit under a staircase, I have a suggestion I saw in an architecture book.

Wait for it now...

Adapt the lavatory from a junked airliner!

I comes with a toilet, sink, a slot to dispose of razor blades, and little signs admonishing you not to throw stuff (i.e., diapers, cantelopes, etc.) down the commode.

I don't think they come with blue water.

Yep, it's doable and the lavatories are readily available; from where I don't know, but the search should be interesting.

[hrhofmann]

Our local Menards has almost 40 DIFFERENT white toilets on display. Haven't checked Lowes or HD. How in hell anyone could choose between

38 toilets is beyond me.

[Jeff Thies]

Thanks, Never would have thought about that!

Jeff

[Jeff Thies]

Yowza! Room to put one anywhere!

I have a little 13' crankup trailer that never had a toilet, I wonder...

Jeff