Modifying a fiberglass shower/tub

[Rick Shaw]

I want to modify a modular fiberglass shower tub rather than remove the entire unit to make this strictly a shower. Anticipating having a disabled person in the home and the individual cannot make the step over the tub. I'm lazy and cheap and wonder if this is too much of a task. I'm thinking about slashing 3/4 of the front portion of the tub or the entire front side and laying up whatever to finish it off. Current floor is sheet vinyle and will probably be replaced after I carve up the place.

Any precautions I should take? Easier to pull the whole unit? (Don;t like this idea at all since we'd probably want to tile the missing wall unit and I don't have the skill for that.

Thanks

Dennis (remove the garbage to reply direct)

[Speedy Jim]

If you're good with 'glass, I don't see why it couldn't be done. Leave a high enough curb so that a curtain will keep the water inside. Maybe put a hunk of treated lumber inside the curb to stiffen it...

Jim

[Michael Baugh]

Hey, you want to learn how to do tile a better way? Google me

with the terms 'baugh', 'silicone', 'tile' Or you can read what I wrote in one of the posts:

This is my understanding of how to tile the easy way. I first put Styrofoam in the wall cavity flush with the edge of the 2x4's. When the bathroom gets warm, I want it to stay that way. Most recent tile job was a few days ago. I selected a tile style that was kinda white. Arctic Ice. I got unpaintable white silicone, 50 year warrantee. I put the silicone on the edges that will be touching other surfaces, as well as a light bead on those mating surfaces. Then I squiggled silicone on the back of the tile, put the tile against the greenboard about a half inch from its final resting place, and then slid it into place. Then I removed excess silicone with my finger, with a curving motion, and applied that to the back of the next tile. When I am finished, I have tiles that are barely an eighth of an inch apart, I don't have a transitional material such as grout that can allow water to pass it, I have a surface that could tolerate flexion without problem, and I don't have a surface that will encourge mold and mildew growth. I use one foot square tiles, and if I need to make a cut, I make it vertically so it isn't as obvious, I use an angle grinder to cut faucet openings, and when I press the two cut surfaces back together, you can hardly tell that there's a cut.

[Tom]

Twenty years ago, while working for Sears Home Improvement Sales (division no longer exists), we had a client with the same problem. I worked with our subcontractor who specialized in fibreglass work and tub refinishing to cut out the front of the tub and lay fibreglass back in the resulting gap in the top of the edge. He then refinished the whole tub so colors matched. I even was able to design a custom shower door for the unit as the customer didn't want a shower curtain. The end price was a lot lower than tearing out the whole unit and replacing with a new shower unit. If you're in the Phoenix area, I believe the sub is still in business. Tom G.

[default]

I don't suppose you can get away with just mounting a swivel-seat on the lip of the tub?