Tub/shower..out with the old..in with the new..

[oldfart]

Folks, hopefully the third week of Aug. I'll be on vacation and job#1 is as follows;..gut the area from the furnace to the master bedroom. (1970 s.w.) Rip out the floor and replace. Remove everything in the bathroom....cabinets/toilet/tub/sink/etc. Remove the water-softner/pressure tank/hot water tank and all reachable plumbing. Now the hard part. I plan to install a new shower..one of the biggun's. With a seat...mebbe 2 seats! No more tub...too old to climb into it..too old to climb out of it without the paramedics help. The problem is all the showers I'm looking at thru Lowes and H.D. sit right down on the floor. The trap goes thru the floorjoists in a normal home. That won't work in a mobile home! Below the floor joists is in the freeze-zone..the trap has to be above floor level without the threshold entering the shower being overly high. I ain't too good at doin' "high-kicks" any more. So whats available over-the-counter without a lot of modifications? Width is not a problem...I have a Saw-Zall and room to expand. Depth is also not a particular concern....I'll re-locate the toilet so it's not in the middle of the shower. Also....howinell do I rip out that old green tub?? I still haven't figgered out how it's installed..no screws no bolts...nuthing! Audie...the Oldfart..

[Brenda (OH)]

Hello Audie,

I am going to do a little "outside the box" type brain storming, see if anything hits you as doable.

1. since you are down to the studs, can you raise the shower tray off the joists enough to get the drain in, (2 to 6 inches?) and make a shallow step in front of the shower area? example: tub up 6 inches, 3 inch landing by shower?

1b. raise the whole floor, have step up at the doorway?

2. make an extension off the heat duct, with heat, you can have tray on floor?

3. make this room radiant heat, run some of tubing under the shower tray, floor is kept at same level.

4. if you are looking for a really nice upgrade, is the drain etc different under those hydro tubs with the swing out door in the side like are used in senior care centers? definitely they are designed for limited mobility situations.

wish I had looked more slowly when the drain line fell off the shower tray on the last mobile home I sold, but since I had never glued pvc pipe, I hired a friend to manage the repair lol.

Brenda (OH)

[steve]

How about making a sub-sub floor system..
add joist to the bottom of the joist and insulate so trap can hang lower??

[JD]

Sub-Sub-floor. I like that! Don't know why that wouldn't work.

But we also have the part you want in the Books and Parts link above. Here is the link.

http://mobilehomerepair.com/tubdrainkit.htm



The Sterling/Vikrell seated shower at Lowe's fits these very well. There is a gap under the drain of those showers.

Hope this helps

JD

[oldfart]

Well by gum I knew I could count on ya'll for some excellent ideas!! The idea of a sub-sub floor was outstanding but I'm afraid it'll put the trap below the drainline. Hmmm? Might have to do some pondering on that one. And Carol and I went to Lowes/H.D. and I really like the Sterling units! Excellent design and the honey-comb base seems much stronger than some others. (might be needed to support my ponderous porcine body..eh!) And the Sterling units actually do set a bit above floor level....hmmmm. I'll know more once I gut the bathroom and see just what I have to work with. One thing for sure is I must be able to reach all the plumbing without ripping up a bunch of belly material to do so. Traps can leak..eh? Raising the new shower-base seems to be the simplest way to go. I could build a plywood/2X4 base under the shower base with room for the trap, etc. Then use vinyl baseboard moulding to hide the "lift." Mainly I want to make everything accessible (plumbing) while keeping the new shower handi-cap accessible. Much more to come my friends so keep your thinking-caps handy. YMHS...Audie..the Oldfart..

[oldfart]

Alright folks...1pc./2pc. or 4pc. shower??? The beauty of a 48in wide 1pc. is no seams. (Uhhh....I'm not considering the 36in. wide for obvious reasons...!) The downfall is getting it into the bathroom. It'll never fit thru the 32in. bathroom doorway even if I rip out the door frame. And even if it would, I couldn't walk it down the hallway (s.w. home) and turn it 90deg. to get it in the bathroom. (yes..I should have installed a 36in. doorway...but it wouldn't swing the way I wanted it to.) 2pc....easier to get it in..only 1 seam. I'd still have to go with a 48in. wide unit in order to swing it into place. I'd like to have a 60in. wide shower....yes..I'm THAT wide. Stop laughin' ya'll..this is serious! Now..option #3..go with a 4pc. unit and get the width I want, make it easy for 1 fat old man to install..and save a bunch'a headaches. But what's the chances of it leaking at the seams? Anyone ever installed one? They seem well made and thought out... but advertising sells..eh? I only want to do this 1 time. Well, I ain't done yet! Still more to come. Audie..the longwinded Oldfart..

[oldfart]

Okey dokey...I'll try and not make this too much longer. At present I'm looking at the 4pc. design for ease of installation. I'd like to go with a 60in. wide unit and preferable a smooth surface with no fake tile design which would prob'ly be a p.i.t.a. to keep clean. It'd be nice if it had at least 1 built-in seat. Just roll my wheel-chair up or creep up in my walker and use a grab-rail to plop my ponderous posterior down..have a smoke and pop a beer and turn on the "in-shower" plasma T.V. and relax. A second seat might be handy in case I have company.... (yeah.....just try and get your eyes to stop burning after visualizing THAT!!) ...or I could put a magazine rack there!! The final problem is the depth of these units. Most run about 34 to 36in. deep. I think I can still do it even though my present tub is 28in. deep. (deep/depth being the measurement from the inside edge of the shower to the outside wall) Might have to relocate the toilet and chuck the washing machine from the bathroom...and move the bathroom sink. Otherwise I'll be sitting in the shower with the toilet and half the sink. 'Nuff already. I'll try and get time to take before&after photos of this little mess. Wish me well and keep the ideas coming my friends. YMHS...Audie..the Oldfart..

[steve]

The trap does not have to be directly under the drain..you can 90 degree a fitting to a point that you could get to a servicable trap.
I have installed many 4 piecers. With a good quality back caulk they work great. Try not to expose any caulking because that creates a
re-caulk down the road. Definatley get the built in seat and flat screen for comfort when you shave your legs

[oldfart]

Well now Steve thanks for the suggestions. The idea of 90deg.ing the drain and then going into the trap might make it a whole lot easier! Also..since this drainline doesn't go into the septic system I could just negate the trap..eh? (grey water line..mums the word..) Hmmm? Well, lets keep working on it and keep the ideas flowing. (pun intended) I like the 4pc. shower idea. Easy to stud the walls, insulate and install the shower walls. Easier to plumb and more accessible when problems arise. I assume the panels lock together and with caulk thwarth any possible leaks..eh? What caulk? Now..harrumph..the comment about shaving my laigs. Steve...I ain't in California! Here in south-central Pa. we frown on those things. Don't condemn it...do yer own thing as the Amish say. 'Nuff said. Audie..the Oldfart..

[steve]

With your grey water line dumping straight out you dont need a trap or vent. You might consider a screen to keep the critters from coming up the pipe and stealing your soap.
Also consider a pea gravel trench to disapate water..after all you might not want an ice rink in winter

[sd0321]

I don't have any ideas or anything about installing that shower, but I did take out my old green tub a couple of weeks ago - I took off the faucet handles and shower head and removed the tub surround....and was able to lift (well it was heavy and not that easy to lift) the old bathtub out. I would have had to probably have a special wrench or tool to unhook the plumbing from the drain pipe thing...but I grabbed it and the rusted thing just broke off in my hand....and now the old green tub is out in the yard....of course, the new tub is going to have to come out (the guy that is going to help me do the bathroom floors says) because, yeah....back to that spongy floor thing....he said the floor under that tub probably needs to be replaced...

Sherry

[sd0321]

Also, what was holding my tub up was that pitiful stapeled together wood that had a panel over it....and wood pieces...kind of like what hold shelves up? Don't see how that really held up that heavy tub, but what do I know....except in the event of a tornado, I'm pretty sure the bathtub IS NOT where I would now choose to go....

[oldfart]

Ohmigawd!! Sherry..that's my tub!! Exactlly! Except my plumbing comes in from the left instead of the right...and my walls look crappier. How'd you get that bottom panel off? The one from the floor to the top edge of the tub. I'm getting my big hammer ready for this job. Since I'm gutting the entire bathroom and running all new plumbing I'm not worried about saving anything. Once it's all gutted I expect to find no remaining studs behind the orig. tub on the outside wall. And the floor under the tub "did an Elvis" some years back. Don't rightly know what's holdin' it up...go figger?? And like a simpleton I layed plywood over the rotted main-floor in the bathroom back in 1997. Now that is coming up as well. I'll start with bare floor-joists and work my way up from there I rekkin'. Wish me well and keep the posts coming. Audie..the Oldfart...

[Yanita]

Hi Audie,

That green tub pic is exactly what our guest bath had as well...removal tools...LOL, saw sall, pry bar and hammer. Everything had to go so it did not matter how it got out soooo long as it did!

Yanita

[sd0321]

Audie,

There was nothing holding my panel in place...if you mean the piece that covered up that wood frame. And if you are taking it all out anyway, I'd just cut the wood frame, and then you won't have to struggle to lift that tub over that. I don't know if it's called a plumbers wrench, or what, but there is some kind of tool for unscrewing the drainpipe stuff. (Or, since it's all going anyway, the saw thing sounds like a plan.... Sherry