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Old 05-30-2019, 11:00 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Lightbulb In stair shower?

I’m thinking of making a removable shower to be used in the stairs. The stairs would still function as normal, but the shower portion would fit in the stairwell. This would drain to a portable grey tank placed directly below the shower drain. Thoughts, experience, questions?

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Old 05-31-2019, 12:22 AM   #2
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The logistics seem complicated. The technical build sounds pretty easy. Shower pan of some sort, you're up in the bus, water runs downhill, hose to gray water tank on the ground.

The big problem I see is that you need to find a way to dry out your shower after you use it. No matter what material you use - hard or soft - it really needs to dry before you put it away. (I'm assuming you'd need a curtain of some sort so you can stow it after you're done using it.) If you put it away wet then it will grow mold. So you take a shower, and then what? You've got to get the wet curtain somewhere - but you're still stuck inside the bus. You need to put the curtain somewhere while you remove the shower pan setup from the stairs. Then you could take it outside, rinse it off, and hang it up to dry.

Its a creative use of the space, but I think it would be a lot of work to set up and take down. You're also potentially introducing water to an area of the bus where you really don't want to - close to the dashboard and drivers area. (Same goes for the humidity.)

I think I'd look at adding a rear deck of some kind - even just a trailer-hitch carrier - maybe folding, maybe not - with a tent-type shower on it. You could still use some sort of portable gray water tank, but it would keep all the water safely outside the bus. (It would also be self-drying.) The rear deck doesn't have to be very big - a lot of the commercial ones would easily be bigger then the stairwell.

I think I'd feel equally awkward showering on the back of a bus as I would in the doorway.
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Old 05-31-2019, 07:50 AM   #3
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I was thinking of waterproofing the stairwell and having a drain on the last step. There would be a wood platform insert, kind of like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/ARB-Teak...4836/205492942

The stairwell would be the shower pan, and the wood platform is what I’d stand on while I shower. If the door is facing the sun, Couldn’t I just leave the shower up and open the door? As for humidity, I could install something like a fantastic fan.

My problem with an outside shower is warmth. I plan on going all over the US, so I’d be shivering.

Thanks for making me think about that!
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Old 05-31-2019, 07:51 AM   #4
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Mark makes some good points. Howeva...
I believe I see what you're envisioning, a Super Man Shower Stall!
Showering in the stairwell, not on the main deck adjoining it. If that is the premise, not only will ablutions be performed in a phone booth-sized area, that narrow tread would be awkward to balance and maneuver upon, especially when shampoo froth is wanting to trickle into the eyes!
To continue with this conceit; I suppose a drain could be installed into the lowest tread for drainage, however a dam would be needed at the threshold to direct the rinseate into a holding tank, and not to simply cascade onto the ground just out from your entry way, like some Skoolie waterfall.
A permanent barrier at the threshold might likely create a tripping hazard, BTW.
You're getting into fairly low clearances there, so a low-profile temp tank that can be connected to the drain would fill the bill.
All stairwell seams would require caulking to prevent agua incursion, and a hydrophobic coating painted onto all surfaces that'll get wet, to facilitate cleaning & drying.
A series of belaying points on the ceiling to suspend a curtain from while in use and during drying would do the trick. In the event of staying in a populated area, a mirrored adhesive film on the door glass should afford privacy, unless said shower stall is internally illuminated!
I'm a heathen, so I prefer to shower al fresco. My site is situated and set up to afford no sight lines when showering with the garden hose. Tho I do tend to wait until past dusk and in the pre-dawn to complete comprehensive clean ups..!
Cold climates call for a different approach, natch.
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Old 05-31-2019, 07:53 AM   #5
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OK, the teak deck addresses one of my concerns! [emoji106]
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Old 05-31-2019, 08:04 AM   #6
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how do you clean it? bus stairs are full of little crevices and nooks.. id at least think you'd need to install something that you can clean all the nastiness out of so it doesnt stink when you are driving down the road after having used it for a year..



one way to dry it is most busses have a really nice heating system designed to blow on the door and stairwell.. so after a shower you fold the curtain back just far enough to allow those heater vents to blow... open the door and turn that blower on with the vents pointed down.. im assuming you'd have a curtain on a ring to wrap around area so you dont splash water on the floor, windshield and heating units..
-Christopher
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Old 05-31-2019, 08:21 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeNesquik View Post
I’m thinking of making a removable shower to be used in the stairs. The stairs would still function as normal, but the shower portion would fit in the stairwell. This would drain to a portable grey tank placed directly below the shower drain. Thoughts, experience, questions?
If you want a removable shower, you could install something like this RV step tub: https://www.campingworld.com/replace...in-115584.html

You could install this flush with your floor along the side, with the tub part projecting through and below the floor (you can only do this along the sides) and then have a temporary panel or something covering it, which you'd remove to use the shower. No reason to futz around in the stairwell area at all.

I'm actually planning to do this in my bus, and the cover will be where I put the cat litter box.
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Old 05-31-2019, 08:38 AM   #8
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How would I be able to still use the steps?
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Old 05-31-2019, 08:41 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by haz.matt.1960 View Post
Mark makes some good points. Howeva...
I believe I see what you're envisioning, a Super Man Shower Stall!
Showering in the stairwell, not on the main deck adjoining it. If that is the premise, not only will ablutions be performed in a phone booth-sized area, that narrow tread would be awkward to balance and maneuver upon, especially when shampoo froth is wanting to trickle into the eyes!
To continue with this conceit; I suppose a drain could be installed into the lowest tread for drainage, however a dam would be needed at the threshold to direct the rinseate into a holding tank, and not to simply cascade onto the ground just out from your entry way, like some Skoolie waterfall.
A permanent barrier at the threshold might likely create a tripping hazard, BTW.
You're getting into fairly low clearances there, so a low-profile temp tank that can be connected to the drain would fill the bill.
All stairwell seams would require caulking to prevent agua incursion, and a hydrophobic coating painted onto all surfaces that'll get wet, to facilitate cleaning & drying.
A series of belaying points on the ceiling to suspend a curtain from while in use and during drying would do the trick. In the event of staying in a populated area, a mirrored adhesive film on the door glass should afford privacy, unless said shower stall is internally illuminated!
I'm a heathen, so I prefer to shower al fresco. My site is situated and set up to afford no sight lines when showering with the garden hose. Tho I do tend to wait until past dusk and in the pre-dawn to complete comprehensive clean ups..!
Cold climates call for a different approach, natch.
I could install a drain like this. https://www.quartzbyaco.com/tablet/linear-drain.html

On the wood platform, I could install a flange to direct water towards the drain. Good idea though, I didn’t think of that!
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Old 05-31-2019, 08:47 AM   #10
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Having a removable platform that is plumbed for discharge would greatly simplify the solution to your ablution equation.
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Old 05-31-2019, 08:48 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by JoeNesquik View Post
How would I be able to still use the steps?
Was this a reply to my suggestion? If so, you would not put the step tub where your steps are, which would allow you to keep using the steps for their normal purpose.
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Old 05-31-2019, 09:53 AM   #12
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I guess people with outdoor showers remain unclean when parked in an organised camp ground for lack of a grey tank? - I had a couple of surgeries one time and was under orders to do nothing until healing was complete, which meant no income, being self employed -- so while I was doing 'nothing' I rented out my house and built a cabin hidden in the trees just off to the side and hidden from the driveway - no toilet or shower facilities, but cold water supplied by a garden hose - using a tiger torch to heat water in an old tank rescued from a hot water heater, plumbed by black plastic to a shower head nailed to a huge fir tree, I showered as close to naturally as it's possible to get - there is something about showering in the great outdoors that left me feeling cleaner and more refreshed than I've ever felt in a tile lined bathroom
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Old 05-31-2019, 10:11 AM   #13
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Well, I would have the water go through the wood platform and then go into the floor drain, permanently in the stairs.
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Old 05-31-2019, 10:23 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
Was this a reply to my suggestion? If so, you would not put the step tub where your steps are, which would allow you to keep using the steps for their normal purpose.
Yes that was a reply. I want the shower to be in the actual stairs
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Old 05-31-2019, 10:28 AM   #15
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In which case, I'd have a fitted, flush plug for the drain, to keep out the inevitable schmutz that gets tracked in...
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Old 05-31-2019, 11:24 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by haz.matt.1960 View Post
In which case, I'd have a fitted, flush plug for the drain, to keep out the inevitable schmutz that gets tracked in...
Yeah, I would keep a plug in the drain, along with trying to keep the dirt outside. Thanks so much for all of the good advice!
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Old 05-31-2019, 12:41 PM   #17
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Does anybody have experience with one of these?
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Old 10-24-2021, 10:49 AM   #18
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Did you ever build this, JoeNesQuik? Curious how it turned out.
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