Building your own shower stall?

[Seeria]

I noticed a few folks built their own, which might be what I need to do since the cost of buying a shower stall is not on my budget this year.
Any chance there is a guide to materials that can be used? Walking around Menards and Lowes all I found were kits ($200plus, most $300 plus).

 

[TygerCub]

If you are looking for inexpensive, but durable, waterproof, and strong, I say go for corregated roofing framed out with wood.

If you use the metal kind, you can bend each sheet in the middle to create the corners, overlap them in the middle of each wall, just as you would on a roof, and ensure a watertight seam with caulk/construction adhesive in the overlap joint. For the fiberglass kind, just cut a 3" PVC pipe in half, put it in the corner so each wall is cradled in the curve, and caulk.

For the tub, use a mortor mixing bucket. I have a 2' x 3' that I hope to use for this purpose, but they do come a little larger than that. Look in the cement section of Lowes or your local big-box home improvement store.

You can be as cheap (3 shower curtains on rods), or as expensive as you can afford (completely tiled stall). Just up to your imagination and pocketbook!

 

[Seeria]

Thanks folks!
Cheap is good, waterproof is better. Reading these post, have to say I like the idea of making my own because I can design to handle the needs of disabled family members. Will do some salvage yard and big toy store (menards, lowes here) window shopping, see what I can find.

 

[Abbott-SKO]

Marlite is not waterproof, don't use it for a shower or you will be replacing it. Lowes and Home Depot have white 4'x8' sheets of plastic for sale pretty cheap. You can also use latex caulking or latex/silicon caulking for glue as it doesn't leave an indentation (melt) in some plastic sheets the way liquid nails sometimes does.

 

[Russell-SKO]

I put my toilet in one end of a fiberglass tub using the tub as a tray . With the holding tank mounted under the tub, cutting a hole in the tub then the floor was no problem, I just made sure that any wood that was exposed was fiberglassed over to keep out any water that it mite come in contact with. 3M 5200 is your friend can be found at any marine supply. Now I s--- shower and shave in the same place without moving. Life is good. I've been cutin and glue'n pipe all day,do'in the plumbing thing.

 

[GoneCamping-SKO]

You can find very affordable shower base and RV bath tubs on ebay from a seller called Tri-State Surplus, I got mine from them and paid only $32 for the shower base. I built the walls out of various materials, had some brand new shower walls that someone discarded and I took them, made the 3rd wall from that "Sani-Lite" (it's what they call it around here) material I got at Lowes (fiberglass reinforced plastic panels, bumpy on one side and smooth on the other).... I highly recommend Tri-State Surplus, they have the best prices ANYWHERE and she ships fast too!!

 

[Abbott-SKO]

While the term "Marlite" is a general term, like "paneling", it (specifically Marlite) was and still is infact used for showers. I've used it myself in more than 1 shower, and each lasted for atleast a decade. If the OP were to build a shower using it, it would likely outlive the bus, as long as it was properly installed & maintained. Nobody was talking a $500,000 show home here

Smitty

I have torn out several showers that were built with Marlite and replaced them with the proper product. Marlite is Masonite with a plasticized coating which does not cover the edges of the board. When water is leeched into these edges the layers of the Masonite separate and deteriorate. The plasticized coating will also discolor as it begins to separate from the rest of the boards layers. Marlite was designed to be used "near" wet applications such as bathroom and kitchen walls etc. Marlite was never intended to be used "in" a wet application such as showers although some folks have done so because it was a cheap product and readily available. Using Marlite for a shower application to save money is obsolete, plastic sheets are a much better alternative and have become readily available and affordable. 4'x8' white plastic sheets can be found pretty cheap in the paneling department at Lowes and Home Depot.

 

[Ob1-SKO]

One of the conversions in the gallery shows a guy using a stainless steel sink as a shower base. Looked especially cool when you take into account that with the bowl recessed into the floor, head room grew about 8 inches, sure wish I had that in mine!

 

[Griff-SKO]

One of the conversions in the gallery shows a guy using a stainless steel sink as a shower base...

That would be Andy-B-Bus-9: http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/v/Skoolies/Andy-B-Bus-9/

 

[Seeria]

Hey Cliff, can you toss me a link to this tri state seller, please? My searches on ebay bring up nothing.

 

[GoneCamping-SKO]

That doesn't surprise me any, ever since they changed ebay I have had nothing but trouble finding my saved searches & sellers list. The more they try and make it better, the worse it gets!!

Tri-State Surplus (link)

 

[Seeria]

Thanks! Saving him as a fav so maybe it won't disappear.

 

[sportyrick]

Well this may not be the easiest or cheapest way but I bent up some SS and welded the corners and it works great (6X24X30"). I glued and screwed up thin paneling before installing the tub then contact cemented the cheap plastic sheet stuff to the paneling for the shower walls, of course after installing my tub which I screwed to the wall before sticking up the plastic. My SS tub is 6" tall and I brought the plastic down 2" over the SS so water wouldn't get out (and hide the screws). I also put silicone between the SS and the plastic so it couldn't capillary up and out. Haven't had a problem yet and I think there is a picture in my album of the shower. The toughest part is getting a curtain to work with the curved roof. sportyrick

 

[Eric von Kleist]

Bought your parts yet?

Here's an under $100 idea. http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/v/Skoolies/Paradigm_Shift/Plumbing/

I don't really have a good shot of the finished installation. Half a whiskey barrel lined with fiberglass. It functions as a sitz-bath/shower pan/laundry tub. I still haven't put up the planned shower curtain, which would be on a curved rod of slightly larger diameter than the tub.

I use a flexible shower stalk (a 6' piece of hose with a multi-spray garden head set on the mist setting.) Very water efficient.

You could also build some kind of plywood box for a pan and line it with fiberglass. Fiberglass isn't too hard to work. If you have the skills it takes to cut fabric and spread paint, you can fiberglass.

 

[yankeflyer]

shower pan from discarded shower stall - bottom was all I wanted and the upper part was damaged - cut a hole above the starboard storage bay slightly larger than the pan and you have a start on a sunken shower.

 

[Seeria]

So is there any reason why I can't just put in a tall tub (cement tub, planter, cut-off shower stall, etc) and use a two ring curtain set up? Seams it would be easier and not take up more space with walls and what not.

 

[yankeflyer]

Hula Hoop and a shower curtain was my first shower and my water hose was black so my water was heated by solar power. I don't know how much water 100 ft. of black hose holds what it was enough to shower with. And like another poster who used something from the masonry department as shower pan, you can probably find something for free on Craig's list. Craig's list has supplied some really nice oak cabinetry for my bus, for under $100.

 

[jam0o0]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#uhmw-polyethylene/=58edb5

that stuff is cutting board material in bulk. it's white, smooth and easy to clean. you can get it in black too. and $50 for a 4'x8' sheet you could have your seamless shower walls for 100$. get a base for $50 off ebay. it's not the cheapest but it'll look professional when you are done.

 

[Eric von Kleist]

So is there any reason why I can't just put in a tall tub (cement tub, planter, cut-off shower stall, etc) and use a two ring curtain set up? Seams it would be easier and not take up more space with walls and what not.

I think that's an excellent idea. It would leave the space more open than a built-in shower cabinet. You pull the curtain back, and all of a sudden you can walk down the hallway without having to hold your arms in. People often think of use of space as exclusive with respect to usage. If you can use the space, even just by opening it up to make the hallway wider, you can increase your effective space, and make the bus bigger on the inside than it might seem. Most people look at a floorplan and think, "Okay, here's the shower's footprint, so I have to mark off that space as taken." Truth is, there's no reason that the space can't do double duty (even if it is only by providing a more open feel).

That's one thing that I struggle with regarding built-in anything: if it's not done very carefully, it defines your use of the space.

Not sure that's clear...

 

[Seeria]

Very clear to me. One reason I am seriously considering going with a design where there is very little 'hardspace' (a word I made up, so roomy tells me). I figure it will take time living in the bus to see where things should be, what space can be used for what, and for me it is important that I be able to change layout to fit the needs. If I nail walls everywhere I won't be able to do any of that. eek