Pura Vida Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 Has anyone installed a cheap, free standing shower? How did it work out, lol? I’m contemplating adding a shower in my basement for temporary use for a guest who will be here for an extended stay. I already have a toilet and sink. Trying to DIY for the most part, since I don’t have a ton of time/money to prepare.
coldweatherfan Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) Do you have a place for the water to drain? What are your plumbing skills? What are your cement and tiling skills? Edited June 20, 2018 by coldweatherfan
Pura Vida Posted June 20, 2018 Author Posted June 20, 2018 The drain worries me slightly since it sits at an odd angle in the basement, i.e. it’s in a corner set up for one of the typical bathtub/shower contraptions that drain on the end, right under the shower head. Most of these free standing showers drain in the center. Yikes. Otherwise good skills in the rest you mentioned (ok not me personally but my assistant, lol). I guess I’m wondering if the free standing will work ok for a while, or will fall apart after a couple uses.
plantmanky Posted June 20, 2018 Posted June 20, 2018 There is one of these rigged up in my inlaws basement (basement is unfinished). What the previous owner had done was a bit cleaver. The drain was actually about 15 feet or so from where the shower was, but the floor slopes in that direction. So they used one of those plastic kiddie pools you get at walmart as a shower basin, cut a hole in it with 1 inch pvc and ran a pipe to the drain. It actually works pretty well if you use the shower.
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 So if I'm understanding correctly, you have a half-bath in your basement, it has at least one concrete wall and a concrete floor, and the bathroom has floor drain located in it, close to the wall, correct? Just wanting to make sure I have your scenario correct. Also, if you could give the dimensions and explain the layout of your bathroom it would be really helpful....overall bathroom size, where the drain is in context to your toilet and sink, how much free-space there is around the drain.
coldweatherfan Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 As long as you don't care a ton about how it looks, your two main concerns would be wood rot and water retention. If all of your surrounding walls and floor are concrete then you really only have to worry about water retention. There are several options for you ranging from very temporary to permanent. On the very temporary side. Just make a curb and corner posts out of 2x4's and silicone them in place so they contain the water and send it to the drain. Get some PVC tubing and make curtain rods to enclose it. Paint all sides of the 2x4's with exterior paint before assembling. It will last a long time and will be easy to rip out when you want something nicer. Use regular 2x4's. Pressure treated lumber contains arsenic and is not recommended for indoors. You could probably do this for less than $100. Biggest negative is, if your floor is not pitched toward the drain you'll have water standing in your shower base. Lowe's has 30x60 left or right drain shower bases starting at $179. You could put one of those down and surround it with curtains. That way later if you wanted to do something nicer, you would already have a permanent floor you would just need to add tile and glass. These shower rods are pretty cheap on line. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ez-Flo-11136-Shower-Rod-Frames-U-Type/118034712?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=968&adid=22222222227047954427&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=146921236736&wl4=pla-258579498141&wl5=9018822&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112549662&wl11=online&wl12=118034712&wl13=&veh=sem In either case I would put a fan or dehumidifier in to remove moisture. or you could always do this.
coldweatherfan Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 These are outdoor, but gives you and idea of what you're looking at.
Pura Vida Posted June 21, 2018 Author Posted June 21, 2018 So if I'm understanding correctly, you have a half-bath in your basement, it has at least one concrete wall and a concrete floor, and the bathroom has floor drain located in it, close to the wall, correct? Just wanting to make sure I have your scenario correct. Also, if you could give the dimensions and explain the layout of your bathroom it would be really helpful....overall bathroom size, where the drain is in context to your toilet and sink, how much free-space there is around the drain. The bathroom is in the corner of the basement – 1 wall concrete, 1 wall wood framing because there’s a room on the other side. Concrete floor. We installed a utility sink right away (where the “nice” sink will eventually go) and recently added a toilet next to it (both back up to the wood framing wall) but toilet is moving toward the concrete wall (corner). Privacy at this point is from folding privacy panels – yes we are the Beverly Hillbillies. The shower is supposed to go next to the toilet right into the corner. There’s about 4 to 5 feet from the concrete wall to the toilet (the space for the shower). Drain for the shower is flushed right in the corner of the 2 walls, it’s pretty open. The basement is large, dry, high ceilings & awesome. It’s partially finished and is looking great. We just haven’t gotten around to the bathroom, lol.
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 If I were trying to put in a temporary shower like this myself, I would try to build up a small platform for your shower base to sit up on...that will give you a little "room for play" to add piping in as needed for your floor drain. If you go that route, or even if you just use lumber to make a curb around the shower, make sure you use treated lumber - preferably borate treated lumber, which does best with direct water contact. Then you can install a shower pan, like this one that has the drain on one side of it, onto the platform and plumb in the drain. For your curtain, you can either make a curtain rod using PVC pipe and fittings, or you can get something like woodsy posted above in posts #8 & #9. Get yourself an all-in-one surface mount shower fixture that has the valves and shower head all built in together in a single unit. Something like this one.
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted June 21, 2018 Posted June 21, 2018 One other option you could try if you went the route of building a platform to put your shower base in, would be to buy a section of channel drain/trench drain. Tie the trench drain into your floor drain, and then you would only have to slope the platform in one direction to the trench drain instead of "dishing" the whole thing to a circular drain. And instead of buying a shower pan, you would have the option to just buy a cheap piece of sheet vinyl flooring and put it directly down onto some plywood (I'd also suggest getting pressure treated plywood, for the record). Essentially, what you would be doing there is assembling a DYI version of this shower pan, which will set you back about $800 at Home Depot or Lowes:
Pura Vida Posted June 22, 2018 Author Posted June 22, 2018 Thanks so much you guys, this is so helpful!!
Recommended Posts