Small Bathroom Shower Design Options

How to fit a small bathroom shower

What do you do if you want to install a shower but you only have a very small bathroom?

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While I love my bathtub for the rare occasions that I get to use it for a long relaxing soak, I don't know what I would do without my shower. Showers are quick, refreshing and a lot more economical than taking baths. When I had the chance to redesign my small bathroom I jumped at the opportunity to improve the shower that was installed above the bathtub at the time.

The first thing to remember is that there usually is a way to do these things and you mustn't give up before you've really thought about the problem. Don't be put off by the fact that you don't seem to have much room to play with in your bathroom design.

So what are the options?

Throw the bathtub away

Taking out the bathtub will give you more than enough room to fit a sizeable shower enclosure. Unfortunately you won't have a bath anymore. While this might fit in well with your current lifestyle you might want to think about what you might have need of a few years down the line and when you come to sell your property.

When you sell a property you must have a bathroom with a bathtub even if it has a great shower instead. People expect to find a bath in the bathroom and the lack of one can seriously depress the value of your property.

Put your shower in your bathtub

If you have no other option you can install a showerhead above your bathtub together with a shower curtain or splashguard. This should be the easiest solution, as it will take up no additional floor space. Personally I'm not keen on this option.

Turn your bathroom into a wet room

This is an ambitious design that will involve turning the floor of your entire bathroom into a giant shower base and drain. It can be a very expensive option to convert a conventional bathroom into wet room but it has the advantage of allowing you to put your small bathroom shower anywhere you like. Even over the toilet if you want to although I wouldn't advise it.

Install a curved quadrant shower cubicle

The option that I like best for any bathroom is to install a separate shower enclosure either free standing in the room or in a corner of the bathroom. This is a great solution if you can find the space to accommodate the shower enclosure.

The problem with this idea is finding the space in a small bathroom to fit the shower enclosure. Enclosures come in various sizes so you will need first of all to decide on the smallest size that you think you can live with. Even a very small shower enclosure is better than none at all.

To make the space available you should consider the whole small bathroom design. Find a smaller toilet and washbasin and even a smaller bathtub if you have to. Use squared paper and cut out shapes to try many different ways of arranging everything.

Finally look at curved quadrant shower enclosures as a space saving alternative to square or rectangular ones. Finding one of these was the turning point in my small bathroom shower design. Everything fell into place nicely after that.

Read the full article at Small Bathroom Shower

Small Bathroom Shower Design Options

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Build a Shower Stall That Doesn't Leak

Many different approaches have been used to try to build a shower stall that doesn't leak. Shower pans of lead and copper were used for several years. Mixing metal, cement and water often lead to failure, maybe at twenty years, maybe sooner. Then some installers used hot mopped asphalt over concrete with varying success. Some installers still use each of those methods.

Today there are several methods to build a shower pan that promises a leak proof shower for a long time. The promise looks good and time will tell how these various methods work.

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Tile Ready Shower Pans

Three companies including Tile Redi, Schluter and Wedi build systems that use polyurethane or foam and waterproof membranes to build bases upon which tile is then set. The only mortar used is as a base for the shower pan included as part of the system.

These systems all eliminate some of the skill required for building a masonry shower but at a cost. The cost of these systems is higher than a conventional shower, but the shower goes together faster which is a distinct advantage in some situations.

Fiberglass Pans

Consider a fiberglass or acrylic shower stall. You don't get the look and feel of a ceramic shower, but the cost is less. The cheaper shower stalls wear fairly quickly and don't have as long a life as a tile shower, provided the tile shower doesn't start leaking.

Conventional Masonry Showers

Most ceramic showers are still built using masonry construction. A masonry shower pan is built in this manner. A solid base or subfloor is required. A shower drain is rough set in place. The shower pan has two sets of drain holes, a lower set and an upper set. Then a layer of mortar is put down sloped to the bottom drain holes. Pea gravel or broken tiles are placed over the drain holes to keep them open. Then a special vinyl sheet is placed over the mortar layer and glued to the drain base.

The vinyl membrane is the key to the shower base. You must realize that the tile and grout surface you see on a shower floor are not waterproof. Water seeps through the shower floor and migrates down to the membrane and then down the sloped membrane to the bottom drain holes.

Above the vinyl membrane, another layer of mortar is poured to serve as the base for the ceramic tile. After that base cures, the tile is set and grouted on top even with the drain. The construction of the curb is critical too. Around the curb and in the corners of the floor are places where the membrane can crack and leak. Then the walls and ceiling are built.

Some of the modern systems available today will continue to change the way showers are constructed. Most make shower construction simpler. It still seems that for the immediate future some form of the conventional shower will still be the standard. When carefully built using modern materials, a conventional masonry shower will work perfectly for many years.

Build a Shower Stall That Doesn't Leak

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Adding a Shower Enclosure to Your Vintage Claw Foot Tub

One drawback to owning a vintage claw foot bathtub can be the lack of having a shower. If your claw foot tub doesn't currently have a shower feature, there are several options you can choose to add that modern, yet important feature. You could add a separate shower enclosure to the bathroom, but this is a much more costly option and some bathrooms may not be able to fit a full shower enclosure. Plus, this would add an additional chore to bathroom cleaning. The most ideal situation is to add a shower enclosure and curtain to your existing claw foot tub. Luckily, there are some available options to making this task fairly easy to achieve.

To add a shower to your existing claw foot tub, you can hire a contractor or plumber to do the work for you and they can recommend several options. One of those options is to add a shower to the claw foot tub and put in a surrounding shower rod and curtain. This allows the shower curtain to completely surround the tub, therefore minimizing water splashing and leaks. Another option for tubs near a wall is to tile the existing wall, add tiled water "detractors" around the wall sides of the tub and put an "L" shaped shower rod and curtain to cover the exposed sides of the tub. The drawback to this option, of course, is that it is more costly and takes away from the freestanding look of the claw foot tub.

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There are basically two options to installing the plumbing for the shower. One is to have the pipes hidden within the wall, which only works if the tub is close to an existing bathroom wall. The other option is to have the exposed pipes that are mounted directly on the tub. The latter is the most common choice and there are some various decorative styles that make the exposed pipes and knobs have a nice finished look.

There are several "do-it-yourself" options available for those who are willing to take on the task themselves. Home improvement stores such as Lowes and Home Depot carry various kits that are predesigned to fit most claw foot tubs. There are shower kits designed to work with existing pipes and others that add the exposed pipes to the freestanding tub. Both types of kits are affordable, easy to install and only require the use of a few basic tools. Both Lowes and Home Depot have staff in the plumbing department that can make some recommendations based on the set up that you currently have. Still, it might help to get someone who is familiar with plumbing to help out or the check the job once it is complete.

Regardless of the type of shower option you choose, you can easily add a shower to your claw foot tub to make it more convenient and useful. This will allow you to have the best of both worlds, a nice large tub to take a long, leisurely bath or a shower that you can use quickly and efficiently thus making your bathroom more functional and enjoyable.

Adding a Shower Enclosure to Your Vintage Claw Foot Tub

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