Your shower stall advice, please
July 15, 2011 7:10 AM Subscribe
We want to get rid of our clawfoot tub and replace it with a prefab shower stall/enclosure.
We want a shower stall that's sturdy, not too fancy, big enough to hold a shower bench.
What material do you recommend? Our water has iron in it; will that make a difference in choice of material?
Can you recommend a particular brand, size, special features that are worth the cost?
What features do/don’t you like about your own shower?
Your experience with installation? My husband will be doing the work and says the replumbing part won’t be a problem, but what other problems should we expect?
We want a shower stall that's sturdy, not too fancy, big enough to hold a shower bench.
What material do you recommend? Our water has iron in it; will that make a difference in choice of material?
Can you recommend a particular brand, size, special features that are worth the cost?
What features do/don’t you like about your own shower?
Your experience with installation? My husband will be doing the work and says the replumbing part won’t be a problem, but what other problems should we expect?
Seconding sarling's suggestion re: Selling your current tub on Craigslist and getting them to remove it. I bought a clawfoot tub on CL and had to hire guys to move it since it weighted 400+ pounds. They were burly, strong guys and they could barely move it.
posted by murrey at 8:07 AM on July 15, 2011
posted by murrey at 8:07 AM on July 15, 2011
Response by poster: Clever suggestion re Craiglist; however, the tub isn't in such great shape so I'm not sure who'd want it. I'm told we're going to remove the feet and lower the tub onto a rug which we then pull out to our waiting tractor. Apparently that's how we got it in in the first place.
But our major interest is what to choose for the new shower stall.
posted by sevenstars at 8:18 AM on July 15, 2011
But our major interest is what to choose for the new shower stall.
posted by sevenstars at 8:18 AM on July 15, 2011
Scrappers want your tub. I personally want your tub so I can scrap it, but I'm not coming to get it. Even cheap metal is worth picking up in that large a quantity.
posted by sarling at 8:25 AM on July 15, 2011
posted by sarling at 8:25 AM on July 15, 2011
Whatever you do I strongly recommend that you avoid the sliding door style shower stalls. We replaced our tub with one, and the sliding door has been a constant headache ever since. The hardware that holds the door on the track breaks fairly easily even on our semi pricey model, and the doors come off the track about once a week. I suggest going with one that allows for a curtain or actual doors.
posted by katyggls at 9:46 AM on July 15, 2011
posted by katyggls at 9:46 AM on July 15, 2011
My parents replaced my bathroom's shower when I was away at college due to a sudden discovery of dryrot. The shower stall they put in was awful. It was small to begin with (the space was in-between prefab sizes and they didn't want to go custom) and they picked one with this weird diagonal door that you had to practically squeeze through because it was so narrow. A regular door that took up the entire side of the shower would have been much better. So my suggestion here is to try walking in and out of the showers in the showroom.
Also for some reason showers and tubs often don't come with enough storage space! Look for ones that have enough shelves and such for your products.
posted by radioamy at 10:12 AM on July 15, 2011
Also for some reason showers and tubs often don't come with enough storage space! Look for ones that have enough shelves and such for your products.
posted by radioamy at 10:12 AM on July 15, 2011
Hint: Break the existing tub up into chunks with sledge hammer. Much easier that trying to move the whole tub.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:05 PM on July 15, 2011
posted by humboldt32 at 12:05 PM on July 15, 2011
"Our water has iron in it; will that make a difference in choice of material?" --> had a broken iron filter for a bit, and a plastic (vinyl? Not clear; plastic-y) shower stall; not a pretty result. I don't know what you should get, but, light-coloured plastic will probably not work well.
Nth the warnings about the tub being heavy (mine was moved out and back into place for a reno; it really, really taxed the two sturdy men who moved it) and the idea that people will want it; not too hard to refinish them.
posted by kmennie at 5:48 PM on July 15, 2011
Nth the warnings about the tub being heavy (mine was moved out and back into place for a reno; it really, really taxed the two sturdy men who moved it) and the idea that people will want it; not too hard to refinish them.
posted by kmennie at 5:48 PM on July 15, 2011
My old apartment had a quite nice (not cheap crap) vinyl enclosure, and I HATED it. The surface was just ever so very slightly textured, which made it totally freaking impossible to clean the surface easily.
posted by desuetude at 7:40 PM on July 15, 2011
posted by desuetude at 7:40 PM on July 15, 2011
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posted by sarling at 8:03 AM on July 15, 2011