Tub-shower installation calls for creativity

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This article was published 16/03/2019 (2416 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A custom, three-piece bathroom can vary in its appearance with a variety of wall colour, flooring, vanity, faucet style and toilet.

What usually sets the tone for a bathroom is the tub-shower configuration and the chosen esthetics. If simply a walk-in shower, tiled walls and shower base easily become the focal point. Even with a tub, the wall tile catches your eye and dictates the esthetics of the space.

What do you do if tiling isn’t your style?

During a recent build in the Grand Beach area, the massive undertaking of adding 300 square feet to a four-season cottage included a new, oversized three-piece bathroom that would feature heated flooring, a window centred above the toilet area and a tub-shower combination along the far wall. It wasn’t until sometime into the build that my client revealed that after careful consideration, a pre-fab, three-piece fibreglass tub/shower unit was chosen for installation, rather than tiling a shower stall. In that this was an over-sized bathroom (and most pre-fab units come in certain sizing), we needed to get creative with the way the three-piece unit would be positioned.

Once the exterior and interior walls were fully erected, my client, Keith Yallits, and I did a walk-through of the open areas to get a feel for how each room would look once completed and populated. Except for a few minor changes here and there, things would proceed as planned throughout the majority of the addition. However, due to the non-standard dimensions of the bathroom space (at roughly seven feet by eight feet), the three-piece tub/shower unit would require some customization at one end, as the unit that was chosen is only five feet long.

The obvious solution was the introduction of a floor-to-ceiling linen cupboard that could be framed-in at the far end of the unit. After calculating the necessary dimensions of the cupboard, and deciding that the cupboard height should match the height of the three-piece tub-shower unit, the order was placed with Richard Rochon at Cabinet Corner.

When it came time to install the three-piece tub-shower unit, a bulkhead was framed to fill the void above the top of the roughly seven-foot-tall shower unit. A drain and overflow tub kit was installed on the lower tub section before it was levelled and permanently set into position. The drain trap was affixed from below and tied into the pre-established drainage system.

Before mounting the mid-section of the unit onto the lower tub section, the shower-faucet valve and shower-head fitting were pieced together with half-inch copper and soldered together, and subsequently fastened to the wall directly behind the mid-section of the unit. Half-inch sweat-to-PEX fittings were soldered to either side of the shower valve (for hot and cold) and the water feeds were then attached using PEX crimp rings. A quick test revealed no leaks, allowing the process to continue.

The mid-section of the unit was dry-fitted into position to confirm the intended hole locations for both the faucet and shower-head arm. A four-inch auger bit was used to bore a hole for the faucet, and a three-quarter-inch hole was drilled for the shower-head arm. The mid-section was then placed atop the tub section and bolted together along a perpendicular lip on the backside of the sections. Centred along the top section, another four-inch hole was created for the installation of an LED shower light, which had been pre-wired to a switch on a GFI circuit grouped with other bathroom amenity switches at the entry door. The top was then fastened to the mid-section with bolts from behind.

With the three pieces of the unit secured together, the remaining steps to install the shower faucet trim and shower head could be achieved. Additional framing was necessary at the far end of the unit to provide a rigid surface on which the linen cupboard could be fastened. Once the drywall and mudding stages were completed, the cupboard was inserted and secured within the framed cavity. Once the painting stage was completed, the trim was installed. Caulk and silicone steps completed the process.

Although a three-piece tub/shower unit is less ornate than a tiled stall, the installation process proved quickly and easily — essentially all in a day. And without grout lines nor silicone within the tub-shower stall to keep clean, the smooth fibreglass surface of the unit’s interior should be quite easy to maintain for many years to come.

I must admit, memories of my parents’ tub-and-shower unit kept me far away from pre-fab tub-shower systems — mouldy caulk, and panels that kept letting go is what comes to mind. The newer versions of tub-shower units seem to have come a long way since then, resulting in an economical way to update your tub-shower with a clean look.

If tiling ain’t for you, this may be the path to take.

bossenterprise@outlook.com