Steam Shower install

[NevadaSmith]

Hi, I am new to posting here, but not new to searching or learning a lot from this website over the years. I am a General Contractor living in the Sierra mountains of California and have no employees other than myself. I usually dont sub much out other than Electrical and do anything from building custom cabinets to crawling under muddy houses.
I have a client that I remodeled most of their home and wants a steam shower in a space that is now a tub, 5 ft wide. They have looked at a complete unit that would be delivered and then I put it together and install it. The space is tight as the complete unit is 59'' wide and there is no way to get to the back side without cutting holes into an adjacent wall which is another shower. I could build the shower using Schluter systems which I have used before, but am worried that I wont be able to get it sealed good enough and will get a lot of water/steam penetration, plus they dont want tile
. My question is has anyone installed one of these units and if they did what did the county require as to being able to have access to the compressor. This has the compressor mounted on the back of one of the panels, so once its installed if there are any issues with it, the wall would have to be cut into. It seems there are a lot of cons to this and I have a feeling that something will fail down the road as the installation instructions on the unit are terrible and from a foreign country.
I will try to add a photo of the space it will go into and also the unit itself. Thanks again and sorry for the lengthy message.

Link to steam shower
http://steamshowers4less.com/compon...eam-showers/ws-112-s6-44-detail.html?Itemid=0

 

[Jadnashua]

It looks like it is pretty much self-contained and should be water and steam proof.

What's on the other side of the back wall where this is going? Could you have an access panel there?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WorthFlorida]

This was a recent post on a steam shower. This guy had no idea what he was doing and not sure if the pictures he took showing the drain parts were his or they came with the unit. The link you provided for a steam shower didn’t have any installation instructions. The only concern is the drain pipe needs to be 2” like for any other shower base.

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/shower-wont-drain.80230/#post-580839

 

[NevadaSmith]

Thanks for the link with the photo of the flexible drain, the installation instructions for the shower are a PDF on the page I have with the link and unfortunately they say nothing to how it is connected. Reading the installation instructions and the way I understand it, the floor on the steam shower that they want sits directly on the sub-floor and does not have the space that this last guy had and it also has not access to any of the components since its enclosed on all 3 sides. I have sent off a detailed email to the company, but they have not responded and pretty sure they are just a middle man for this Chinese product. I am just concerned that when I install this, in a few years it will fail and they will need to rip out walls to fix it, but I have conveyed this to my client and ultimately it will be their decision. I am also not sure what my county is going to require with the install on this, other steam showers have the compressor usually in the attic or in the bathroom somewhere so if it fails then you can replace it. This one is attached to the right side of the panel so it is basically going to have no access. I am drawing the plans now to show the county with my permit so I will find out then what they want. I am thinking the county is going to want a panel on the other side of the wall which happens to be a hallway and gives access to the compressor.

 

[WorthFlorida]

http://www.steamshowers4less.com/images/stories/virtuemart/pdfs/specsheets/WS-803A.pdf
Today, I was able to get another pdf sheet. It list a 1.5” drain and flex hose. An inspector may allow it since it is a kit and a self contained appliance like a washing machine drain hose. There are drain hose requirements as long it dumps into a 2” pipe.

https://www.hunker.com/13400872/electrical-requirements-for-whirlpool-tubs

I don’t have access to my NEC book but here is something I found for whirlpool tubs concerning a disconnect. I did read that the disconnected can be at the access panel. I do not know if steam showers fall under this. You’re electrician would know.

During this remodel do replace the bathroom exhaust fan with the largest Panasonic model they make. Do tell the customer that the exhaust duct to the outside may have to be increased in size to handle the water vapor that will be generated.

 

[NevadaSmith]

The electrical has already been dealt with when I did a portion of the kitchen remodel, a dedicated circuit was added in that area near the bathroom specific for being used for a steam shower unit. At that time of the first part of the remodel, I had not looked into the specifics of the steam shower as I had to do another job to go to when the first remodel was finished. Now that I am back again to this I am preparing everything at this moment. The self contained unit has its own exhaust fan inside of the shower unit, I would need to move the existing exhaust fan to another part of the bathroom, but that may cause issues with having 2 exhaust fans possibly running at the same time.