mammoth
New Member
Hi, guys. Just a couple of notes from a tub/shower and surround wall replacement that I did at my mother’s. For many of you this will probably be old news, but it may help someone who’s new looking at this forum.
My mother’s guest tub had a 10 inch long crack in it and was unusable. I offered to replace it, and she said yes. Me and my big mouth. It’s a tight, 60 inch space, so I had to tear out the old tile surround and drywall to get room enough between the stud walls to put the new unit in.
So:
1) Research everything. Multiple times, over multiple days. I had trouble finding some answers the first time I looked, but then a few days later they came right up with more Internet research. This forum was invaluable. It’s saved my butt.
2) Dry fit _everything_ before doing anything permanent. This means plumbing pipes, the tub or shower base, the surround walls, anything and everything. I had to throw away and redo the shower drain hook up I’d made because even though I measured, it was a half inch too long and didn’t mate properly with the shower drain hole. Also, after I set the shower base, The end walls didn’t lock completely with the back wall. I had to pull the shower base a little bit out from the wall to make the surrounds walls fit plumb, even though the studs measured as plumb. Luckily I was still settling the base on the concrete bed piles I had made for it.
3) Make sure everything is completely level. Don’t take shortcuts. The concrete floor I set the shower base on was level, but when I put the concrete piles under it for the bed, I had to work with the base that to make it was completely level again on its mortar bed.
4) A surround to be installed direct to studs need extra studs at the right places. The manufacturer’s install sheet should have the proper spacing. I did not want any of the walls to flex or crack if someone leaned on them, so this was crucial.
The main shortcut I did take was to replace the tub with a shower base. This was because it was easier for one person (me—I did the job myself) to get it into the 60 inch wide space it had to fit.
However, this meant that I needed to go to a 2 inch drain from the old tub to the new shower.
The problem was that I couldn’t get the 2 inch joint out to install it properly. It was in a square hole in the concrete floor. Florida code, which seems to be the IPC code, said that a 1 1/2 inch drain is acceptable for shower flow up to 5.7 gallons per minute. Most showerheads, including my mom’s, produce 1.7 to 2 gallons per minute.
5) I made the hard choice to do a 1 1/2 inch drain. However, code also says that you cannot restrict drainage in the direction of flow. This meant that I made the drain 1 1/2 inch right at the shower base and then went only 9.5 inches to the 2 inch hook up in the floor. So, 9.5 inches max until it opened up into 2 inches. I know that many will take issue with this, but I felt OK with it after researching it.
6) Another shortcut I took was to reuse the old tub faucet. This means that the faucet is lower on the wall, but actually looks good (anyone who knows plumbing will know exactly what I did, of which I’m a little ashamed, but my mom was on a pretty tight budget). I torched off the old tub spout and sweated a cap on it inside the wall. It worked perfectly.
The problem that caused was that the new end wall was not flush with the faucet since it wasn’t as thick as the old tile wall (and the new wall was shimmed out a tiny bit at the top). I had to order a Moen Château faucet extender online. It extended the faucet stem an inch, which was perfect. It cost I think $18.
7) The last shortcut I took was to only cut out as much drywall around the surrounding edge as I needed. This was a stupid mistake. Since the new end walls were shimmed out a little bit, this made it difficult to put strips of new green wall in (purple now, actually) and mud it. I had to leave Florida for back home and the drywall isn’t finished yet, but if she hasn’t done anything with it when I come back down her way, I’ll rip out the drywall to the ceiling and redo it the proper way instead of trying to drywall/cover a 3 inch strip around the surround. Yes, I’m kicking myself for that one.
That’s all I can think of – – if anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer.
My mother’s guest tub had a 10 inch long crack in it and was unusable. I offered to replace it, and she said yes. Me and my big mouth. It’s a tight, 60 inch space, so I had to tear out the old tile surround and drywall to get room enough between the stud walls to put the new unit in.
So:
1) Research everything. Multiple times, over multiple days. I had trouble finding some answers the first time I looked, but then a few days later they came right up with more Internet research. This forum was invaluable. It’s saved my butt.
2) Dry fit _everything_ before doing anything permanent. This means plumbing pipes, the tub or shower base, the surround walls, anything and everything. I had to throw away and redo the shower drain hook up I’d made because even though I measured, it was a half inch too long and didn’t mate properly with the shower drain hole. Also, after I set the shower base, The end walls didn’t lock completely with the back wall. I had to pull the shower base a little bit out from the wall to make the surrounds walls fit plumb, even though the studs measured as plumb. Luckily I was still settling the base on the concrete bed piles I had made for it.
3) Make sure everything is completely level. Don’t take shortcuts. The concrete floor I set the shower base on was level, but when I put the concrete piles under it for the bed, I had to work with the base that to make it was completely level again on its mortar bed.
4) A surround to be installed direct to studs need extra studs at the right places. The manufacturer’s install sheet should have the proper spacing. I did not want any of the walls to flex or crack if someone leaned on them, so this was crucial.
The main shortcut I did take was to replace the tub with a shower base. This was because it was easier for one person (me—I did the job myself) to get it into the 60 inch wide space it had to fit.
However, this meant that I needed to go to a 2 inch drain from the old tub to the new shower.
The problem was that I couldn’t get the 2 inch joint out to install it properly. It was in a square hole in the concrete floor. Florida code, which seems to be the IPC code, said that a 1 1/2 inch drain is acceptable for shower flow up to 5.7 gallons per minute. Most showerheads, including my mom’s, produce 1.7 to 2 gallons per minute.
5) I made the hard choice to do a 1 1/2 inch drain. However, code also says that you cannot restrict drainage in the direction of flow. This meant that I made the drain 1 1/2 inch right at the shower base and then went only 9.5 inches to the 2 inch hook up in the floor. So, 9.5 inches max until it opened up into 2 inches. I know that many will take issue with this, but I felt OK with it after researching it.
6) Another shortcut I took was to reuse the old tub faucet. This means that the faucet is lower on the wall, but actually looks good (anyone who knows plumbing will know exactly what I did, of which I’m a little ashamed, but my mom was on a pretty tight budget). I torched off the old tub spout and sweated a cap on it inside the wall. It worked perfectly.
The problem that caused was that the new end wall was not flush with the faucet since it wasn’t as thick as the old tile wall (and the new wall was shimmed out a tiny bit at the top). I had to order a Moen Château faucet extender online. It extended the faucet stem an inch, which was perfect. It cost I think $18.
7) The last shortcut I took was to only cut out as much drywall around the surrounding edge as I needed. This was a stupid mistake. Since the new end walls were shimmed out a little bit, this made it difficult to put strips of new green wall in (purple now, actually) and mud it. I had to leave Florida for back home and the drywall isn’t finished yet, but if she hasn’t done anything with it when I come back down her way, I’ll rip out the drywall to the ceiling and redo it the proper way instead of trying to drywall/cover a 3 inch strip around the surround. Yes, I’m kicking myself for that one.
That’s all I can think of – – if anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
