BT’ers,
Looking for a solution for a tub/shower unit, or combination of units, that would be sufficiently bulletproof for a bathroom used solely for three semi-destructive and not-so-neat-and-clean boys. Need ideas that would combine ease of cleaning, durability and somewhat reasonable cost. My daughter’s bathroom will be much easier, but my sons are he!! on fixtures and slobs to boot.
Ideas I’ve tossed about so far – acrylic one-piece units, cast iron tub and stone tile everywhere, or just tile up a concrete room in the cellar and put in a hot-n-cold hose bibb.
Also open to the idea of deleting the tub entirely and just putting in a shower.
Replies
Send them over to the nieghbors...
intiate corporal retraining methods..
hose bib on the far side of the property... cold only...
iron tub and FRP the walls.
Good or better vynal the floor..
skip the vanity... wall hung sink...
commercial wash FG pan instead of the tub..
don't ferget the floor drain and the wash down hose..
trash cute to the compacter for the left behinds...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
"skip the vanity... wall hung sink..."
The problem with wall mounted sinks is that kids find a reason to sit/stand/climb on them.
"trash cute to the compacter for the left behinds..."
Those kids are in for a lot of teasing in the locker room if their right behinds don't get equal treatment!
make it really small, sloped and 4 feet off the floor...
and .. ROAR!!!
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Send them over to the nieghbors
LoL! Send them to Luka's outdoor shower.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I just tried it. My 30-06 put a 180 grain slug right through the bottom of my Kohler cast iron tub. I thought fiberglass might stop one, so I waded into my other bath, and lo!, another through hole, right through the Aker shower unit.
But seriously, I think you are best off with an acrylic shower module. Those boys can take showers, right?
Aker makes some models with full canopy tops, and you can get them precut for an overhead shower light.
One piece smooth acrylic makes for ease of cleaning.
"My 30-06 put a 180 grain slug right through the bottom of my Kohler cast iron tub. "
Don't try this at home, Bob is a trained professional! The noise would be something else and all those shards of the porcelain flying around! It's bad enough when I bust a tub out using a sledge hammer! Porcelain is still flying around minutes later with little pinging and snapping sounds. Like extremely quiet Rice Krispies.
You need something like this.
http://www.plandstainless.co.uk/products/product.php?product_name=Lisbon
And they have a full series of other componets.
http://www.plandstainless.co.uk/products/sector.php?sector_name=Secure
And you need to find a local fabricator to weld it up along with SS wall sheeting.
My brother did install a hose bib and a drain in the center of the floor!
Years ago, my parents finally gave in and let my 16yo brother turn our detatched garage into an apartment for himself. In the bathroom, he built a walk-in shower out of brick and glass blocks salvaged from an old building downtown. The floor of the bathroom was brick, and carried it 4 ft up the walls. On the walls above the brick, he put corregated tin.
My parents were cool with it because he always kept his bathroom clean.
(And, no wonder he's an archy now!)
As a former teacher, I wonder why parents don't just house break their boy's.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Oh, they're housebroken, just not very neat sometimes. I've got that problem myself sometimes. I'm just looking for a solution for these guys that won't fall apart if there's some "rough" use. In college all the guys on the floor had a shared bathroom down the hall. It was all tile, right up to the ceiling, floor drain in the center, there wasn't anything in there that wouldn't be right at home in a commercial bathroom. The custodial staff came through three times a week, sprayed the whole room with a cleaner/disinfectant, and hosed it all down and squeegeed it.
I think maybe the full tiled shower, or an acrylic unit, corian or similar counter on a vanity with integrated, seamless sinks, and a simple toilet should work fine. That, and a good mirror and magazine rack and they're all set.
Jon, if the boys are old enough let them do some of the tile or some other fun stuff. They'll be a lot more inclined to respect the stuff.
blue
FRAMING ADVICE ALERT!!!! DON'T TAKE ANY FRAMING ADVICE FROM ME. I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. IF YOU WANT GOOD FRAMING ADVICE, JUST ASK GABE. DON'T ASK ANYONE ELSE....JUST ASK GABE! REMEMBER, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FRAMING...I JUST BS ABOUT IT.
Try a counter made of 2x with a wash basin and flour-sack towling in the mud room.
Failing that, use cross ties and a hose outside the stable.
VBEG
:)
Q: How do you know when a politician is lying?
A: His lips are moving.
You basically have two choices -- something like a heavy-duty one-piece fiberglass unit, or a "throw-away" acrylic unit you can replace in a few years. (To a degree, you can make the same choice with conventional tub & tile.) One "throw-away" possibility for walls is "tileboard" (embossed, plastic-coated hardboard paneling that vaguely resembles ceramic tile). It looks like c**p and doesn't hold up well but it's cheap and cleans easily until it starts to develop cracks. Then it's relatively easy to replace.
Same thing with the fixtures -- either heavy-duty stainless/brass commercial stuff or throw-away zinc stuff.
The choice between heavy-duty and throw-away depends in part on how handy you are and how accessible things will be for replacement. Be sure the area behind the tub controls is accessible through a panel -- not against an outside wall or a hallway or something. Make the door opening large enough to allow replacement pieces to be brought in, etc.
Solid sheet flooring ("linoleum") is probably the way to go, unless you opt for tile. If tile you should probably install a waterproof membrane and a floor drain, similar to a shower floor.
Ease of cleaning has to do in large part with how many seams and joints there are. Tile is a definite loser here, though it's better from some durability standpoints. Fiberglass is good, though it scratches easily and can develop yellowing and scum. Acrylic is about like fiberglass but a little less durable.
With splashy kids (of all ages) the seams between tub and walls and between tub and floor are critical (as is the area around the toilet). The structural support near these seams needs to be solid so that there's no flexing to open the seams. A good quality silicone (or something more exotic) "bathtub caulk" should be used to seal the seams, and it needs to be kept relatively clean and dry to prevent mildew growth that will degrade the caulk and its bond to adjacent surfaces. Even under the best of circumstances areas of the caulk will need to be ripped out and replaced every five years or so.
For sink, probably a one-piece vanity top is the way to go. This can be either the cheap plastic-coated fiberboard variety, or a good-quality "solid surface" (eg, Corian) unit, depending on whether you want throw-away or durable. The single-piece unit avoids the joint around the sink rim, and some units have an integral backsplash as well, avoiding the joint at the back edge. Some units (generally the cheap ones) even have a slightly raised outside edge, to keep splashes from flowing off the top.