Friday, October 9, 2015

A broken water pipe forces a bathroom remodel, so we decide to do something a little different

Our new shower has only a half wall and no door
    Several months ago we had a broken pipe in our bathroom that required us to cut our shower out of the wall in order to get to the water line. It was a mess. We decided to make the best of things and remodel the bathroom.
    Our shower was located in a separate room with a toilet. It was an  insert shower with sliding doors that was going to cost just under a thousand bucks plus labor to replace. We decided we wanted a tile shower.
    I lobbied hard for a doorless shower with just a half-wall on one side, partly for the clean, modern look and partly because I was too cheap to buy a door set. Jinny, as always, made decisions concerning tile and color. I don’t know that I’ve seen any showers like this, but I sure do like the way it turned out. There's a door to the toilet-shower room, so there's privacy available should one want it.
    Not included in the photo is our toilet, which is not particularly interesting, although it will flush a dozen golf balls according to the manufacturer. I’m not sure why one would want to flush a dozen golf balls down the toilet, but it’s nice to know we can if we want to.
    I’ve taken the first couple of showers over the past two days. A bit of water reached the bathroom floor from the entrance to the shower, but that was expected; a bath mat will take care of it.
    We had planned to place a glass screen atop the half wall to keep water from splashing all over the place. I’m glad we didn’t, because not one drop of water splashed over our half wall during my showers, so we won't be needing it. I think it looks better without the glass screen, and shower glass always develops a haze over time.
A bench where we can keep our stuff!
    We used a pebbled stone tile on the floor of the shower. This came in 12x12 sheets. I was very happy with the way it came out. We also built a little bench so we would have a place to place our soap and shampoo, and so Jinny would have a place to put her feet when shaving her legs. It can even be used for sitting. I've left the soap and shampoo in the photo, because after all, that's what it's there for.
    I think I may be tempted down the line to leave things on top of the little half wall. I foresee squabbling over this.
    There’s still a bit more work to do on the bathroom, but we’re almost there. It’s great to be able to use my own shower again.
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    Here are some specifications for anyone wishing to build something like this.
    The half wall is 32 inches long and 58 inches high. I really wish we could have made it 38 inches long, but there was no way to do that in our space.  The interior dimensions of the shower are 55" long by 39" wide. It's a little wider than normal, but I think the extra width is the reason no water splashes over the half wall. I really like the extra width. The perfect size would be 61"x39", with a six inch longer half wall.
    As a matter of personal preference, I think this works best where a toilet and shower are together in a single closed off room. But with that said, it might be attractive in an open bathroom with a tub backed up to the half wall. At any rate, if I've presented you with a design idea that you can use, have at it.

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