How do you insert a shower in the basement when you have a house where the doors
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40192)
Canada
January 10, 2008 12:22pm CST
In your house are less than 30 inches and the smallest shower stall is 32 inches. We have an older house, over thirty years old, our front and back doors are not that wide, and even the indoor doors are 24 inches wide? I mean how did they put in the bathroom in the first place?
Now we want to put a shower downstairs and instead of being able to get one of those enclosed showers, we have to get a base, and then build a wall insert and then tile it. The same way upstairs, we cannot get an enclosed bathroom, we have to get everything in pieces, and maybe put new tile over the wall? We were thinking of redoing the bathroom upstairs. When they were building the house, did they put in the bathroom and then build around it?
4 people like this
9 responses
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
11 Jan 08
We would have to take out the door. Also our basement windows are those half windows. I guess maybe we would have to raise the basement.
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
11 Jan 08
Now, my house is only from the late 1970's, but we added on a space (including a full bath) in 1999. I just could NOT live with my former roommate with only one bath any more.
Of course I couldn't live with her at all after 2005....
They got the outside framed in and then brought in the tub. They had some of the studs up at that point but I have large doors, infact, the only narrow doors I have left are to 2 closets in the core of the house, one I use for a pantry.
In some old houses they would bring them in through windows before the frames went in.
1 person likes this
@blackbriar (9075)
• United States
11 Jan 08
Usually if the shower/tub enclosure is all in one piece, then yup, they put it in b4 they added the walls around them. Sucks cause then it's almost impossible to get the darn things out when you want to remodel. Only thing I can think of is to widen your doors. I don't even think they sell 30" wide doors anymore, do they? Maybe you can talk to someone at the home improvement center.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
11 Jan 08
I guess we have to take out the frames of our front door, and get a contractor to enlarge it. We will have to take off our bathroomn door. All that work, just to get in a shower and toilet for downstairs, and a bathtub and everything for the main floor bathroom.
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
27 Feb 08
They probably took it in through a wall or window hole before putting up the wall, or putting the window in.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
24 Jun 08
I was sort of thinking that they first put in the bathtub, and then they put the whole house around it, but then my mind does come up with these crazy imaginations. Still the same, they certainly could not move it through a 21 inch door.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
14 Jan 08
It is regulation size. They construct the house AROUND the bathtub.
@killahclaire (3665)
•
10 Jan 08
I dont understand how you couldnt get in the shower.
Here in the UK your shower base comes seperate so you would just have a flat bit of plastic that goes up round the edge and then you would have the doors seperate.
Other than that you would have to build around it I would imagine!
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
11 Jan 08
We have ready to make shower enclosures that come in either one or two pieces. Else we have to build the shower and put in each piece separate -the shower stuff, the base, and instead of a plastic enclosure, tile the walls after making a section ourselves. Our house is old and the doors and the stairs are not regulation size.
@chrislotz (8136)
• Canada
17 Jan 08
Always. I have worked in the constrution industry for many many years and so has my hubby. I worked in a lumber yard for 25 years and my hubby for 25 years and still counting. All the houses they build now and then, the bathroom fixtures were always put in first then the alls constructed. That is just the way things are built.
We do construction work on the side on weekends and we are at the moment doing a whole bathroom renovation. We totally gutted it and are putting in new walls and new tub and toilet and sink, the whole works. We had trouble putting in the new tub because it was bigger than the last one and so we had to tear down a wall and put in the tub and build a new wall. This may be what you will have to do or you may have to hire someone to do it because you need to be very carefull what walls you tear down because if you tear down a retaining wall your house may cave in.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
23 Jun 08
I guess we have to hire a contractor to do it for us. I doubt that my husband can do it himself. We know where all the retaining walls all, but we have been watching Holmes on Holmes and I am afraid of what we are going to find when they put the new bathtub in. At least we know why no one has changed it, they did not dare.
@Polly1 (12644)
• United States
11 Jan 08
Thats what we had to do too. We took the tub out and put a shower in. We got one of those shower kits from Menards. My house is really old, built in 1907. We got a corner unit, the problem with that the walls are not perfectly square, oh well. Our friend put it together for us, its not perfect but it will do. Good luck.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
14 Jan 08
We are having a shower put down stairs. But I did watch Pyscho and we want a bathtub upstairs and our washroom is too small as it is.
@ajithlal (14716)
• India
11 Jan 08
I think most probably they might have put the bathroom and then the other walls around it. I think you should consider phone shower or smaller shower if want to redoing bathroom in the upstairs. I think you should try to make a small bathroom at the upstairs.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
11 Jan 08
Our upstairs bathroom is very small. I cannot make it smaller. In fact, we would like to enlarge it.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
11 Jan 08
possible. it's easier to do that rather than build the house and then add the bath tub or shower stall. or they probably reduce the size of the door after installation, who knows why. 30 yrs old for a house is not that old. many houses here are over 100 yrs old, i think it's cool
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
14 Jan 08
It does make it frustrating having to tear down the walls on either side.
