@3puppies, does the tile floor add enough support or did the contractor need to do more? Was the issue that a shower pan couldn’t hold up? Am contemplating a similar makeover and I’ve wondered about load-bearing issues, esp since we have an older house.
The renovation we did removed a fiberglass shower unit with sliding doors and replaced it with a tiled shower and the flexible lip. Added grab bars and a handheld shower head, as well. We used two matching shower curtains to bridge the full length and overlap/retain water better. My dad needed a shower chair and assistance showering and it worked well for the 4.5 years between the stroke and his death. I must say, we never had much more water escape the shower than would normally happen when someone steps out of the shower. A decent bathmat (mostly to dry the wheels of the shower chair) solved that problem.
Thank you ^^^ - I had already thought the same - double the shower curtain length - and a good liner - not my mom’s choice of a dollar store liner!
Went through this last year with my mother. I know you said that she does not want to spend the money, but if the house is one that will otherwise allow her to age in place, I would build a true barrier-free shower. We annexed space from an adjacent bedroom and made the shower wide enough that water does not spray out on the floor.
We decided against the built-in bench b/c you never know what configuration you will need later. We had walls reinforced so that the bench could be added later. A very sturdy Medline (I think?) free-standing shower bench sells for less than $100 and that is what she ended up using later.
If the shower is built wide enough, water will not come out on the floor. Floor tile was slightly gritty to create some traction. Best of luck…
@CountingDown, generally speaking a bedroom floor will be sized to carry 30 pounds per square foot. A tile floor in a full mortar bed is 20 pounds per square foot. So a 3’x3’ shower can have a 250 pound person standing in it and the floor will be fine. The issue is that some shower pans are too flexible for heavy people. You would probably be better off with one that is set in mortar, especially since you have an older house. See this article: https://www.thespruce.com/fixing-a-flexing-shower-pan-1822559
More of a concern is that many soaking tubs are more than 40 psf when full, that’s when you need to worry. Many floor joists in older houses aren’t sized for that kind of load. This can especially be a problem if you use big tiles that don’t flex instead of smaller mosaic types that are typical in older houses.
Is this in the ground floor?
When we had our old fiberglass tub ripped out and replaced with a walk-in shower, we used a fixed piece of glass to contain the spray. There is no door. This works great and does not cost a lot,
I regret the choice of a river rock for the floor. This is too hard to clean.
If you mean the main floor of the house, yes. It’s a ranch with a basement. Everything she needs is on the main floor.
I found out tonight that the contractor was recommending the curtain as opposed to the door for all the reasons brought up on this thread. He also said it would be easy to add a door later if she really preferred a door (or if we sold the house and wanted to put a door in) but that once a door was in, you couldn’t easily take it out.
I’ll visit mom tomorrow and will go over everything with her and hopefully help her with her final decisions!
I moonlight as a home care aide and give lots of people showers. A weighted curtain is a lot easier if she gets to a point of needing assistance to shower. Doors also require a lip and even a small lip can be a problem for some folk.
@abasket – We added a stackable washer & dryer in the room backing up to the shower because the laundry room was down a flight of stairs. It was manageable for years, and in hindsight, we should have just hired someone to come in to do the laundry instead, as home help was needed shortly after construction was completed.
We don’t have to worry about mobility issues yet, but we had to redo our bathroom in the last year after discovering hidden water damage.
We got rid of our shower doors. We got a fiberglass shower base with a low lip. We tiled the walls and floor with very large tile to minimize grout issues. And we got a new fan.
Our goal was a bathroom that was easy to clean and would stay clean. We have lots of air circulation now so the entire shower area dries out without having to wipe anything down. I was so sick of cleaning grout and the nooks and crannies of my old nasty shower door frame.
So far it, we are happy with the choices we made and I think they will only make things easier as we get older.