Tub to shower - not your usual conversion


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Old 02-19-19, 01:16 PM
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Tub to shower - not your usual conversion

You can tell me this is just too crazy or impossible.

My elderly parents would like to stay in their home and have limited resources. Their bathroom has a large, floor-level (sunken) jetted tub they don't use. I am waiting for one of them to fall down into it. They also have a separate shower and it is increasingly hard for my father to step over the 4 inch curb into the shower.

Is there a way to put something in the tub that reaches to the top and then cover the whole thing with something like a shower pan or something we can make that would make the top of the tub like a floor so they can use the tub area as a shower? I know how to convert the tub spigot for the shower head. I just don't know how to cover the tub in a such way my dad can walk (future wheelchair) over what is now the the tub so we can use that area as a shower. Obviously, I would want to let the water drain through the tub drain below so the tub would remain in place. I even thought about those teak shower slat floors - maybe modifying those?

I am open to any/all suggestions and appreciate everyone's thinking caps. Or just tell me this is too impossible. My mom doesn't have the wherewithall to do a real renovation; she is up to the ears managing my dad and this is their only bathroom. Thanks.
 
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Old 02-19-19, 01:22 PM
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jetted tub they don't use
If they don't use it then it wouldn't be much of a disturbance to remove it. Once removed, you would frame the floor in and extend the drain as needed to create the new shower area. But no, you would not likely be able to just cover the tub with something to make it usable.

With so few details its hard to say more than that.
 
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Old 02-21-19, 04:58 AM
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Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, while I know that removing and replacing the tub isn't really all that involved, it would be more than my mom can manage emotionally at this time. So we were looking for a temporary fix. I appreciate your feedback.
 
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Old 02-21-19, 10:18 AM
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My wife's parents lived with us for several years and I modified the front steps so they could more easily walk up them. Where the curb is becoming a problem getting into the shower could you add a small step both inside and out. You would want to be sure it was safe but it could improve their access. On the inside you might actually just add a raised floor.

Bud
 
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Old 02-26-19, 10:59 AM
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Bud - Thanks for this input. There isn't room on the outside of the shower to add a step but I do like your idea of adding a raised floor inside the shower. I could do that pretty easily and inexpensively with just some perforated tiles. Thank you!
 
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Old 02-26-19, 04:45 PM
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Attempting to modify a tub by filling it with some type of structure to then use as a shower has so many bad outcomes that I would ask you to really think about this.

If your father is having difficulty managing a shower curb he needs an extremely save environment and what you are proposing could turn into a disaster!
 
 

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