Can You Do Bathtub to Shower Conversion On Your Own?
If you are looking to achieve a more luxurious bathroom with more advanced modern features, then a walk in shower is your best plan. Sometimes you may feel tired of using the tub and all you want is to stand below some warm flowing water. A walk in shower gives versatile designs for you to choose from. However, the process of converting a tub to a walk in shower is not a walk in the park. It will require some bits of skills with tools. However, if you have never been a handy person, please do not even think of trying it, leave it to an expert before you hurt yourself or do more damage. This article gives a step-by-step way to do a bathtub to shower conversion on your own.
- Decide on the Spacing and Placement
Before embarking on the demolition of the bathtub or starting with the conversion work, you have to make up your mind where the walk in shower will be, where the doors will be, and everything that comes together with the walk in shower. In addition, you have to consider the amount of space the walk in shower will sit. In most cases, the walk in shower occupies the space where the bathtub used to sit, since it has the water pipes already in place. Replacing or moving the water lines may be hard for you since you may be required to dig in the drywall, and demolish a number of tiles. However, following the already in place water line will save you the cost of hiring a plumber.
- Choose Your Preferred Walk In Shower Design
It is now up to you to decide your preferred choice of design for your walk in shower. It is good to note that there are wide variety of designs, sizes and materials to choose from. Your choice for your walk in shower will be determined by your unique taste and preference.
- Shut Off the Water Supply
To be able to work smoothly without being interrupted by the flowing water, you should first turn off the water supply valve at the bathtub and if the tub has no valve, then you want to turn off the water supply from the main turn off valve.
- Remove the Tub Surround
The next step is to remove the tiles, vinyl or plastic from the area where the bathtub was sitting. You also want to remove the tap that was feeding the bathtub with water, the pipe system and any other features that were connected to the tub. Remember that this is the same place where the walk in shower will sit in. Therefore, carefully remove the tiles to avoid breakages so that you stand a chance to use the same tiles, instead of new ones, when installing the shower. In addition, remove the dry wall and other material that stands in the way of the shower.
- Remove the Bathtub
With the use of the tools you had prepared for the job, carefully remove the tub from its location. You can do this using a screwdriver to remove the nuts mounting the tub to the drywall. Use a utility knife to disintegrate the tub from the floor. Then with the help of an extra hand, toss the tub into the provided dumpster.
- Install the Walk in Shower
If you decided to change the water routes, first install the new water route in place. Afterward, clean the dirt on the floor where you demolished the floor or the dry wall during the removal of the tub. Install your shower door, which could be made of glass or any other material of your choice. Following the instructions on the shower kit, put everything in place including the shower, the shower head, the pan and the controls.
Finally, test the functionality of the shower by switching on the water and turning it off to ascertain the valves, the shower head, taps and the pan are all working properly. After you have everything in place, clean the shower area by removing all the dirt and clutter and toss it in your dumpster and you are good to go.
By looking at the aforementioned process, it is agreeable that a bathtub to shower conversion is quite a challenging task. We thus advice that you hire a professional to have the assurance of a great work and the many benefits that come with it. The will convert your bathtub into a shower in a timely and cost effective manner.