Plumbing the Shower
29Jan07
So this weekend, I was battling a bad cold, but I still had time to work on the shower a little bit. It was actually a multiple day project that started last weekend. First I had to install all of the floor drains. There is one inside the shower area, and one just outside the ofuro tub as well. The second will act as a drain for the tub overflow, and will be covered by a wooden shower mat eventually. After putting the drains in I had to frame in the ofuro tub, which meant ripping it all out again, and building a frame for it to sit in. After I got it all framed up, I poured a 1/4″ skim coat of vinyl concrete to level the floor out. Next layer will be some sort of waterproof membrane, and a drypack layer to get the slope right. Last will come the tile.
I also got our shower all plumbed. Until now all the plumbing in the house (except the radiant) I have done in copper. There were a couple angles in this project that made it impossible to do with copper, so I ended up doing it all in PEX. I have to admit, it was a lot easier and a lot faster. I can see why most people are crossing over.
The walls all got a layer of 30 lb building paper, to help waterproof them, and then durarock paneling. Last will be the tile, and we will finally have a functional bathroom.
More pictures after the jump.
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16 Responses to “Plumbing the Shower”
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I recently gutted my kitchen and am almost finished putting it back together. I went back and forth for a couple days about whether or not to use PEX and once I decided to go with it I never looked back. The experience was so great I am now tempted to redo my whole house. At one point I accidentally ran the supply to the dishwasher from the cold water. It took me under an hour to redo everything. With copper that one mistake would have taken me so much longer I shudder to think about it. Plus the fact that the tolerances are so great just make this a no brainer for future plumbing projects..
How much were the tools needed to work with PEX? They used to be really expensive, has that changed?
Just to check, is the bed under the membrane sloped to the weep holes in the clamp drain? If you leveled it completely, a membrane over that will trap water instead of draining it.
Unfortunately, you’re right, the tools are still pretty expensive. Not to mention once you purchase them you are pretty much locked into that brand. It’s not so bad if you don’t already have a lot invested in tools for copper (Which you may still use) but it’s still expensive. On the flip side it’s totally worth it. If you have even more than a little bit of plumbing to do, or are not planning on staying in your current house for a long time, it’s kind of a no-brainer. Heck rip out all your copper and sell it if you want
Anyway to answer your question, for the Zurn tools from Lowes it was like $180 for the crimper, crimp ring remover, crimp go-or-no-go tool and the cutter. No small chunk of change to be sure, but worth every penny in my opinion.
Chad, you can also rent a crimper from home depot for $8 a day. Also, it is not completely level, it does sloped slightly to the weep holes.
What kind of tile are you putting in?
Chad, I don’t know for sure yet, but I am thinking a grey hex for the floor, matte, and for the walls I would love the ann sack avalon. I think that is what it is called, its got a funky proportion, like 3 x 17.
We put in 3×16 and 1.5×16 tiles in alternating rows for our bathroom walls. Lots of grouting, but we made up for it by putting 24″ tiles on the floor. The long proportions were also hard to set, but the style is something I enjoy. A scarpelleto finish makes it completely non-slip, and it doesn’t show stains at all. Good for a scratching post to get rid of morning back itches, which I am plagued by in the winter.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/capelands/sets/72157594435458690/
Ann Sacks has some great styles, but the price was outside my budget. I decided on a stone tile anyway because I have a bit of a stone fetish. Just went back to the website though, and those wood tiles are gorgeous. I might need to spend some time in the shop in the next couple weeks and make a new ceiling treatment for my foyer…
Those are beautiful photo’s chad. So did you just rip all those tiles down on a tile saw, or did you buy them with those dimensions?
No, we bought three different sized tiles. The larger tiles were cheaper per sq ft, but not enough to make it worth the trouble, and the extra $200 worth of stone blades I would have gone through. Because we used stone, not porcelain, we were able to do miter cuts on the outside corners. The stone was also a LOT cheaper than high quality man-made tiles.
Where did you get your tile from Chad? I have been looking everywhere for tile with those dimensions at a reasonable price.
I went to Stone Source.
http://www.stonesource.com/stone.php?id=650
As you can see, I used the “stock sizes”. You can also get other finishes. The honed is gorgeous, but I had a slip and fall in an ADA bathroom once, and so I’m all about the non-skid shower floor now.
They have other “planking” sized tiles. http://www.stonesource.com/searchresults.php?application=ALL&project=NONE&material=ALL&color=ALL&finish=ALL&size=Planking&price=ALL&name=
They don’t have pricing on the website, I think because it varies depending on a lot of factors, but I know my tiles were less than $8 sq ft.
I love that tub. Got a URL where I can see more?
BTW, I bought a PEX crimper for $40 that’s pretty slick: http://www.pexcrimper.com. It uses large vise-grips for leverage and crimps 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 in one tool. Not bad for the DIY/grassroots crowd.
Gene, thanks for the link, looks like a good deal.
You can see more pics of the ofuro here:http://www.grassrootsmodern.com/2006/08/25/bathroom-update/
or search in the side bar for “ofuro”
kisohiyerafumanecn…
nice post…
We’ve constructed our steel ofuro after reading about your project. It’s sitting in our basement now, ready for a supporting frame which we’ll build next. Question for any and all: what type of sealant would you use along the welds, just to insure no water leakage?