Walk In Shower For Our Bathroom

Ever since my surgery in 2012, I can’t lift my left leg very high. I have been having a hard time getting in and out of the bath tub to take a shower. It has slowly been getting worse. And since my leg has been swelling up sporadically over the last year, it has been harder and harder to do this thing. So, we decided it was time to rip out the bathtub and get a walk in shower built.

When we bought the house in November of 2011, the bathroom was just ugly. It was stark white, with a floral wallpaper border around the entire room. There was a hideous gold colored shower door on the bathtub, and gold faucet fixtures. (unfortunately the gold fixtures are still there, that is for another day to update).  In November of 2015, we painted the bathroom, put up new wall fixtures, and took out the shower door and replaced it with a nice double curtain rod and a pretty shower curtain. I have enjoyed the dark gray and yellow color scheme, but decided to change that up while we were working in the bathroom again.

I was so excited to finally be getting this walk in shower in the bathroom. We asked around for someone to do the job, and found a couple of people who do this type of thing for a living. The first one we contacted was through Home Depot. He came out to take measurements, but never called us back with a quote. We had always had good luck with Home Depot referrals in the past, so this was a new experience. The second person was a referral from a friend. The guy came out, asked me what I wanted the shower to look like, took measurements. He came back in a couple of days with a quote. We talked about it some more, shook hands on the deal, and decided on a start date for the job. I wrote in the dates on my calendar so that I wouldn’t schedule anything else on those days. And….he never showed up to start the job, and never called. I was so so so depressed over that. So depressed and disappointed that my stomach hurt for two days. I really wanted this shower to happen.

My next step was to go on a Haralson County Facebook group, and ask for recommendations for someone who could build a walk in shower for me. I had 25 names in less than 24 hours. I called three of the people on my new list of referrals. One person showed up to talk about my expectations, take measurements, and discuss when he could get started on the job. He gave me a list of material that he needed from Home Depot, and told me that as soon as I bought them he would get started. I went to Home Depot the next day with my list, and sat with the guy at the contractors desk. He took me around the store and helped me pick out my materials. I paid for them, and told them my contractor would be there the next morning to pick them up.

Brian, the contractor, did in fact show up to pick up the supplies at Home Depot the next day, which was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. He brought them to my house and unloaded them, and got to work tearing out the existing bathtub. This guy was a work horse! He started the job on a Saturday, and worked every day that week, including Thanksgiving Day, to get the job done. (Of course he asked me if it was ok with me, which it was. My son and grandson were the only ones coming for Thanksgiving dinner, and I asked them if we could postpone it til another day.)

After the old bathtub was torn out, Brian capped the water lines so we could turn the water back on. The water was only off for one day. After that, he got to work building the shower.  He had to put in some studs and built the framework for the two cubby holes in the shower wall. He asked where I wanted the grab bars, and where I wanted the cubby holes. I love that this shower was built to my specifications!

After the framework was done, the next step was to add cement board. I had never seen that before, and I know it must be heavy. That guy carried it in by himself, sheet after sheet of it to build the framework of the shower. When he was ready to build the shower bench, he asked me how high I wanted the seat. Then a rubber shower liner was laid on the floor.

This job was noisy and dirty. One of the things I did not like about the contractor is that he did not clean up after himself very well. The end result was a beautiful walk in shower, though.

The finished shower is beautiful. I love that I can sit down to take a shower, and that lets me take as much time as I want, instead of hurrying to get through before I get exhausted. My little cubby hole for soap and shampoo is right where I need it to be, and the grab bar is too. Every time I take a shower I go in and kiss Fabgrandpa and thank him for my shower. Tomorrow, I will show the rest of the bathroom and more pictures of the finished walk in shower.