What did you do to your house today?

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by unit

we're getting our house painted and also the bathroom reno'd.
the shower tub is an older size standard, 30" x 30".
newer ones are always like 32" x 32" or bigger.

the old owner redid the shower not too long ago with a tile surround and glass shower door that's actually not too bad, but they re-used the shower tub, probably because of this exact reason.

without demoing and moving the wall and plumbing, and possibly having to deal with a load bearing wall, the only options are to re-use the shower tub (ew), or to do a tile floor.

i asked the contractor who is doing the painting if he could make some suggestions for me and he said he could just paint it and it would be completely fine. i have a hard time believing this. i can see it becoming dirty and worn, and also difficult to clean. the guy is insistent that it will be good, and he has been very good and picky about the paint job around the house so i trust his workmanship, but that just seems wrong.

if we can't find a replacement floor tub then im thinking im gonna get the floor tiled instead. would anyone actually go the other route and get it painted? money is somewhat important but im not penny pinching if it's going to look like shit in a year or two.

My first thought was to paint/seal the tray. It'll give you a "new" surface to use and not feel icky anymore. If he uses a sprayer you'll get the uniform look and feel vs using a roller or brush.

My second thought was to cement and tile. We did this as we didn't want to be constrained by production sizes. It's also just nicer in general, but because of grout lines, keeping it clean is more work.

[Hondaracer]

When you say use a tile floor I’m assuming you’re meaning rip out the tub and put a stand up shower in?

[unit]

its a stand up shower already, it has a shower base/pan is what i meant.

[Fafine]

"if we can't find a replacement floor tub then im thinking im gonna get the floor tiled instead."

So remove old shower base and put in tiles?
I'd go this route if you have someone competent and can do proper waterproofing.

As for having it painted, I've had over 10 bathtubs refinished professionally. Looks and feel brand new after.

I've seen people try and DIY and paint their bathtub, shower bases with the canned epoxy paint. With proper prep and patience - itll look good.

[Hondaracer]

Personally I’d be very hesitant to just tile a floor and rely on the waterproofing/drainage to prevent a leak, especially if it’s an upstairs bathroom

My contractor has a guy who makes custom fiberglass shower bases to whatever size/drain location you need, I can get a contact for you if you want.

I don’t have a picture but I’ll take one when I get home of ours, it’s a custom base that was then tiled over, looks great and is virtually leak proof the way the drain etc. is configured

[Fafine]

Of course not just tile on floor, it'd be concrete base with a waterproofing membrane, and there's lots of different shower systems out there- kerdi being one of them.

But it gets expensive in comparison to just refinishing your current shower base.

[unit]

hmm yeah it would be either refinishing the base, or remodeling the bathroom to take a bigger base and putting in a smaller vanity. either the cheap way or the really expensive way, no sense in putting in a new 30" shower base, ripping out all the tile and redoing the shower just for that. the tile and shower door are actually not bad at all, if the rest of the bathroom was updated to match then i wouldnt even consider doing a renovation. only reason im hesitant to just go the cheap way and paint the base is because a 30"x30" shower is really damn small. i'd be a lot happier in the end if we got it to 30" x 36" or even 30" x 40" and then just got a slightly smaller vanity instead.

im just a bit concerned about cleaning a painted base. can you use a magic eraser on that?

[Fafine]

With refinishing, it'll look and feel like new - if done properly.
And you'd clean it like any other shower bases / tubs.

[sonick]

I'm gonna be doing a composite shower base for my upcoming bathroom remodel.

Not sure if that's the same as fibreglass.

But it's cheaper, easier to install, and easier to maintain than tile.

And looks nicer than acrylic shower base with the raised lip/surround

[SSM_DC5]

Put on your interior designer caps and show me your ideas for a man cave/entertaining area. Placement of lighting, outlets, wall mounted TV, speakers, receivers, game consoles, tables, chairs, couches, ping pong table, stripper pole, whatever else you may want in your man cave.

[snowball]

Where do those doors go?

[SSM_DC5]

Top left, washroom to wash car parts
top right, closet to store car parts
middle right, entrance/exit

[Hondaracer]

This is my fiberglass shower base which was tiled over as I mentioned

[SSM_DC5]

Buttoned up the door that I was working on by filling in the old holes for hinges and strike and I changed the door trim.