Tub to shower conversion in Fairfield, Ca.

In this bathroom we removed a jetted soaking tub to convert to a walk in shower stall. One of the challenges of this remodel was that it was the only bathroom in the house, so time was of the essence to get them a functional bathroom again once the demo was completed. The owner also wanted tile shower walls to continue in behind the toilet and as a back splash around the vanity sink. They also wanted tile flooring. While there are certainly other material choices that would allow for faster rebuilding, we formulated a plan to install tile and minimize the down time for this bathroom…..as well as making sure there was an operable toilet every night.

To help make it a quicker rebuild without sacrificing how well the bathroom would hold up over time we used a Wedi shower system of which we are a certified installer. This system is fully waterproof upon installation and tile can be installed immediately after without waiting for materials to cure as some methods require. This also allowed us to use a ready made soap/shampoo niche without extra time in framing and building a custom one. Another time challenge was we also planned on using urethane grout which outperforms standard cementious grout and never needs sealing. Urethane grout is somewhat flexible, very stain resistant and cleans up easily keeping it practically maintenance free. The wait time from grouting to water exposure is a little longer with urethane grout but we planned accordingly by installing and grouting the shower stall before continuing to rebuild the rest of the bathroom. This allowed the shower grout to be ready for the first shower use by the time we finished up the rest of the bathroom.

The rest of the bathroom included new vanity, an exhaust fan w/light was added, a new wall light fixture, mirrored front medicine cabinet, repaint, tile flooring and my favorite toilet Gerber Ultra Flush which even with their new 1.1 gpf design I’ll still put it up against any toilet for performance. We also planned ahead by adding some framing blocks for very solid grab bar installation for added safety.