Over Christmas, I remodeled the master bath. The shower was old and wasn’t getting clean no matter how hard we scrubbed. And the grout between the tiles was starting to fall out in places. I ripped out the old shower down to the studs, raised the shower head (since I’m tall and they are never high enough), and installed a ceramic tile floor with underfloor heat. I didn’t take any pictures of the underfloor heat, but it is really nice to step out of the shower on to warm and toasty tiles.
Before pictures:
The blue tape and brown paper on the floor by the edges of the shower are there because I had poked holes in the walls to see preview what I was up against.
In progress:
The wall with the shower head is not very stable. They built it with the studs sideways to save space. I raised the shower head about 6 inches and installed a new shower valve. The floor had two layers of vinyl, which came up surprisingly easy. I had to rip a 2×4 for the front end of the wall because it wasn’t long enough for the new shower walls. Yes, I made those scorch marks on the wall behind the copper pipes. I’m not a plumber. (But I didn’t do the sloppy elbows on the left and right of the valve, that was like that, honest)
After pictures:
The new shower is acrylic. Sure, it doesn’t look as fancy as a tiled shower, but it is easy to clean. It has no caulk except by the door and no grout to clean. 3 snap together walls that are designed to keep the water inside the shower. The underfloor heating system is by SunTouch. It is a wire that is embedded in a mesh that you put under the tile in the mortar. The only evidence is the thermostat on the wall.
