Relocating Walk-In Shower Water Lines

11 years ago

Working towards a redo of our Master shower, which is currently one of those old tiled, walk-in, corner showers that were so popular 30-40 yrs ago. (Something like the attached photo, just much less nice looking.)

The water supplies, valve, and showerhead are on one of the short exterior walls, so even tho the shower's footprint is fairly generous, you end up mostly cramped into the back corner to get wet. I don't want to totally disrupt the rest of the room, so I'm thinking of tearing what I have out and gong back in essentially the same footprint, but with glass walls to visually open up the space.

My house is on a slab foundation, so I'm assuming that it would be prohibitively expensive to move the water supply lines under the floor. So my big question is: could I snake the supply lines thru the curb from the side wall to the back wall (roughly 3 ft) to get the showerhead located where it makes most sense?

Featured Answer

Kivi

11 years ago

Like this http://houzz.com/photos/629305

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Comments (12)

PRO
Expressive Interiors
11 years ago
You need to talk to a plumbing professional but essentially what you should be able to do is tie into the lines in the wall where your valve is (where you turn the water on and off) and reroute it to the wall that you want the new plumbing. The only thing that should be in the concrete in the floor that would need to possibly be moved would be the drain but if you are not increasing the size then the drain location should be able to stay where it is. I hope this helps.
Kivi
11 years ago
When you are building the new shower you will be ripping out existing stuff down to studs anyway, so yes re-routing from the existing location should not be an issue. I assume you are not in a cold climate since your current plumbing is on an exterior wall.
Why would you you need to route plumbing in the curb? Are you planning on moving valves to the opposite wall and both other walls be glass? If so, I would explore the ceiling as the path.
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PRO
Interior Affairs -- Vickie Daeley
11 years ago
Anything is possible to do ... but it is really all determined by the amount of budget you decide to spend!
Rob O'Daniel
Original Author
11 years ago
Hopefully, these pictures will help to better explain my question... Here's my master bath walk-in shower with the water lines sketched in. Remember that I'm on a concrete slab, which given my tight budget (and my desire to retain the currently installed tile outside the shower, limits how much I can tear up and/or relocate.

So my question is, can I get away with re-routing the water lines re-routed within the curb to get them on the "back" wall as per the 2nd picture? My goal is to remove the outer short walls and square up the pan, so it'd look very similar to the 2nd photo example.

Has anyone had bad experiences with trying to do this sort of thing?
Kivi
11 years ago
Instead of trying to bury the lines in the curb how about leaving short pony walls on both sides. That way you can route the lines from there. You still put glass above the walls and the door so you still have a bright space, and you don't lose access to the plumbing if something goes wrong.
romero1511
7 years ago
Why not just answer the original question? I in fact like the look of his design plan and I’m sure he does too. Couldn't he make a curb with pressure treated 2x4’s and back it with cement board and tile it so he wouldn’t be breaking concrete if he sprung a leak? I’m not a plumber but I would like his original question answered. What ever came of this project?
Kivi
7 years ago
@Romero. Obviously one can bury the water lines into a curb if that is the only option ( don’t see why this would be the only option though). The major issue with doing so is, if something does go wrong you are destroying your curb and the integrity of your waterproofing, removing your glass walls ... pretty much ruining your shower. All this possible destruction to fix a possibly small issue otherwise.
The “wall” could be kept very short ie just high enough to allow the plumbing lines to be accessed if needed. Essentially a very short wall rather than a typical curb.
romero1511
7 years ago
@kivi. People ask questions because their not experts. The Original question was not answered which to novice is not obvious. Could the answer be “NO“ you can’t snake the water lines through the curb because code doesn’t allow this. I’m not a carpenter or a plumber but I’m pretty handy and take on most of my home improvement projects. If code is not an obstacle I can think of more than one way to build the curb in a way that the water proofing integrity would not be compromised if you had to reach the water lines. Maybe because I’m not a carpenter or plumber I don’t know what a typical curb is. I am a machinist and I know there’s always more than one way to skin a cat. I’m sure the way you’ve described what you would do would be aesthetically pleasing but sometimes no other truck except a white truck will do fo me.

Anyone with half a mind could see the obvious. But speaking for myself sometimes it's so hard to find half a mind when I need one.
User
7 years ago
The curb should be solid concrete or brick for one. No cavity.
HU-629768577
4 years ago
I have my shower body plus the hot and cold water in the center wall in a second floor apartment. I want to move it a the left side of the wall could this be done?
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
4 years ago
Sure.