A His and Hers Shower

 

The shower before We were contacted in early December by some nice folks who had recently moved here  from Minnesota. They had purchased a nice house in the foothills and were ready to start making some changes. The bathrooms were the first items on the list and they needed some ideas.  After a nice conversation where we got an understanding of their lifestyle, likes, dislikes and expectations it became apparent that they had little need for the bathtub in the master bathroom. I presented the idea of removing it, and the toilet room and reclaiming the space for a large, luxurious double shower or what we call a his and hers shower. I could tell they were as intrigued as we were to explore the options... A few days later I returned with some 3D computer renderings. I had two versions but it was obvious the version shown here with what we call a "neo angle" shower door position utilized the available space the best. It's amazing how a 6' by 8' shower can eat up the foot print of a room quickly!     The original floor plan The new concept   From  the original layout you can see that the room was divided into three very distinct sections, the shower in it's alley, the toilet room in it's small room that splits the room into two, and the bathtub. The new design would create one large room and using two clear glass panels on each side of the showering units would help keep an airy and open feeling. Demolition. You can still just see the original 34"x34" shower in the left corner, what remains of the toilet room, and where the old bathtub was sitting.  This is day 3, what you can't see is that the floor has a 2nd layer of plywood now, the original builder only installed 1/2" plywood on the floor which wasn't going to be good enough for our planned tile floor. You also can't see the framing members on the ends of the two shower wing walls and how they extend through the floor and are bolted to the joists below. We did this to create the strongest, wiggle free walls possible. Everything we build is based on longevity and being as problem free as possible, so this is just part of the normal process for us. Here is the final his & her shower, exactly as planned.  Her Side The  shared  rainmaker His Side   The neo-angle design allowed also for a very important design feature - two completely separate showering areas with neither one spraying the shower door directly. I like to avoid this whenever possible since it reduces the possibility of water getting past the door and creating annoying little puddles on the floor.   Another construction view Pre-tile     Installing the shower floor mortar pan  The new cabinets This was more than just about building a large shower, the entire room was transformed with upgrades to the old exhaust fan, new recessed lighting, new cabinetry and counter tops, plus new faucets, mirrors and all lighting controlled by a dimmer system.