A shower.

So, in order to use the tiny space from the original bathroom, we had to tear it out. As mentioned previously, I went on an adventure to try and purchase a shower. And what an adventure it turned out to be. Phase Two in the shower project, turned out to be actually getting it installed.

First, we wanted to put it into the basement, where there was already a concrete floor. No problem, you say. Well, first we need to dig a giant hole in the floor in order to have the drain installed and working properly.


Also, one needs to have a LEVEL concrete floor in order to install a shower. Ours was not. It took us several bags of concrete in order to get the floor level, just in the small space required for the shower.

All of the bags of concrete pictured were actually used!

When it was all poured and smoothed over, it looked pretty nice. Until you get up close and see just how far off level our basement floor was.

This board is resting with the left end on the original floor in the basement, and the right side is on the new "level" floor for the shower. There is a gap of about 2" from one side to the other.

Once the concrete was dry, it was time to bring the hard-won shower parts down to the basement. Unfortunately, our stairwell was about 1" too small, thus requiring the removal of the basement stairs in order to get it down. Unfortunately, this was also the day that my dishwasher drain froze, making a mess in the kitchen where the basement door is. Fortunately, we found out that the subfloor on the landing at the top of the stairs was completely rotted, so we could replace it before someone fell through.

Here you can see our stairs being reinstalled:

We had to temporarily lean them up against a ladder while the lowering of the shower parts went on. Once we reinstalled them, they are now actually straight, rather than drunkenly leaning towards the basement.

After a few more adventures to find a shower head and faucet that worked together in our space, we have a shower!


Other than the fact that the shower is located in the unfinished basement, it is quite a nice shower. Much bigger than our old one. But then again, the old bathroom had a strip of vinyl flooring that was only 36" wide, and the old vanity cabinet took up some of that space.


Yay, a shower!