Shower cubicle replacement

[Dumdidums]

I feel that it is time to upgrade the shower cubicle

What would you suggest i do ?
Is there anything i should consider ?
I will need to get a plumber in , is there anything i should check with them to ensure they are competent ?

If you are upgrading I would try to fit in the largest possible shower cubicle.
It appears from your pic there is space at the side which could be encompassed.

It’s an intriguing layout with the gap to the left and a toilet roll holder outside!

If it was me, I’d replace the silicone sealant, blitz the shower door/cubicle with Viakal, find some storage for the gap and wait until I was ready to redo the whole bathroom.

I am ready to redo the whole bathroom but i am concerned about why there is a gap in the first place

They probably bought a standard shower tray and built the cubicle above.

If you use the whole width you might need a bespoke door and tray. More expensive but lovelier.

where can i get a bespoke door and tray from ? I was just looking online but i dont think i found anything that was bespoke

Go to your local bathroom shop and ask. They come in all sorts of sizes. You might find they have something suitable.

Take a photo on your phone and measure the existing cubicle and the whole space available. Draw a little floor plan to take with. Put the measurements on the plan.

They'll be pleased to help.

See if you can get someone to make a walk-in shower, where one end is either open or has a half-width door, depending on what sprays where. We have one and it's brilliant. The floor is made of slightly rough mosaic tiles so it's impossible to slip, and the shower "tray" is a 5cm high concrete wall (which is also the support for the side panel) with the same tiles on it for decoration. The shower floor level is the same as the rest of the bathroom. We're in our 60s and have no inclination for stepping gingerly out onto a slippery bathroom floor 15cm or more below where we're standing.

Here is the layout of our bathroom. It's not huge.

Thanks there is a bathroom store about 10mins away but i always got the feeling they just supplied and not fitted. I would rather someone that can do everything. Also ive just noticed that there is a socket on the shower wall. I wish a knew why it was designed like this but it does seem very structurally sound

Yes this is a good idea , part of the reason for doing this is that i was in a few hotels with nice showers recently so i dont see why i cant have the same. I looked online and found a few walk in shower companies but i also came across loft conversion companies who have a specific page for bathrooms on their website . I am going to try a few of them first to see if they would consider just the shower as the walk in shower companies seem to have a very direct focus on elderly showers e.g with a seat

They will know and can suggest fitters. I would call in and ask

If it looks more “trade” rather than a swanky showroom that may be better - I had one like that near me, asked for a plumber recommendation, the man laughed and said “well there’s my son…” I used him for at least 15 years, till I moved away!

You don't really need a specialist company for a walk-in like ours. Just a builder who can make the floor slightly inclined for drainage, and add the little wall around it. The only expensive-ish component was the glass wall. I can't put a figure on what the shower cost as a whole since it was part of a total bathroom refurb, but since the whole thing was less than £5,000 it can't have been too much.

If you DM me I can send you photos (which might be outing if someone here knows me!) — it's really simple. When we have guests they often say they wish they had one.

Thanks for all the replies i will try to get some people to come round to quote. Ive just realised that there is a socket on the wall so would prefer a specialist to come round as im thinking a built in socket makes it a little trickier when removing the current shower

Thank you , Im seriously thinking about this. Is there any disadvantage to having one end open

A little bit of water sometimes splashes out onto the tiled floor just beyond the open end. How much that is will depend on how long the shower is and how animated the shower-taker, but with us it's nothing major. Our glass wall is 95cm long and the "tray" (tiled base) is 110cm long (so the diagram I drew, with the glass wall being the full length of the base, is not quite accurate. Again, please feel free to send me a DM if you want pics.

In another bathroom, which we did a year earlier, there is a door that covers about 3/4 of the opening. But there the shower unit is on the long side. It's not as good because there's not quite enough space for a large person, but we had a constraint with the pipes as to what we could do.

Does anyone have any comments about this. My understanding is that its half finished almost

I would say it looks like water will go everywhere and that glass on the wall next to the door would have been better so you could turn the shower on without getting in and glass is next to where the shower is. Is another piece of glass going in?

Are you asking because you’re unhappy?

I can't see how this will function without water going everywhere - will there be some sort of sliding door added to the side next to the door ?

I would think that you need another glass screen along the side with the door else water will flood the floor but would that give enough room to get into the shower?