| Shower Curtains home >
Shower Curtains News Center > Wheelchair shower stall must have good drainage
Wheelchair shower stall must have good drainage
Click
here to see our selection of Shower Curtains.
 I
need to remodel the bathroom so he can access the shower. What is
the best way to design the shower for wheelchair access? -- Colleen
F.
Dear Colleen: Considering the aging population in the United States,
more and more people are becoming concerned about wheelchair access
throughout homes. Showering is one key area of consideration because
someone in a wheelchair cannot enter a standard shower that has
a raised threshold.
When you remodel the bathroom, the shower floor must be designed
so it is flush with the bathroom floor. You might think this would
flood the entire bathroom floor every time someone takes a shower,
but with proper designing, it will work fine.
Today some homes are being built this way even if no handicapped
individuals will be living there.
The first remodeling consideration is to make a shower area that's
large enough to accommodate a wheelchair. There must be enough room
for the wheelchair to be rotated inside the shower. Measure your
father's wheelchair and turn it to determine how much space it requires.
Generally, a 5-foot square shower stall should be adequate.
Making the shower stall bigger would reduce the remaining free
space in the bathroom. Make a detailed layout to scale to be certain
there will be adequate space left.
If not, you might decide to enlarge the bathroom or place the cabinet
and sink in an area adjacent to the bathroom.
To create a shower stall in which the floor is flush with the bathroom
floor, you will have to start by lowering the subflooring in the
shower stall area. It should be about 1 1/2 inches lower to allow
enough depth for the shower flooring system and tile to rise up
the rest of the bathroom floor.
On a floor with floor joists under it, the tops of the joists will
have to be cut down 1 1/2 inches. You might want to add some support
lumber depending on the span (unsupported length) of the joists.
If the bathroom is built over a slab, some of the concrete will
have to be removed.
In order for the shower to drain properly, the floor in the stall
needs to have a slope of only one-eighth inch per foot down to the
drain.
Since there may be some overspray when showering, it would be wise
to give the entire bathroom floor a very slight slope to the shower
area. It can be so slight that it is not even noticeable.
Once the floor is ready, a waterproof poly-liner should be placed
on the base and sealed to the drain. It should run up the walls
partially. The mortar mix, with the proper slope, is poured over
this liner and the tile is set over this.
Install double shower curtains to minimize the amount of water
that gets out on the bathroom floor. Curtains that have weights
along the bottom will be most effective.
Be sure to install a hand-held shower nozzle and an anti-scald
valve for safety.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060326/BUSINESS04/603260341/1017
|
