Give Your Shower A Fresh New Look

Consider Your Faucet Configuration

A prefab surround quickly gives a tub and shower area a fresh look. High-quality units have durable finishes along with convenient niches and towel bars. According to your most referred Fort Worth plumbing service, make sure the unit you buy has panels with flanges that overlap so you don’t have to cut the panels to fit precisely. With a standard 60-inch wide opening, you probably won’t have to cut at all, other than making holes for the spout and the faucet control or handles.

When preparing the wall surface, keep in mind that the walls should be smooth and even. Scrape away any peeling paint and patch any cracks or weak spots. Available acrylic or polystyrene tub surrounds may have a modern, decorative, or retro look and come in various colors. While these units are less permanent than tile, they install quickly, are relatively inexpensive, and will last for many years. If you need to replace the shower faucet, a three-handle faucet may require that supply pipes be spread farther apart than for a single-handle faucet. Threaded adapters screw in for the supplies, spout, or shower arm.

A faucet with integral shutoffs comes with a large escutcheon (cover plate) so you can more easily reach the shutoff valves, and the most common and easiest type of prefabricated shower unit to install is the multi-piece shower. It usually consists of:

A shower pan or bathtub.
Two separate side pieces.
One larger back piece.
Front doors (optional) or the front is left open and covered with a shower curtain.
Ledges and soap dishes are often molded straight into the plastic, saving you the product of adding these accessories.

You can get a little fancier, while adding more natural light to your shower, by putting in a corner unit. Of course, these are also available in pre-fabricated form. Mainly limited to square shapes, these are shower-only units. And finally, single-piece prefabricated showers are typically more expensive and more difficult to transport and install. The main body of the shower stall is a single, molded piece. The single piece units have less spaces for mold and mildew to grow, and are structurally more solid.

PLUMBING TRADE SECRETS: Even so-called single-piece units are not truly single-piece, since the door is a separate piece. Also, what appears to be a single-piece unit is actually separate pieces that were expertly welded together back in the manufacturing plant.