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Kevin Mooney, Nimpo Lake, British Columbia
Splish Splash Shower Improvements
2022 Ford F-550
2016 Eagle Cap 1200
Everyone who owns a camper knows just how small the shower stalls are. I was getting tired of the shower curtain pulling away from the edge and having water running down behind the toilet. I also didn’t like the medicine cabinet that came with the camper. Aside from being plastic, it also stuck into the showering area about six inches where it inevitably got wet and was easy to bump into. The door also didn’t like to stay closed. Even though I had rigged up a quick and dirty way to keep it closed, it just never worked well where it was.
The first thing was to cut a piece of 2×2 inch Fir to length. Then I put a 45-degree angle on one edge, and stained and sealed it. Next, I glued and screwed it to the backsplash so that the plastic that adheres to it would run right down and into the drain pan below.
I had some quarter-inch white plastic that I cut into a three-inch wide strip, counter-sunk some screw holes, then attached with stainless steel screws. I caulked the seam.
Then, I attached three stainless cup hooks for the shower curtain to hook into. On the shower curtain, I used grommets to create holes and these slipped nicely over the hooks.
Next, I removed the original medicine cabinet (pictured above). It had four rather large screws holding it on. The sneaky buggers who installed it used silicone caulking on the back of the cabinet. That stuff is horrible to remove! I said more than a few bad words that day. It took hours to carefully scrape as much of that off as I could with a razor blade, and then use every chemical known to man to try and remove the rest. I prefer Latex caulking as it can be more easily removed and re-applied.
Because this old cabinet stuck into the shower stall area–well past where the upper shower curtain rail is–my wife and I were often bumping into it. It just seemed like somebody stuck a cheap, lightweight cabinet in there because it was needed. I understand the whole cost, weight, and availability issues, but it just never worked well.
So, I designed a new one made of Fir that aligned with the curtain rod above. I used an old mirror that I had for the door, ran out of pocket hole plugs that I will address at a later date, and used spring-loaded hinges that actually hold the door closed. Even though this new cabinet is narrower, it’s also deeper and longer. I gained fifty percent more inside space, which Lori was really happy about.
I also added another piece of five-inch white quarter-inch plastic to run down the side of the cabinet, right to the edge of the shower. I used another cup hook and grommet for that end of the shower curtain. The whole thing is waterproof.
I can now bust out all my best shower moves while singing, and no water gets past the shower curtain onto the floor or onto the cabinet. Plus, I gained extra space inside the shower to reach all those hard-to-clean places without bumping into the cabinet. As a bonus, the mirror on the cabinet is lower and longer. This makes it even easier for my sweetie to use the mirror; a home run all the way around.
I had most of the materials on hand from other projects. The white plastic stuff you will have to source at a lumber yard. It’s likely an order-in item. I bought a whole 4×8 sheet for around $100 for a separate project years ago. You can always get creative and go to second-hand stores. It’s not hard to find plastic these days. The most expensive thing I bought was the grommet hole tool, with three different sizes of grommets. That was around $70 CDN on Amazon.
It took me eight hours roughly, not including that silicone caulking. Grrrr!
Disclaimer: The modifications above are submitted by Truck Camper Magazine readers. It is your responsibility to make sure that any do-it-yourself modification project you undertake is safe, effective, and legal for your situation.
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