Shower Modification Bigfoot 25B25RQ, Upgrading to Handicap usability. Options

[Mike Sanders]

Shower Modification Bigfoot 25B25RQ

I have found that my 25' Bigfoot has a shower that is very hard to use with my handicap. The shower has a low bench on the street side which is actually a cover over the tandem wheel well. The shower faucets are also on the same side.

The Problem
My issue is that I wear a prosthetic boot in order to stand. When I take it off to shower, I can't stand/hop on one foot. Also it gets slippery in the shower on one foot. So I need to be able to sit in order to wash up. I have tried several ways to place a stool in the shower to solve the problem, doesn't work. If I place a stool over the wheel well, I can't use the shower handles very well, and when I do I accidentally bump them and have gotten either SCALDING HOT or ICE COLD shower.

The Solution
After pricing having a totally new custom shower built and other options, I came up with redesigning the same space. I am moving the handles to the hall side of the shower. And making the wheel well side a bench in order to be able to sit while I wash up. Also I am adding handicap handles inside to be able to pull myself up. The handles and shower head will be opposite of where I sit and with in easy reach.

The faucets are too deep to place inside the wall, so I need to make a fiberglass mount for them that gives the space needed to bring the PEX tubing up to the "L's" that attaches to the faucets.

I got the wall open today and ran the PEX tubing. Now for the fiberglass. I am getting some help with that.

More to come...

[Frederick L. Sim...]

Kind of sounds like they put the "bench" at the wrong end of the shower, and the only way to fix it is to leave the bench alone and rotate the whole room around it.

I've had to come up with solutions like that.

[Mary F]

Mmmm. I think we need pics...

[Donna D.]

Mmmm. I think we need pics...

But only of the shower area please... this is a family friendly site

[Alf S.]

Hi: Mike...Too bad you couldn't add a small corner sink/taps& hand held shower head like Escape uses and just leave the other taps where they were.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

This post has been edited by Alf S.: Feb 12 2009, 05:23 AM

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[Roger H]

Excellent idea, Mike. I know you've been struggling with this for some time.

Alf, the shower stall in the Escape, Scamp etc. is rectangular, and is a wet bath. The Bigfoot 25RQ has a dry bath with a roughly 30"x30" (at least nearly square at the pan) shower stall. My trailer is in storage for the winter, but Mike can probably give you the exact dimensions. In any event, it's pretty tight in there, and I'm a fairly thin guy. I understand Mike's issues well.

Roger

[Lizbeth]

Mike that sounds like a great solution for almost anyone. That arrangement seems so much more practical. I like to have a place to sit to shave my legs and at other time when I am just plain achy or the old knees are sore.

Looking forward to the updates!

[John H]

Mike, I'm with you about the poor location of the controls. I know why they are located in that area, it was the most convenient for the plumbing. It's a great shower enclosure, one of the best stand up ones that I've used.
I've thought about the ideal mount and I think if you don't come up with anything else, you might give this a try. Doesn't cost much.
You might go to Walmart and look at the large selection of cutting boards. Most are made of polyethylene. Easy to cut with a table saw, cheap, easy to bend and shape with heat, waterproof, easy to drill machine, and can be heat welded with like material.

If you decide to use fiberglass, you can make a quick mold using "grow foam" from a can and shape it with a knife.

When you get finished pictures, post them for us to look at.

I moved the toilet toward the wall about 3 inches to provide more standing leg room. My wife complained that the upper rim would hit her in the leg when standing in front of the mirror. A fair amount of work, but she is happy and so am I. It did open up the distance between the shower and the toilet.

[Greg A]

Here's the floor plans from the still operational Bigfoot site. Mike's is the one at the bottom. Being a visual person, I had trouble following initially until I could look at the plans.

Bigfoot Floor Plans

I think you've got it wired Mike. Looks like a real good solution. Can't wait to see the pics....

[Mike Sanders]

 25B25RQ.jpg ( 69.06K ) Number of downloads: 82

Click to enlarge

Here is the Plan. Notice the old location of the faucets next to the outside wall. The New Location will be next to the hall. Also, the sprayer on the hose will be on the hall wall side.

Notice I have made a stool with two short legs so it can sit half on the wheel well cover and the other two legs sit on the floor.

[Donna D.]

I Just have to ask... because I haven't been inside this floorplan.. What's this? I've circled it in red. A bathtub? I'm trying to visualize a dry bath. I thought the "pot" was outside the shower area but the floorplan pic you provided Mike looks like a wetbath

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[Mike Sanders]

I Just have to ask... because I haven't been inside this floorplan.. What's this? I've circled it in red. A bathtub? I'm trying to visualize a dry bath. I thought the "pot" was outside the shower area but the floorplan pic you provided Mike looks like a wetbath

That is the toilet. It is outside the shower. The shower pan stops at the brown tile floor.

[Lizbeth]

Donna that is the potty. It is a dry bath, the shower is a stall type enclosure.

You beat me to it Mike!

This post has been edited by Lizbeth: Feb 12 2009, 08:35 PM

[Donna D.]

Got it. So the circle Stool is what you're doing! Ya know, you need to make your diagrams look less than "Bigfoot official."

Duh...Donna D. Mike doesn't mean stool means potty!

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[Mike Sanders]

Notice I have made a stool with two short legs so it can sit half on the wheel well cover and the other two legs sit on the floor.

Donna, That’s why I said, “I made a stool with 2 short legs & the other 2 on the floor.”

I need something in the shower to sit on, right?