Today's project - slat floor for Bigfoot shower

[trainjunkie]

One of the irritations I've discovered about showering in the Bigfoot is how long it takes for the floor to dry. If I shower in the evening and get up in the middle of the night to use the commode, I'll inevitably be stepping on a wet floor. Yeah, I know, I can wipe it down after I shower, which is what I usually do, which is a task I dislike and leaves me with a soaking wet towel and it never really makes the floor dry since there seems to be runoff from the walls and behind the toilet for hours after you waste your time wiping the floor down.

So for awhile now I've been thinking about building a slat floor panel for the shower and today I finally did it. The idea is that the wood slats won't hold a lot of surface water, will be easy to wipe, runoff will go under the slats, and it will simply dry faster.

I built mine with standard stuff you can find at Home Depot or Lowes, 1 x 2 redwood strips, brass screws, and some furniture feet. It only took me a couple hours and it looks great. I haven't used it yet but I have a trip scheduled for November with the whole family, which will be the acid test.

The only issue thus far is that it ate up just under 2 inches of height in the shower and I'm 6' - 1" tall so I'll have to hunch over just a tad to shower. Not a big deal to me if it makes it easier to take a leak in the middle of the night.

Hopefully it will work as well in reality as it did in theory.

[Steve Outlaw]

Very nice work. Can you really get REDWOOD at Home Depot or Lowes?

[trainjunkie]

Originally Posted by Steve Outlaw

Very nice work. Can you really get REDWOOD at Home Depot or Lowes?

Yep, in this case, Lowes (in Southern California).

[Jack L]

Originally Posted by Steve Outlaw

Very nice work. Can you really get REDWOOD at Home Depot or Lowes?

California, Yes. Washington State, No. Mississippi, ???

Cedar will also work almost as well.

[trainjunkie]

I really wanted teak. Too expensive though. I can build three to four of these out of redwood for the price of one teak version.

[Steve Outlaw]

I looked online at HD. That's a big negatory there good buddy for in-store. I can order it on-line, however.

[Steve Outlaw]

Trainjunkie, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you post the SKU or a link to the redwood you bought?

[Borrego Dave]

Your slat floor looks great Mike. I've been meaning to build one too as we had them on some sailboats. Just a thought for you, if you find it doesn't dry off enough for a night time trip, you could always set it in the hall while you shower and put it back in for the night and it's nice and dry. Hey, one other plus to that, it would give you more headroom for the longer time it takes for a shower.

[Carl Pa]

I plan on doing that as well, but mine will be a little higher,so wife can sit and feet touch floor. Redwood in these parts is to much $$$. Will use Cedar or hemlock, pine. Will put some kinda of non-skid material on floor so it won`t slide, bounce softer, so it won`t scratch floor. Carl

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by trainjunkie

Not a big deal to me if it makes it easier to take a leak in the middle of the night.

Amen brother. Redwood is no more to be had around these parts. There was a time it grew on trees, figuratively speaking. I remember needing a good straight, 16' 2X4 many, many years ago and was surprised to find I could buy Redwood as cheap as Spruce Pine. But those days are gone, never to be seen again. We have Cypress down here though that would work well, and less likely to give a nasty splinter like Redwood might.

[trainjunkie]

Originally Posted by Steve Outlaw

Trainjunkie, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you post the SKU or a link to the redwood you bought?

Steve,

Here's the link to the product from Lowes.

Shop 0.625-in x 1.375-in x 10-ft Kiln-Dried Redwood Board at Lowes.com

SKU: 60559

[Steve Outlaw]

Originally Posted by trainjunkie

Steve,

Here's the link to the product from Lowes.

Shop 0.625-in x 1.375-in x 10-ft Kiln-Dried Redwood Board at Lowes.com

SKU: 60559

Thanks, Mike. I've been wanting to build one of these since two trailers ago. Just never found the time or, until now, the source of the quality wood I needed.

[floyd]

Beautiful work!
We had considered something of the that nature... They even make a plastic mesh mat which is advertised to work well.
I settled on a simple towel to wipe down the shower and floor.
It only takes a few seconds and its dry... no scratching the gelcoat or risking mold.

[trainjunkie]

Steve,

That is the reason I didn't tackle this project when I was in Alaska. There was no economical way to get the lumber I needed up there.

Dave,

I was thinking about the same thing last night, taking the slats out when I shower, and putting them in dry when done. I need to drill a finger hole somewhere on the slat floor assembly to make taking it out easier but I think this is going to be the way to go.

Cheers!

Mike

[trainjunkie]

So here's the final version. I added the finger notch to make lifting it out easier. We have a fall camping trip coming in November so we'll see how it works out in the real world.

[steve dunham]

We built the same style duckboard out of ash . We rounded over the edges of the slats on the router table and glued & blind doweled the duckboard together .Then we applied a coat of Watco followed by 2 coats of spar varnish .Seems to be holding up well but the added height forces me to duck down like the OP

[Steve Outlaw]

I like the idea of removing it during our showers. I wanted something classy looking to step onto in shoes since doing so always leaves the shower tub dirty. I think this is just the ticket.

[Cathi]

A fine job, Mike. I have been looking at such things and I know there are ready-mades but they would not be as beautiful as yours. Should work well.

[Donna D.]

Very, very nice! Good for you and thanks for sharing the pictures

[Timber Wolf]

Looks really nice. Fact of the business, that kind of thing really does not have to be all that tight to start with. A 1/2" small all around would not hurt anything and it would be easier to hook a finger under and take out and put back.