Scamp 13-foot front toilet to shower conversion - Fiberglass RV
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Old 07-24-2013, 05:00 AM   #1
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Name: Peter
Trailer: Scamp
California
Posts: 9
Scamp 13-foot front toilet to shower conversion

Hello everyone!

I've been a long time lurker/egg camper dreamer here for some time. But no more! I just picked up my very first RV - a 13-foot Scamp from a long ways out of state. I have a feeling I'll enjoy camping in my Scamp every bit as much as treating it as a neverending DIY project.

The very first thing I want to do is retrofit a shower into the front bathroom. I've been inspired by this excellent thread -http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...amp-25793.html - to come up with my own plans. I'd like to share my thoughts with you guys and hopefully get some feedback on it.

Shower Floor
There are 2 options for this -

1. The obvious route to consider - and which the OP of the above quoted thread took, is to put in a factory shower floor. However, I looked through the Scamp fiberglass parts catalog online - Fiberglass Body Pieces - and couldn't find a shower floor for the 13 foot. There is only one listed for 16/19'. I've sent them an email to see what they would recommend - haven't heard back yet. Has anyone recently been able to purchase a 13-foot front shower floor direct from the Scamp factory? Also, do you know if what is being sold now will fit in a pre-fire (1999) bathroom?

2. If I can't get a factory shower floor, or if what is being offered won't fit, I'm thinking of fabricating my own shower pan assembly. This would consist of some kind of lipped shallow tub (Purpose-made RV mini shower pan? Rectangular planter tray? Commercial baking dish?) sunk into a particle board false floor, which would be raised to the height of the pan, lined with vinyl, cut to the needed geometry and caulked with silicone.

Now I'd like to think that I'm fairly handy and capable of decent workmanship - but at the same time I don't want to start tearing everything out and making the job bigger than it absolutely needs to be. In this case - I think there is room enough for a 'dry shower' - so my plan is to have the custom shower pan stop where it meets the commode, use a shower curtain, and leave everything else as it is. Messing with the toilet and black tank seems to be a lot of work with questionable return.

Walls
Scamp sells a fiberglass shower surround part (but not for the 13'). The price is fairly high, and on top of that there is the likely exorbitant cost of having a piece with those dimensions shipped out here. Am I missing anything to think that lining the walls with linoleum/vinyl flooring would achieve the same effect for much less money and effort?

By using a shower curtain to keep the water out of the commode area - I can avoid having the vinyl go near the edge of the shell where the curvature is going to make things difficult with laying the vinyl. Cutting windows out of vinyl would be so much easier than out of fiberglass. Not to mention the interior partition wall would need to be waterproofed separately anyway, if I went with the factory surround. I just don't see any upside to getting the factory shower surround.

Drainage
Initially - I'm thinking I would just holesaw through the particle board floor and a put pail underneath the drain hole. However, at some point, I'd like to install a gray tank under one of the benches. And then I would have to set up a pump and plumbing to get the shower water into the tank (I understand that's how the factory shower works?) Any suggestions on how to route the plumbing?

Hot Water
This is one piece I've given the least thought to. Where is the factory installed water heater usually located? What's a good place to put the water heater so it can a) get plumbed to the propane and b) vent outside c) Access the fresh water tank d) Deliver water into the front shower? That's a lot of requirements to design around! Does anyone have a make and model to recommend?

If you've done a successful toilet-to-shower conversion - I'd love to hear how you went about it!
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Old 07-24-2013, 07:06 PM   #2
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Name: Peter
Trailer: Scamp
California
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OK so I heard back from a Scamp rep:

Quote:
Shower pan would probably work, but when we rebuilt the 13 molds after our January 2006 fire we made the trailer 3 inches taller, so none of the walls, including the back shower wall will work.

It would be the same pan used on the 16 and 5th wheel and may not work exactly right. We never installed one in a 13 ft. with the old pre-fire molds.
I'm going to take a closer look at the toilet this weekend and see how it unbolts. Despite my initial reluctance - I'm leaning toward getting the factory floor, and using a locally sourced liner for the walls.
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Old 07-24-2013, 07:27 PM   #3
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Hi Peter, to FiberglassRV, we're glad you're here!

You're going to find a lot of kind and helpful people here on the forums

As you know, Scamp doesn't make most of the stuff that goes into a Scamp? Yep, they "outsource" all the formica, wall enclosures, etc. I'm betting you'll be able to create EXACTLY what you need. For instance, the shower enclosure in my old Scamp is just Formica and caulked a long the shower pan... I'm not sure they've changed much in 26 years....
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Old 07-24-2013, 07:38 PM   #4
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Name: Norm and Ginny
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Florida
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Peter,

We added a small shower to our 1982 Sunline 15.5. I bought a 24x24" pan on ebay and built a surround. I went to Lowes and bought their least expensive shower surround and cut it down to size.

A fellowSunliner was more clever. He just put up 1/4" plywood walls and covered them with vinyl wallpaper. It was his wife's idea and it worked perfectly.
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Old 07-24-2013, 08:01 PM   #5
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Name: RogerDat
Trailer: 2010 Scamp 16
Michigan
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My old camper had a "sit down" shower. You sat on the toilet to wash your hair and upper body. Floor under toilet was part of the "pan".

Used a shower head on a flexible hose with an on/off trigger in the head. Hanger for shower head was mounted fairly low, about mid chest high.

You sat, pointed sprayer at your head, pulled trigger till wet, washed upper body, pulled trigger to rinse, stood up washed lower body, another trigger pull to rinse that area.

What this did was make it so the top of the surround where it met a curved roof did not get a lot of spray, caulk was sufficient to seal that top edge. And allowed a small (5-gallon or so) hot water tank to provide showers for a family of 5.
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Old 07-24-2013, 08:14 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerDat View Post
My old camper had a "sit down" shower. You sat on the toilet to wash your hair and upper body. Floor under toilet was part of the "pan".

Used a shower head on a flexible hose with an on/off trigger in the head. Hanger for shower head was mounted fairly low, about mid chest high.

You sat, pointed sprayer at your head, pulled trigger till wet, washed upper body, pulled trigger to rinse, stood up washed lower body, another trigger pull to rinse that area.

What this did was make it so the top of the surround where it met a curved roof did not get a lot of spray, caulk was sufficient to seal that top edge. And allowed a small (5-gallon or so) hot water tank to provide showers for a family of 5.
Sounds EXACTLY like my sidebath 16' Scamp. A good ole Navy shower. I get clean, what else does someone need to do in a tiny shower area? It's not like I'm expecting to dance in there...
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Old 07-25-2013, 05:48 PM   #7
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Name: Peter
Trailer: Scamp
California
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Thanks all (esp Donna) for the warm welcome!

Starting this weekend I'm going to pull out the toilet and start removing the carpet and the old and peeling wall covering in preparation for installing the shower floor which I'm ordering from the factory. I'm also heading down to Lowes to see what materials I can use to waterproof the walls.

Before I tear into it, here's a picture of what I'm looking at. As you can see there is actually a good amount of space for a full standalone shower stall (sounds like the side bath in a 16' is a tighter fit).

Side note - As someone accustomed to doing business with faceless and nameless websites, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the gentleman at Scamp who answered my inquiry about the shower pan is none other than Mr Kent Eveland himself.
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Old 07-25-2013, 09:29 PM   #8
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Peter

I am not sure you realize from your question that the toilet is entirely inside the trailer and the whole thing including the tank are what you are looking at?
There is no more to it to see by yanking it out.
Unlike some other Eggs the bowl just sits directly on the small tank and both are above the floor right there!
Most others use a separate Black tank under the trailer floor from the toilet.

Likewise the Scamp grey tank are located under the trailer so gravity almost works to drain the shower but not enough. So they use a bilge type pump to raise the water to the tank inlet. I would not want to have the tank inside the trailer really and it should be fairly simple to hang a Grey tank underneath too.

West Marine sells a one piece shower drain with a pump mounted in it which is what I was going to use in my conversion and it is pretty slick but any way you pump it should achieve the same result in filling the tank?

I also asked the factory about the pan and enclosure but was told at the time that they would not sell it to me unless I came to Minnesota and picked it up due to problems shipping big fiberglass parts. Maybe they have changed since I asked?

Lowes does in fact sell a nice sheet product that is fiberglass and easy to cut and bend. It has a pebbled texture finish and is made as a bathroom wall material.
I was able to craft it into my Fiberstream as a Bathroom wall just as you are thinking pretty easily and it is perfect for the job. I think they might have a flat non-textured version too?

Also you do not say what vintage your Scamp is?
From the pic it looks like the room has the "Rat Fur" covering the walls and ceiling? This is actually a fully waterproof marine headliner material and is designed for that environment and will not mold or mildew from moisture according to Scamp and thus in a Scamp bath from the factory the walls only go up the wall most of the way to the top.Above the walls is simply exposed Rat Fur with no seal in between.

I have never really understood or accepted the claims about the waterproofness but they sell a lot of them that way and they do seem to last.

I guess this means that absolute watertight walls and ceiling is not a huge factor for you which might lead to a simpler conversion?

Anyway,welcome here and remember to have fun and take pics so we can have fun with you!

Ed
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Old 07-25-2013, 09:49 PM   #9
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Name: Ron
Trailer: 2008 13' Scamp
British Columbia
Posts: 325
I used linoleum for the walls of a shower enclosure reno about 15 years ago. It's been in daily use since then without any problems and still looks very good.

I radiused the corners so the material didn't have to be bent a hard 90*.

Flexible and easy to work with, it would be a suitable option.
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Old 07-25-2013, 10:08 PM   #10
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Peter, here's a thread you may wish to read: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...amp-25793.html
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