Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Topic: Replacing the Foretravel Shower (Read 1979 times) previous topic - next topic

Replacing the Foretravel Shower

August 19, 2017, 12:24:16 pm

I saw an ad on Craigslist about new showers that *might* work for replacing our aging showers. They are made by a company named A. H. Furnico, in Indiana.

luxury European Shower Rooms (Factory Direct) - materials - by dealer - sale

A.H. Furnico, Inc | Luxury European Shower Enclosures and Toilets

Have any fofumers looked into these shower units? What did you conclude?

Have any fofumers actually installed one of these shower units into their motorcoach?

It looks like some of their smaller units would fit without any radical cabinetry changes. It looks some of their midsize units *might* fit. It looks like some of their larger (and nicer) units might fit with some cabinetry changes.

I do not mind being the first one to make this renovation. I just want to see if anyone here has experience that might help smooth/avoid some of my education along the way.

Thanks for any help, suggestions, and advice in this new adventure,

Trent

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #1 – August 19, 2017, 12:36:41 pm

Looks good to me. I'd have to check the measurements first.

My shower has one wall with a crack in the corian. I've had it repaired three times, but the crack keeps coming back. My plan is to take the coach to NAC next year and have someone replace that wall (or two walls) with tile or whatever. This might be a good alternative (but white won't match my current color scheme).

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #2 – August 19, 2017, 01:52:28 pm

Oops. BIG OOPS!

The shortest one of these is 82" and most are about 86" high.

The ceiling height in my bathroom is only 76".

I will talk to the tech guy on Monday. Unless I can convince them that there might be a large marketplace in the RV community for shorter ones, I think we have to look elsewhere.

BTW, Tom, most of the larger ones seem to have a shiny black background instead of white.

Thought I had found my solution.

Trent

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #3 – August 19, 2017, 02:02:27 pm

Tom, everything goes with white😀

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #4 – August 19, 2017, 02:57:50 pm

Posted earlier but it didn't post.. I removed mine and powdered it oil rubbed bronze. A few hours and good as new. Wasn't hard just took time

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #5 – August 19, 2017, 03:54:07 pm

David,

Were the frosted stripes original?

Trent

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #6 – August 19, 2017, 04:23:51 pm

Yes the stripes were original. Wouldn't be hard to duplicate. Tape off the pattern and sand blast the etch

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #7 – November 22, 2017, 12:32:05 am

Quote from: TulsaTrent – August 19, 2017, 12:24:16 pm

I saw an ad on Craigslist about new showers that *might* work for replacing our aging showers. They are made by a company named A. H. Furnico, in Indiana.

luxury European Shower Rooms (Factory Direct) - materials - by dealer - sale

A.H. Furnico, Inc | Luxury European Shower Enclosures and Toilets

Have any fofumers looked into these shower units? What did you conclude?

Have any fofumers actually installed one of these shower units into their motorcoach?

It looks like some of their smaller units would fit without any radical cabinetry changes. It looks some of their midsize units *might* fit. It looks like some of their larger (and nicer) units might fit with some cabinetry changes.

I do not mind being the first one to make this renovation. I just want to see if anyone here has experience that might help smooth/avoid some of my education along the way.

Thanks for any help, suggestions, and advice in this new adventure,

Trent

I hate my shower, hate it. I guess that's a good thing when showering in an RV with a finite grey water storage capacity. At 6'2", my head sticks up into the skylight, and I despise stepping into that thing every morning (fulltimer).

I'm in the process of tearing out pretty much my whole interior for a complete remodel - walls, floors, ceiling, kitchen, furniture, windows, bedroom rearrangement, the whole 9 yards. The shower is on the list. The two main issues I see are that the shower pan is raised approximately 4" or so off the floor due to having the P-trap right below the drain and I have a lowered false ceiling in my bathroom, the cavity which serves as an open duct for the roof AC to distribute air to the bedroom in the back. Unfortunately the shower sits directly over the drivers rear wheel well. The idea of putting a flush shower pan in and putting the p-trap below the floor popped into my head to gain 4" of height, but due to a structural member running wall to wall below the floor and the risk of damage to plumbing, the idea was dropped.

I've moved on to envision a shower pan sitting on the floor with a slope to the wall and corner drain into a trough that would drain through a hole in the floor into a p-trap below the floor. P-trap remains to keep odors in the tank and I gain 4" of height. This idea will likely require some custom work, maybe fully custom hot mopped pan with proper slopes and tile work for the trough drain. Sounds crazy, but I like different.

I will also likely do some work to the ceiling above the shower to gain an additional 3" or so of height. Will post photos as things develop, but will continue to search in the meantime for a pre-fabbed option.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #8 – November 22, 2017, 03:30:14 am

I am also 6'2" and the shower is not roomey. The Fores were shorter smaller people. Coach fit them and most owners fine.

Short counter height

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #9 – November 22, 2017, 03:55:54 am

Counter works for my wife.. she is short..

Maybe full size skylight on the roof for the bathroom area? or a custom one... sure you can find someone to make one to follow the shower.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #10 – November 22, 2017, 07:59:06 am

Quote from: Caflashbob – November 22, 2017, 03:30:14 am

I am also 6'2" and the shower is not roomey. The Fores were shorter smaller people. Coach fit them and most owners fine.

Short counter height

I thought all Texans were tall? I had to put a riser in front of my toilet so's my feet's had somewhere to go. After some highly Hillbilly scientific research and some deductive reasoning. I came to the cornclusion a Old Coca Cola Box would werk just fine!

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #11 – November 22, 2017, 09:11:00 am

Quote from: stump – November 22, 2017, 07:59:06 am

I came to the cornclusion a Old Coca Cola Box would werk just fine!

I like it! Lends a kinda rustic, homey vibe to the crapper. Now all you need is a corn cob hanging on the wall.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #12 – November 22, 2017, 09:54:29 am

Or an old Sears catalog--with the index pages still in the catalog. They were the first to go because of their softness.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #13 – November 22, 2017, 10:13:22 am

Guys,

We are kind of getting off track here.

Back to shower, please.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #14 – November 22, 2017, 10:54:06 am

Quote from: DavidS – November 22, 2017, 03:55:54 am

Counter works for my wife.. she is short..

Maybe full size skylight on the roof for the bathroom area? or a custom one... sure you can find someone to make one to follow the shower.

This is why I love these boards - I hadn't thought about a larger skylight. I'll reach out to Foretravel remodel department and see if they can share any suppliers of skylights that may be able to fit the size of a new larger shower enclosure. Thanks David.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #15 – November 22, 2017, 11:09:42 am

Evantwheeler,

I'm 6'3" and the shower height was something that really bugs me too! I feel like I am wearing the skylight like a hat when I shower.
I had thought about a larger skylight, but wonder about the roof structure that surrounds it. Would we need to cut out crossmember and reinstall, etc.
Finally got to where I am used to it after a year and a half, and now I probably won't mess with it.

Len

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #16 – November 22, 2017, 11:52:24 am

As far as I know the unicoaches have an aluminum framed roof structure that goes around the skylights openings. Enlarging the opening may require a lot of engineering.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #17 – November 22, 2017, 11:54:45 am

I like everything about my FT shower except the crack in one wall's Corian. I've had it repaired twice, but it keeps coming back.

Who should I take it to for a permanent repair, not a patch job?

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #18 – November 22, 2017, 12:00:21 pm

Difference between making the opening larger (width/length) and finding a "taller" (height) sky light with the same dimensions.

First likely to be very complex, second very easy to install if one can be found.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #19 – November 22, 2017, 03:20:13 pm

You can make your own from lexan . One of my resto car jobs was to re-make a vintage Sport Racer .Gene Beach and I worked on the car until we got to the windshield. I asked how he did it last time. (1964) He said that he drew the thing on Mon. and wrote the check on Fri .
But really. You need a plug- most often wood. Shaped and sized to account for the thickness of the plastic . (6mm?)

We used a smoker to heat the plastic and pulled it down over the edges/flanges .
A short u tube search should show some methods.

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #20 – November 22, 2017, 05:09:29 pm

We had ours replaced with a custom made almost exact duplicate in Brushed Nickel. We reused the original glass. About $750. Once we found a local distributor for Alumax and a fabricator recommended by them it was pretty easy, about three weeks. The new door pivots on different points and is actually a bit bigger.

shower metal frame

What did you do to your coach today v

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #21 – November 22, 2017, 07:02:24 pm

Look into a HepVo to help with the P-trap problem

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #22 – November 22, 2017, 08:07:02 pm

Quote from: lgshoup – November 22, 2017, 07:02:24 pm

Look into a HepVo to help with the P-trap problem

Haha, start at 3:20 mark. Very applicable to this situation apparently. Thanks for the lead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDNh7lfcIYQ

Link to the manufacturers website: The best waste trap for RV's

Re: Replacing the Foretravel Shower

Reply #23 – November 23, 2017, 09:17:20 am

Quote from: Tom Lang – November 22, 2017, 11:54:45 am

I like everything about my FT shower except the crack in one wall's Corian. I've had it repaired twice, but it keeps coming back.

Who should I take it to for a permanent repair, not a patch job?

Pretty much any residential shower fabricator should be capable of this project though they most likely will want a glass shop to pull and reinstall the enclosure. Showers in custom homes are often field installed cultured marble, Corian is actually a good deal easier to work with. I'd search for shower and bath fabricators in your local area.

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