An interesting new project/job..........Steam shower.........

Mark Rios

Member
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797
Location
Central CA
The realtor that I do a lot of work for called me up the other day and asked me if I was busy. I said "No, not for you of course. What do you need?". I always make time for this person.......ALWAYS. ;) ;) ;)

He said that he and his wife had just returned from a vacation where they were introdused to the wonderful world of a steam shower and now they wanted one installed. We talked about different issues that might come up regarding building one in the pool house. Issues like the shower pan, wall coverings, features, etc., and I told him that I would research it and get back to him.

After getting pointed in the right direction and doing a bunch of research I met with him and worked VERY hard to persuede him to buy a premade unit as opposed to building one. The big issues are the wall coverings and making them steam proof and incorporating whatever features one may want into the build. Well, he took my advice and said that he would get back to me when he found what he wanted.



I got a call a couple of days later and he said that he was taking delivery of his steam shower the next morning. This is the unit:

http://www.ssww.com.cn/en/pro.php?id=36

Hubba Hubba...this is one fancy shower!!! It has spa jets, a dry sauna feature, two seats that put your back in position to receive massages rom massage jets, light therapy :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:, shower water from bunches of different angles and a fancy, sporty look. It also has hookups for your stereo (speakers are already installed) and a phone setup so that you can make and receive phone calls while showering.

I've removed a 36" corner shower and I've replumbed and rewired the bath for the unit. I'll fill in the missing sheetrock and match the texture and fill in the missing tile on the floor. Then I'll assemble the unit in place. It is self-contained kind of like a self-contained spa would be, if you know what I mean. You place the unit where you want it and then connect your electrical, plumbing, drain, stereo and phone. (Don't we all have a stereo and phone built into our spas? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D :D )

Putting the unit together looks to be quite the puzzle. There's not too many pieces but I'll have to be very careful to assemble the unit precisely so as to eliminate the possibility of leaks. The pieces consist of the lower tub section (which houses almost all of the functional stuff), a preassembled front panel section, a preassembled rear panel section, a two piece roof section and the side panels. The side panels need to be assembled in place and they look to be the tricky section to get leakproof. To give you an idea of the complexity (and the sophistication actually) of this shower, here's a pic of the back panel of the upper rear section:

29 OVERALLREAR.jpg

Customer/ technical support from this company (actually the distributor) is top notch. The manufacturer is in China and the instructions have been (badly) translated and are somewhat incomplete. But the tech support from the distributor (located in Southern California---meaning native english speaking folks, YAAAAHHH) is VERY friendly and very knowledgeable about their product. The power requirements are pretty significant. The unit used to be produced needing 220v power but they changed it to requiring two 110v circuits (for North America anyway); One 20 amp and one 30 amp circuit.

All in all, it's pretty impressive. I don't know what it cost but the owner is a person of some means and is used to paying for quality. A very nice man to work for. :D :D :D
 
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Mark,

WOW, that is an impressive unit. I be you're glad they took your advice on buying... Creating something like from scratch would be quite a chore. Any pics on the construction so far?
 
Man oh man, that's a shower. Looks like a fun project. Too bad you'll probably not get a chance to try it out. :p Make sure to keep us posted. ;)
 
Hey Mark,
You did right suggesting they buy the unit with all the parts. I have never seen any thing like it. Good luck with it, sounds like you have a good handle on it.
Will there be access to the back from another room? There seems like so much is going on in the back of that unit?
Thanks for sharing.
Shaz
 
Greg, no pics, sorry. The shower tear-out is just a standard 36", fibergalss, corner shower enclosure tearout, no big deal really. Since you mention it though, I'll snap a few as the rest of the work goes on.

Vaughn, The owners are very generous and I would expect them to offer the use of it (as they've offered the use of their pool, exercise room and the new inversion bench that I just assembled for them :rolleyes: :D ). However, a steam shower is just a little too fru-fru for me. :D :D :D

Shaz, The unit asembles away from the wall and then gets pushed/slid into place after making the connections, again, kind of just like a "portable" spa does. It can be pulled/slid away from the wall again just as easily. Well, maybe not REAL easily....the unit weighs a little over 600 pounds when assembled. ;) All of the connections are made with components that are long enough to facilitate this movement. However, when I asked a question about the drain hook-up, the tech said that he recommends that I don't use the long hose that they provide. He said that it just seems to cause problems. :D He recommended that I move the unit into place and then hook up the drain from underneath. The front and side panels come off easily to facilitate this type of work so it's not really a big deal. Apparently, the drain hose set-up that they have works better with other building drain types than we have here in the states. :rolleyes:
 
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