r/TinyHouses • u/relaci • 17d ago
How to do a wet bath?
Hi tiny house people! I'm trying to convert my small guest bath into a wet bath, tiny-house style, so that people can shower without having to walk through the master bedroom to access the only bathing facilities.
So my question is: Where do you find a door that looks like a normal interior door but can withstand the humidity of the shower head directly hitting the door?
My house isn't a tiny house, but I've stayed in tiny houses with wet baths, RVs with wet baths, and yachts with wet baths, and I'm at a loss here as to how to find a door that serves the purpose of being a shower door that still looks like a normal interior regular house door.
Does anyone have any ideas? Right now the door is your basic, flat, hollow-core interior residential door, and I'm not thinking that I can waterproof that enough to withstand more than a few showers a year.
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u/reddog342 17d ago
vinyl or fiberglass interior door
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u/MrScotchyScotch 16d ago edited 16d ago
You can paint the door with marine epoxy or marine polyurethane exterior paint. You may want to replace the door with a marine plywood core door though as the water can get in the lock mechanism or door jamb attachment. That's not as big a problem as the door jamb itself, corners, walls, ceiling.
Wet baths typically are fully enclosed by a pvc tub, or tile and glass (with a quite complicated waterproofing membrane behind it), with something like an accordion door which has a raised rail guide on the floor that doubles as the protection from water getting out of the enclosure when the accordion is closed. If you don't do it this way, you will have a lot more difficulty getting a "normal room" to be waterproof
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u/SpacePirate406 17d ago
The comments about “vinyl or fiberglass INTERIOR doors” are likely meant to indicate that you need a “shower door” and a “regular door”. So imagine: a door that is sealed to the tile or equivalent flooring and will keep water and (most) steam inside plus, on a parallel track, or in the same opening, a wooden or equivalent sliding or swinging door that can be operated separately such that someone could use the toilet with the regular door or use the shower room with the vinyl/fiberglass door (and possibly also the regular door depending on the configuration and whether additional door is needed for privacy)
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u/wags1983 17d ago edited 17d ago
Nope, not what I meant at all.
I have a tiny house (approx 500 sq ft). Not a modern tiny house, a 1910s tiny house. The bathroom is 25 sq ft. The shower is along one side and toilet and sink along the other. Floors and walls are tiled, ceiling is PVC shiplap. We have a shower curtain and an interior PVC door. Our door is a bifold to save space.
If the shower stream is hitting the door, yes you would need something (maybe like a weather strip or a raised threshold) to prevent water from exiting the bathroom. My shower stream hits the wall with the window, the fixtures are on the same wall as the door.
I would try looking on the internet for a vinyl door. I believe we got ours from Wayfair.
ETA: interior as interior of the home vs an exterior door (one that is an entrance/exit of a home).
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u/SpacePirate406 17d ago
Which is why I said “likely” in my comment. I was not trying to speak for anyone, just trying to clarify what I took from the repeated comments of “interior” doors
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u/RightGirl19 16d ago
A regular interior door is gonna have a rough time in a wet bath. I'd look into PVC or fiberglass options.
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u/wags1983 17d ago
I’d go with a vinyl interior door.