# Shower Upgrade Questions



## flexdog1 (Jan 24, 2010)

We have a new Outback 301BQ and I am looking for opinions on what to do about the shower. We have 2 kids and we have had a few showers where water ends up on the floor. I am not exactly sure where it is coming from, but I am confident there is no leaky plumbing. I believe it is spilling over the edge of the tub and running between the shower tub and the sink cabinet. We have a wal-mart shower curtain on the stock shower track.

Here are my questions:
1. Can I caulk with silicone between the shower walls and the shower tub? Will that hurt anything? It doesn't appear that was done at the factory.
2. Anyone ever seen a shut-off switch for the shower head that can be mounted half-way up the wall instead of on the shower head? Kids have a hard time shutting off the shower head with the switch on the head.
3. Anyone done any mods to have the shower head aim more straight down?

Finally, why is the water so stinkin' cold when you first turn the showerhead switch back on? The mixing valve on the faucet must start with the cold side...

Thanks all - I love this forum and hope to be more of a contributor soon instead of a consumer!
-scott


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

My theory on the mixing and cold was that it would prevent you from being scalded. However, the mixer is 5 ft upstream of the shutoff, so I just can't explain it.










As for the wall-tub interface, I caulk, but it is such a heated debate that it has destroyed entire threads....


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## ftwildernessguy (Oct 12, 2009)

I, too, couldn't figure out why they installed the tub surround without caulking around the tub, so I did it with clear silicone tub caulk. Seems like the way it was is just asking for water to leak between the surround and the tub.


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## Southpaw (Jul 14, 2008)

Had the same problem after one of the four kids took a shower, water was all over the floor. At first I tried an wrap the shower curtain from the shower head all the way around to the back wall.







Finally, decided to caulk bewteen the shower wall and the top of the tub = no more water! I can take a pic if you'd like to see.

I got tired of the cold water when I used the shut-off switch so I stopped using it; haven't ran out of hot water (yet).


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

I don't think that the shower has an actual mixing valve like you would find in a house, it's just a cheap faucet. So, the reason you get cold is that the water does cool down in the piping and since the hot water has to go through the water heater, there is more pressure on the cold water line than the hot water, not much but enough to push cold water back down the hot water pipe since they are connected together with the shut off valve 5' away from where the pipes join at the faucet.

As far as the leaking water, I don't have that problem in the 5th wheel since it has a glass door. My only problem is that sometimes the water doesn't want to drain very well in the pan.

I tried to find a shower set that had a shut off built into it, but didn't see one. Wonder if there would be a way to attach a valve on the faucet and then attach the shower hose. I don't think I would do this on the cheap plastic one that came with the camper thou. You might check at a plumbing supply company, they might have some thoughts.


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## Kathy (Apr 6, 2008)

We had the same problem with water on the floor. I think it's running down the wall and around the edge of the tub. I told my DH to run a small bead of silicone channeling the water down into the tub. As soon as I can get him to do it, I'll let yoy know if it works!!


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## garywies (Aug 23, 2007)

On the on/off valve- you may find that moving/adding a shower head "holder" lower down the wall for the little campers may be easier than putting a valve someplace lower (provided you have installed a remote-hand held shower head with the on/off valve)


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## marker (Aug 14, 2009)

For the usual water-on-the-floor thing, glue in a triangle piece of plastic at each corner with double sided tape, then caulk. I think they are available at Walmart or other stores. They are specifically designed for this type of thing in homes.

The other thing I found out is that if you use the shutoff at the end of the shower hose and leave the faucet on, these cheap faucets will leak around the valves. I found that out one day when I forgot to shut the faucet off and just relied on the shower head valve.

Good luck


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## Up State NY Camper (Apr 7, 2010)

My tech, who used to work at keystone building these things, said you don't have to calk between the tub and surround. The tub has a lip that goes up quite a bit behind the surround. Calking won't hurt anything, but will make it a little more difficult to replace the surround in the future. Not that that's a big deal.


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## flexdog1 (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Couple comments:

It sure makes sense that the tub would have a lip that goes up behind the sidewalls. I think I will try the "diverters" to divert the water back into the tub. Also will try to get the younger ones to do better on the shower curtain.

As for the valve, maybe a lower mounting for the shower head when they are in there and a higher one for when we are in there. There doesn't seem to be any good plunger-type shut-off that could be mounted in the middle of the wall that would allow for easy shut off.

The higher pressure on the cold water side is the best explanation I heard for the cold water coming out first when you turn it back on. There is NO WAY the water cools down in the plastic hose that much in 20 seconds (while the water is not flowing).

These are great comments. Thanks for all the replies. I will try to get some pictures when I have the mods complete.
-scott


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