Re: Adding an overflow to a bathtub without one.
harry
> A friend asked me if he can add an overflow to a bathtub in a trailer
> home. Many of these trailer bathtubs never had an overflow, which I
> am aware. His elderly mother has memory loss and is constantly
> overflowing the tub in her trailer. I suggested just replacing the
> tub with a standard one from a house, but she's got little income. I
> considered trying to find a used one, but it turns out her tub is
> quite a bit shorter and much lower than the regular ones. That is
> also common in trailer houses. (I guess people who live in trailers
> are smaller) :) To change to a standard tub would require ripping
> apart the whole bathroom, and the water heater behind the tub would
> not likely fit afterwards. These trailers just dont have enough room.
>
> Anyhow, her tub is either made of thin steel coated with porcelin, or
> some sort of material like a fiberglass. I cant seem to tell and will
> have to take off the panel under it to see for sure. If I had a
> magnet when I was there I could have seen if it was steel too.
>
> Anyhow, the thought is to cut a hole and install an overflow, but I
> already know the pipes will need to be shortened on the overflow, and
> the overflow will have to be placed almost at the top edge of the tub
> or it wont hold much water.
>
> Has anyone ever cut one of these tubs? I'm most worried about the
> porcelin chipping off. Any tips to cut the hole?
>
> But I have another thought. Does anyone make any kind of sensor that
> shuts off the water when it gets to a preset level?
> That would be a much simpler method than cutting a hole and then
> trying to pipe it under the trailer (pain in the butt working under
> them).
>
> Thanks for all help.
If it's a trailer just drill a hole in the floor under the bath for
the overflow pipe & let the water un on to the ground beneath .
Making a hole in a GRP bath is easy, if it's a steel bath it's much
more difficult because of the enamel.
Smitty Two
wrote:
> But I have another thought. Does anyone make any kind of sensor that
> shuts off the water when it gets to a preset level?
Yeah, sure, but plumbing that in isn't going to be easy, either.
Simplest non-invasive approach might be a battery-powered audio alarm
triggered by water level.
LdB
> A friend asked me if he can add an overflow to a bathtub in a trailer
> home. Many of these trailer bathtubs never had an overflow, which I
> am aware. His elderly mother has memory loss and is constantly
> overflowing the tub in her trailer. I suggested just replacing the
> tub with a standard one from a house, but she's got little income. I
> considered trying to find a used one, but it turns out her tub is
> quite a bit shorter and much lower than the regular ones. That is
> also common in trailer houses. (I guess people who live in trailers
> are smaller) :) To change to a standard tub would require ripping
> apart the whole bathroom, and the water heater behind the tub would
> not likely fit afterwards. These trailers just dont have enough room.
>
> Anyhow, her tub is either made of thin steel coated with porcelin, or
> some sort of material like a fiberglass. I cant seem to tell and will
> have to take off the panel under it to see for sure. If I had a
> magnet when I was there I could have seen if it was steel too.
>
> Anyhow, the thought is to cut a hole and install an overflow, but I
> already know the pipes will need to be shortened on the overflow, and
> the overflow will have to be placed almost at the top edge of the tub
> or it wont hold much water.
>
> Has anyone ever cut one of these tubs? I'm most worried about the
> porcelin chipping off. Any tips to cut the hole?
>
> shuts off the water when it gets to a preset level?
> trying to pipe it under the trailer (pain in the butt working under
> them).
>
> Thanks for all help.
>
>
If the tub is made of steel you can use a good quality hole saw.
Milwaukee is a good choice. Don't even think about using any of the
cheap saws. They will pretty well guarantee a disaster. I've installed
a few fiberglass tubs and showers. Fiberglass can be drilled with a
hole saw as well. Either way, just take you time. Don't try to force
your way through. As they say let the machine do the work.
Use a few drops of oil to lubricate the saw teeth if it's a steel tub.
I've cut holes in steel much thicker than what the tub is made of
without any problem. Just take your time.
You can buy PVC drain kits that have all the parts you need. The kits
are universal, the pipes can be cut to fit just about any application.
Typically the drain covers are somewhat larger than the hole required
for the drain. There' s some forgiveness. If you take out a 1/8 "chip
the cover will likely hide it.
You could probably score a porcelain surface first by running the
drill in reverse and and very lightly pressing the saw into the
surface until you have cut a ring through the porcelain.
LdB
Oren
I might be wrong but a bell went off. PVC drain kits for a mobile home
can be of a smaller dia. size?
An RV/Mobile Home supply center is the place to check. I almost bet
they can get an newer tub in the correct size.. maybe no avocado green
or harvest gold.
Oren
wrote:
>If it's a trailer just drill a hole in the floor under the bath for
>the overflow pipe & let the water un on to the ground beneath .
harry farts in his space suit.
Last month he bitched about gray water from a home brew set-up.
Bob F
Make a new drain stopper that is just an appropriate length of 1" PVC pipe with
a rubber seal dor the drain hole at the end. Stick it into the drain hole to
plug it to fill the tub. When the water gets higher than the other end of the
PVC, it wil run down the middle into the drain. Put it out of the tub to drain
it.
Colbyt
<j...@myplace.com> wrote in message
news:u1cm57tkd0u4lgt73...@4ax.com...
>
>
I think rather than adding an overflow, a high water alarm might be your
better choice.
Using Google I searched for "high water alarm" without the " "
This looks like the least expensive option I found:
--
Colbyt
Please come visit http://www.househomerepair.com
Smitty Two
wrote:
> Where can such a device be purchased?
>
If you don't want to roll your own, just google for bathtub alarm.
Higgs Boson
This is interesting! I have a deep fiberglas tub w/o an overflow in
my bathroom (a house, not a trailer). Often wondered what would
happen if I dozed off in the tub.
(I saw it happen with a relative years ago; fortunately woke them up
in time.)
I wouldn't want to put a lot of money into such a project; we take
very few baths; maybe in the "dead of winter" such as it is here.
Just wondered if fiberglas is amenable to such treatment, so if you
find out what the lady's tub is made of, I'll watch for your post..
HB
dadiOH
> A friend asked me if he can add an overflow to a bathtub in a trailer
> home. Many of these trailer bathtubs never had an overflow, which I
> am aware. His elderly mother has memory loss and is constantly
> overflowing the tub in her trailer. I suggested just replacing the
> tub with a standard one from a house, but she's got little income. I
> considered trying to find a used one, but it turns out her tub is
> quite a bit shorter and much lower than the regular ones. That is
> also common in trailer houses. (I guess people who live in trailers
> are smaller) :) To change to a standard tub would require ripping
> apart the whole bathroom, and the water heater behind the tub would
> not likely fit afterwards. These trailers just dont have enough room.
>
> Anyhow, her tub is either made of thin steel coated with porcelin, or
> some sort of material like a fiberglass. I cant seem to tell and will
> have to take off the panel under it to see for sure. If I had a
> magnet when I was there I could have seen if it was steel too.
>
> Anyhow, the thought is to cut a hole and install an overflow, but I
> already know the pipes will need to be shortened on the overflow, and
> the overflow will have to be placed almost at the top edge of the tub
> or it wont hold much water.
>
> Has anyone ever cut one of these tubs? I'm most worried about the
> porcelin chipping off. Any tips to cut the hole?
>
> But I have another thought. Does anyone make any kind of sensor that
> shuts off the water when it gets to a preset level?
Float switch?
--
dadiOH
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dadiOH
> the drain hole to plug it to fill the tub. When the water gets higher
> than the other end of the PVC, it wil run down the middle into the
> drain. Put it out of the tub to drain it.
Tres cool :)
Stormin Mormon
Adding an overflow promises to be a LOT of work.
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
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"dadiOH" <dad...@invalid.com> wrote in message
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