Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post project writeups, ideas, DIY mods and off the shelf modifications and improvements. Also "Known Issues" and their resolutions.
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Blue~Go
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by Blue~Go »

Yup, on mine too there is a reasonable amount of room between the shower overhead and the carpeted ceiling. Not inches for deep/hot lights, but enough room for wires or a shallow/cool light. I have the garnish off of the roof vent (that's all it takes to get a peek) so let me measure...

Okay, there is ~3/4", maybe a hint more if you scraped the carpet off the fiberglass overhead (the one that's the inside of the roof, not the shower ceiling). My wires also come in on the rear side of the hole, at the rear/outboard corner.
1999 Concourse
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HoosierB
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by HoosierB »

Trying to source new bath door opening vinyl trim. Appears to be a semi-rigid U-channel. Mine has yellowed and cracked. (the dimensions are approximate)
BATH-DOOR-TRIM.jpg
"Wanda" – '01 Chinook Concourse XL V10
pdemarest
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by pdemarest »

Okay - here's my newbie question: Do regular household bath and kitchen fixtures fit the existing RV plumbing or do I need special "RV" faucets, sinks, etc.?

thanks,

Paul
Paul Demarest
2003 Premier V-10
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caconcourse
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by caconcourse »

HoosierB wrote:Trying to source new bath door opening vinyl trim. Appears to be a semi-rigid U-channel. Mine has yellowed and cracked. (the dimensions are approximate)
The attachment BATH-DOOR-TRIM.jpg is no longer available
I and others have used this part for the bathroom door trim replacement:

ACP - Acoustic Ceiling Wall bracket part number 150-008

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H ... UTF8&psc=1

You can't tell from the Amazon picture but it is a white square channel piece of plastic that is close in dimensions to the original molding. (in the Amazon picture, it is the part that is screwed to the wall, not the part the "installer" is working with.) It is slightly wider than the original, but not much. My threshold was totally missing when we bought our Chinook, and the MDF "wood" had swelled up like a sponge, so the oversize fit snugly when I used this trim.

After a while, the MDF pretty much rotted out, and I replaced much of the lower wall around the shower with a real solid oak panel, so moisture wouldn't hurt in the future. Here is a picture of the threshold trim replaced (you can see the seam where the new oak wall meets the old about 6 inches up on the right). I actually bought some pieces to replace the sides and top trim, but the original trim was still pretty good and fit better, so I didn't use them.
Shower Trim.jpg
Clay
Clay
2001 Concourse
Santa Barbara, CA
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caconcourse
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by caconcourse »

pdemarest wrote:Okay - here's my newbie question: Do regular household bath and kitchen fixtures fit the existing RV plumbing or do I need special "RV" faucets, sinks, etc.?

thanks,

Paul
Hi Paul,

My (2001 Concourse) kitchen faucet appears to be mainstream and was installed by the dealer when we bought the Chinook used. The bathroom faucet probably has standard plumbing connections, but is unusual in that it has the shower diverter built in, which would not be a common bathroom sink feature. (The outdoor shower fixture is also a little unusual because it runs a shower instead of a faucet.

Clay
Clay
2001 Concourse
Santa Barbara, CA
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HoosierB
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by HoosierB »

Clay: Thanks for the "ceiling bracket" info! The local home improvement store sells that exact item. I will pick it up tomorrow.
"Wanda" – '01 Chinook Concourse XL V10
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Blue~Go
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by Blue~Go »

As Clay said, it sort of varies.

Kitchen sink/faucet: You could theoretically use any sink or faucet here, because (at least on my vintage and likely others as well) the supply and drain plumbing are basically typical household sized (PEX 1/2" supply, ABS 1-1/2 drain pipe or 1-1/4" tubular plumbing). One nice thing (to my mind anyway) is that you can switch to a sink with a normal household sized drain basket (I prefer these to the bar size as there is a better selection of basket/strainers). Things to watch out for are the front-to-back depth (plus room for the faucet, which may or may not need to be on the counter), and also to make sure that if you put in a deeper (bowl) sink, you can still maintain the drainage slope. You can "cut and paste" the ABS in many cases.

Bathroom sink: Obviously this is molded in fiberglass, although as we see above it can be changed. Probably even more than the kitchen, you'd have to watch clearances below. Boats often have smaller sinks, so boating specific mfgrs. often offer smaller but high quality items.

Bathroom faucet: As mentioned, it has the shower diverter which makes it somewhat RV specific. That could possibly be rearranged, but you'd have to have a plan for how before changing faucet types.

Outside shower: It's RV specific, although there are a number of similar ones made for cockpit or deck showers for boats which can potentially be used.

If you don't know the names of marine brands, you can always browse at websites that are boating suppliers, such as defender.com, fisheriessupply.com, hamiltonmarine.com, and others. Then you'll see the brands and can go to the specific company's website to see more about dimensions, etc.

BG

PS: On units older than... mid-90's(?), the supply plumbing could be "pb" and not PEX. It looks very similar but is usually grey. PEX is usually whitish, red, or blue. pb and PEX are very close in size but pb takes specific fittings and PEX fittings won't work (and vice-versa). Since no-one uses pb anymore (it had issues), you can get a transition fitting to go from pb to PEX and then carry on with PEX for new work (or replace pb with PEX). You can use "regular" PEX fittings from a home store. What's on there now is a sort of crimped metal band. Those are cheap and take little space, but require a special tool and also can only be used once. Or you can use "push on" fittings like Shark Bite or others that just push on (and can be removed and replaced as well). They cost more and are bulkier but of course we don't have hundreds of fittings in our rigs, so we have options. The drain plumbing (at least on mine) is ABS plastic. This is typically black. Some locales do not permit ABS in houses, in which case you may not be able to find a good selection at your local home store. But usually one store in town will have a decent selection, or you can go online.
1999 Concourse
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kdarling
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by kdarling »

Re: adding light switches. Instead of fishing wires and adding wall switch holes, two other possible options:

1. Use an inexpensive overhead person detector to turn on/off the lights automatically. I still count this as my favorite bathroom mod. Open door, lights come on. Exit, and the lights time out.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=299

2. Use a 12v wireless switch set. The wall switch runs off a battery just like a key fob, and can be stuck anywhere. The wireless receiver and relay(s) runs off the light wiring.

Here's one on eBay with two switches and two relays, perfect for the bath light and fan, or two sets of lights.
wireless switch
wireless switch
There are also lots of variations with key fobs and dimmers. Fobs can also be wall mounted. My main cabin overhead lights are each on a wireless dimmer receiver, all programmed to respond to the same fob.

Some come with two fobs, which allows you to use the extra fob as a second remote control at the other end of the cabin, just like having a set of threeway switches in your house.

Just throwing these out as food for thought. As the saying goes, if you want to find the easiest way to do something, hire a lazy man :D

Cheers, Kev
1994 Concourse dinette, Ford 7.5L (460 V8)
pdemarest
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by pdemarest »

Thanks to all for the plumbing tips; More modifications brewing...
Paul Demarest
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HoosierB
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Re: Bathroom Upgrades/Mods

Post by HoosierB »

A friend thought I should be concerned about potential electrical shock issues if wiring a wall switch to the new puck lights. It is after all a "wet bath" (something about water and electricity together... :shock: ). Kev's ideas for the motion detector or even the wireless remote may be the way to go (?)...

Blue-Go, curious to know what boaters do?
"Wanda" – '01 Chinook Concourse XL V10
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