53 MY Shower Basins

[branwyn]

Has anyone taken apart the fiberglass shower basin in their master and mid heads?

I started stripping the caulking out of the master shower today to address the failing caulk and also reseal the access hatch which allows water to get into the bilge.

Suddenly, my first mate shows up and declares the shower is not fit for use any longer and insists a tile shower, new lighting, new shower door... and oh let's remodel the entire head while we're at it.

I could tile above the shower fiberglass basin but am curious how epic of a job it might be to unscrew it and attempt removal such that new flooring and tile could be installed. As we live-aboard full time, my wife is rather insistent that this project now trumps other projects. Oh how a quick afternoon re-caulk can get expensive!

Cheers,
Ryan

[MikeP]

I can't say if they are all the same but when I installed new drains in our showers a couple of years ago, I noticed that the pans on our 1980 53MY are 5200'd in place. IOW, pulling the screws won't actually do anything except leave little holes all around the top of the pan. If yours are the same - 5200'd in position - removing them will be, shall we say, troublesome...

There should be a panel in the passageway under the carpet that allows access to the underside of the pan and you can see if any adhesive was used. I can say that in 1980 at least, Hatteras was VERY fond of 5200...

[branwyn]

Thanks for your thoughts Mike! I will let you know what I find soon. Demolition scheduled to start later this week.

[boatingnewbie]

Curious to know how this project is going. We have started our search for a "vintage" 53-58 Hatteras and I have to know that the shower/head design can be improved upon. Thanks!

[DCMY #92]

I installed tile over the original show pan and sidewalls many years ago. The boat is a 1965 41 DCMY, so I can't say how similar the shower arrangement is to yours. I've since removed the tile due to its weight, but it held up with no problems for many years. The key is to use adhesive mastic made for tile, not thin set, to install the tile. Then mix the grout with 100% liquid latex instead of water. These two steps give sufficient flexibility to prevent the tile coming loose or the grout cracking.

The fiberglass sidewalls of our shower overlapped the pan. They also had an imitation tile section that protruded. This required fairing out the sidewalls in the lower areas so the tile had a flat surface. I used the tile mastic to glue on acrylic panels as fairing. As I said, this never gave any problems.

[rsmith]

Has anyone taken apart the fiberglass shower basin in their master and mid heads?

I started stripping the caulking out of the master shower today to address the failing caulk and also reseal the access hatch which allows water to get into the bilge.

Suddenly, my first mate shows up and declares the shower is not fit for use any longer and insists a tile shower, new lighting, new shower door... and oh let's remodel the entire head while we're at it.

I could tile above the shower fiberglass basin but am curious how epic of a job it might be to unscrew it and attempt removal such that new flooring and tile could be installed. As we live-aboard full time, my wife is rather insistent that this project now trumps other projects. Oh how a quick afternoon re-caulk can get expensive!

Cheers,
Ryan

Keel haul her and see how she likes the shower then!

[YBbroke]

SPLENDID IDEA!!!!! Not only will the shower complaints cease but I would expect to see a substantial amount of space become available in your drawers and hanging lockers.