Chairs in a fiberglass shower?

spiralroad thought this was worth mentioning said Mon, Oct 11th 2021 at 11:43pm ET

Has anyone successfully used a shower chair in a fiberglass/plastic stall shower? My shower has a curved floor that is not the same shape as the base beneath it. The floor flexes when I step on it. Would the little feet of a shower chair punch holes through the fiberglass/plastic floor?

10 comments, 4 replies
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narfcake said Tue, Oct 12th 2021 at 12:12am ET:

You’re going to be putting all your weight onto an area the size of the chair’s legs. With a floor that’s weakened due to a lack of support underneath, it’s very well possible to damage the shower base this way.

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- @narfcake @spiralroad
  Of course, they could attach a pair of ‘skids’ to the bottom of the feet (each skid connecting 2 feet) to better distribute the load.
  
  compunaut said Tue, Oct 12th 2021 at 12:27am ET
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medz said Tue, Oct 12th 2021 at 1:26am ET:

Find a ceiling joist and hang a swing from it. Boom.

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G1 said Tue, Oct 12th 2021 at 2:31am ET:

Rocking chair.

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Jackinga said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 1:02am ET:

Don’t do it! I have used a shower chair in our fiberglass shower with no issues, but then ours doesn’t flex when you stand on it. Yours on the other hand doesn’t seem to have been installed properly.

If you must use a shower chair, fabricate wooden runners to attach to the legs as narfcake said.

You just need two runners on each side to spread the weight. It might seem like a lot of trouble to do this, but it is cheaper than having to replace a shower stall by a long shot.

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mike808 said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 1:23am ET:

You might want something like this portable shower bench.

It sits across the tub and rests against both sides. No legs put pressure on the tub bottom.

https://carex.com/products/carex-portable-shower-bench

Here’s a promo pic of the bench in use. However, the arm grab bar is not part of the bench. It seems to be some sort of extra item or an accessory.

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- @mike808
  That only works when there is actually a tub present. I get the distinct impression that what’s going on here is that we are dealing with a shower stall that has no tub, which frequently has a flexi floor like the one described.
  
  werehatrack said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 9:48am ET
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walarney said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 9:58am ET:

Bean bag.

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- walarney said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 5:51pm ET
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Limewater said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 10:04am ET:

I used to have a shower whose floor flexed when your stepped on it. It was only a matter of time before it developed a leak at the drain and I had to tear it out and replace it.
I properly mortared the replacement pedestal and it there was no flex.

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revamp said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 11:20am ET:

This doesn’t help the immediate issue of needing a shower chair, but many tub refinishing companies also offer repairs for situations like this–I had it done in a fiberglass tub that was flexing and squeaking when stepped on. The contractor will drill a few small holes in the bottom of the tub and inject low-expansion foam into the holes, filling the voids and providing structure and support to the tub. Then, they patch/repair the holes (you can’t even see where mine were) and allow the whole thing to cure/set. My repair has been solid for like 5 years now, no issues.

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- @revamp
  This could also potentially be done from below if the house is not on a slab. Bonus for not having holes in your tub/shower fixture.
  
  chienfou said Sat, Oct 16th 2021 at 11:45pm ET
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earlyre said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 3:11pm ET:

after my Grandpa lost the Lower half of his right leg, He just put a plastic lawn Chair in the shower stall… it’s a big enough stall that one could roll their chair in and turn it 180 deg. if necessary.

(the following is a bit of factual “verbal Diarrhea” that just poured out of me, so feel free to skip it as it’s not really germaine to the topic at hand…)

Granted it was a brand new house at the time, and we knew the amputation was coming so we had it built to accommodate a wheel chair…mostly… they didn’t put in adequate stairs or ramps at either entrance, But… it was a “free” house.

local developer wanted his land, offered to build him a brand new house in a new development he was just putting up a couple miles a way, and make it an even trade… (valued @ $90 grand in 1997)
honestly it was a godsend at the time. they were in their 70’s, living in a house that probably should have been condemned…but they’d been there for close to 50 yrs…

The Developer made same offer to both grandpa’s neighbors, one tried to renegotiate the deal well beyond what it was worth (wanted $100k and an acre in the country, for his 1/4 acre of prime commercial real estate), so his house is still there… and now converted into a salon. the developer wanted to buy all 3 lots and move his office/HQ there (it’s a much Higher traffic area than the existing one.)

the Yellow rectangle is approx Grandpa’s 1/2 acre lot.
as an example of how pricing in the area is different now,
when Discount Tire (bottom of the pic) went in in 2015(?)
they paid $800-$900k for the land…
with the one neighbor holding out, the new office never got built, they just tore down the other 2 houses, put up a billboard for the company, and have been sitting on those 2 lots for…almost 25 yrs now…

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duodec said Wed, Oct 13th 2021 at 5:35pm ET:

I think a couple of well sealed 2x4s as skis like @compunaut suggested above would be fine as long as you get them level.

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