Notching Out A Fiberglass Tub

A customer wants me to notch out a fiberglass tub, because he can't step over the tub anymore. He said he has seen this done successfully.

My plan is to do the following:

Build a simple frame using 2 layers of 2x4's. l________l

Carefully mark off the area to cut out, so that it will be flush with the top and sides of this frame.

Use my Dremel or Rotozip to make the cutout, starting at the bottom and working my way up.

Screw the frame into the floor.

Use a router or sander to smoothe and even the cutout.

Glue 4x4 c-tile directly to the frame top and sides.

Grout spaces between tiles.

Silicone the tub to the underside of the tiles, creating a good seal.

If this works out, he'll even have a nice little step to use to get in and out of the tub. Of course, it won't be a tub anymore, just a shower.

Any comments or suggestions?

If you cut a notch in a fiberglass tub, you should make sure you have a sawzall blade big enough to cut all the way through and rip it out, because you will be turning it into junk.

Then you can put in a proper shower unit like he thinks he is going to get when you are finished. That should not cost any more than all of the labor you are going to use to try to patch it up.

Fiberglass tubs and other such shell structures are carefully designed to use the continuity of the whole structure for stiffness and strength. Cutting a notch out of it would be like cutting out the top half of one side of a boat. Yours won't sink like the boat would because it is supported on the floor, but the tiled step that you are talking about will not survive the flexing of the remaining shell of the tub. The bottom and sides of what is left of the tub will flex and will eventually crack at the inside corners that you will produce when you make the notch.

The reason codes still allow tubs to drain on 1½" and require 2" for showers is the depth. You could have a slow drain in the tub, but it would not overflow until the water was up to your knees! You do not have that leeway once you make it a shower.

If the customer insists, I'll do it. I doubt my labor cost will exceed $100-$150, and to replace it with a new shower would cost 10 or 20 times that amount. It's sort of like a M*A*S*H scenario here. They don't have money to do anything elaborate. I just fix and modify what they have to try to squeeze a few more years out of it.

The "step" should be completely independent of any flexing, since it will be screwed right into the floor, and the tiles glued directly to it. The remaining shell of the tub will be caulked with a flexible caulk, so hopefully it will remain sealed, even with a bit of flexing. As for the drain, he'll just have to keep an eye on it. The alternative is to do nothing, and if he falls trying to step over the tub, it won't be pretty.

I don't know how busy you are and/or what kind of reputation you have/are trying to uphold, but if you feel it's worth a try and don't think it will end up hurting you or the customer, I don't see a problem as long as you give him the caveats and have him sign something. Basically you can tell him "I will give it a try for price X but there's still a good chance you'll end up wasting that X and having to spend Y to do it properly." He might just go for Y off the bat.

As you said if X <= Y/10 then it's worth a try to just about anyone who doesn't have large amounts of disposable income, IMO.

The loss of rigidity would seem to be the main problem. Maybe you could add some back by putting mud into the opening, or even expanding foaminsulation.

I agree with the other guys... I think you're destroying the tub. However, if I were inclined to proceed with this project I'd run a 2 x 4 from floor up to the underside of the tub ledge on either side of the cut just to give it some strength. Then I'd probably try to work some kind of support between these (2) 2 x 4's. Just for the heck of it I'd fill the gap between the wood and fiberglass with something that will help absorb the structural stress... a really good glue or filler or fiberglass. By the time you make all these alterations you will have alot of time and money invested and might as well do a full rip out and replace. At the very least...go buy a couple of cans of expanding foam (minimal expanding foam) to give it some support from the bottom (still creates a helluva mess). Be sure to take precautions to keep that stuff off the exterior of the tub.... don't know if any of this will work but it's just an idea. If you'll do this for $100 then you're one heck of a nice guy and you'll probably be fooling with it for a couple of days if not longer....if you get it sufficiently stabilized. I'd try to talk him into putting a stool by the tub so he can sit down and swing his legs over.

If the user is injured using this tub after you have modifed it, you are wide open for a lawsuit and you will probably lose. I know you want to be a nice guy and help out these folks, but that won't mean squat in court. My advise is if you can't do it right, don't do it.

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When the tub starts leaking, the customer often has memory failure about when you told him he had a bad idea and it would not work. At that point you become a crook for taking his money and not doing a good job, a shlock handyman for not doing it right, and a candidate for a lawsuit when he calls his insurance company and they want you to pay for damages. I would not touch that job with a 25 foot pole.

Gary and Hj have good points/suggestions... whatever you do... CYA!

Just to follow up. Turns out that the guy wants to do this himself. He was just trying to use me as a sounding board to see if I would agree to all his plans.

I guess a buddy of his in California hired a company that specializes in this sort of thing and uses fiberglass and bondo to make the tub look like it was made this way. I'm sure they charged an arm and a leg. I told him to hire some company like that, but I think he's gonna try it himself anyway.

He wasted a couple hours of my time, but it was a learning experience, so I don't really mind.

Yeppers... I don't mind people educating themselves at my expense... It's when they have me to drive 50 miles then complain when I want to charge them for my services that I get broken hearted. I recently unclogged a drain at a chain restaurant. When I told the manager it was done he never slowed down and told me that my next meal there was on him... never even asked how much he owed me. I was so perplexed that I just left then went back a week or so later for my free breakfast.... that's when I hung up my "will work for food" sign.