Shower in Garage a good idea?

[buzz4041]

I would put one in for sure. I use mine every time I am in the shop before coming inside the house. I don't have to go in the house for nothing so that keeps the wife happy which is a good thing to do. My bathroom is no bigger than 6' wide by 7' long. It does not eat up shop space as it was designed with the house and is reset into the house portion of the wall.

 

[BHR4CE1]

If I had to do it all over again, I'd have wired the bath up for one of those small washer/dryer combo units. I hate washing my detailing towels and Dickies in the house.

I have one of those LG units in my main garage that is a washer AND dryer in one. It's sole purpose is my detailing towels. I throw them in to wash, and when I come back...they are dry and ready to put away. FANTASTIC appliance, and it couldn't be easier.

 

[TheClaw]

Depending on the building, if you build a shower and bathroom it might qualify for a second mortgage.

 

[sophijo]

I was once in a large shop that had a wet room. By wet room I mean he didn't have a dedicated shower stall but just had a shower head coming out of the wall and the floor sloped down to a central drain. So the entire bathroom was a shower.

I think he had some sort of moisture resistant skim coat over concrete board in the entire room. He said it was more than water resistant enough for the occasional shower and looked nicer than FRP. I don't remember how he did the junction between the floor and the wall but I think it was tiled.

I thought it was a neat way to have a shower without taking up the space for a dedicated enclosure. If I couldn't have a mud room this would be a nice second choice.

This is what I did in the 1/2 bath, in the utility room, off the shop. Installed floor drain next to the toilet, tiled floor and some of the walls, after "Red Guard" applied. Red Guard is a rollable rubber membrane; pricey but works. Tile goes over it. Shower head is on a hose with wall bracket so dogs and kids can be hosed down. Sorta like a motorhome setup.

BTW...overalls work great for keep greeezy clothes outta the house and you will get laid more often.

 

[PECVD2]

I roughed in the shower.
Some day I will finish it, move into the garage apartment and rent the house out.
That day is rapidily approaching.

 

[77thor]

If you live in a southern climate, go for it.

I wouldn't even consider it for Wisconsin, where I live.

 

[trbomax]

Maybe you should get a powerwasher instead to clean your vehicles.

 

[RalphInCA]

I got one. Mine has a full on bath,sink & shower.

How often have you used it?

 

[kaffine]

When I build my shop I will be putting one in. I will likely do a wet room with a wall mount toilet to make cleaning it easier. I am looking at putting a emergancy shower and eye wash in my current shop. I figure for an emergancy shower I don't need a drain if I have a reason to use it I don't care if I have water all over the shop. I currently have an eye wash station that has 2 sealed bottles of solution.

I have an older model Miele washer for my shop. It is a 240V model that has a built in water heater to heat the water to 190ºF to clean my shop rags.

 

[sberry]

I dont roll around in the grease to start with, a shower wouldnt be missed but a laundry sink is about priceless.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I dont roll around in the grease to start with, a shower wouldnt be missed but a laundry sink is about priceless.

+2 on that. I use mine almost daily

 

[BD1]

Sounds great. What's your climate ? You'll need to keep garage from freezing, access to water piping source, and drain and vent locations if you tie into existing. Drain could be a issue unless you add a ejector pit and pump. All these little things add to big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[mebuildit]

We are planning on moving and building a house with a detached shop. I will have a shower, urinal and if I plan it right a small kitchen, bedroom and of course an office. Might make an upstairs for some of that though.
Make your bathroom easy to clean, tile or stainless steel. That way you can just drag a hose and in their and hose it all out with a drain in the center of the room too.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I planned on adding a shower to my bathroom when I made one bathroom out of the Men's room and Women's room. I never got that far.

I think if you planned on a 3/4 or full bath room when you built your shop it wouldn't be a bad idea, if you have room for a decent sized shop. Part of my line of thinking was this, if we have a house fire or something else along that line, we could temporaily stay in the garage and not have to find a place to live.

 

[sberry]

I have a shower in mine but its up stairs. I have an office, kitchenette, bathroom and laundry down stairs attached to my office, the urinal on other side really keeps the bathroom traffic to a minimum. I actually have 2 laundry tubs on the shop floor, number one thing in being able to keep neat is being able to wash hands easily and nothing kills a nice bathroom faster than greasy hands.

A tub needs to be slightly modified for a single handle faucet. I used cement block walls for fist floor and would only make a couple minor changes that are not much worth fixing at this point. I wouldn't have missed a pinch of space in office would have helped the bath/laundry room.

A lot of these pics are earlier, since changed a few things for convenience. I am not scared to remodel a little.

I also walk out of my office to use urinal in the shop. When I lived upstairs I was only there for few night hours. It has shower stool sink room directly above the one downstairs. There are actually 4 sinks, 2 stools and a shower hooked to this spot. The tub location in the pic is about perfect, its about 20 ft from the water heater is only downside but I ran only 1/2 pipe to speed delivery a little.

Its hard to see here but office door is to right of shop entrance.

All this is a major main fukkup I see in many garage designs. a lot of this kind of thing looks great on paper but works out differently in the end.

 

[sberry]

I also have some loss contingency plans. I hate to say this but my own home is the least value. I could live ok in the event of loss.

 

[magnusk750]

If your garage is big enough and you keep it heated to comfort temperature, well, maybe. Steping in and out of of a shower is disgusting if it not warm enough in the air and on the floor. I'd rather pass on it, better just put more or less clean clothes on, to not mess the house up, get in the shower, step out and have a cup of coffee.