This DIY Outdoor Shower is easy to create using an outdoor faucet (hose bibb).
Decor Details:
Tall Planters (bought locally) | Medium Gray Planters | Outdoor Furniture | Square Concrete Planter
On our honeymoon, we visited Antigua and stayed in a little bungalow on the side of a steep hill that had a gorgeous view and an outdoor shower.
We were fresh out of college (well technically just him, I still had one year to go), and our little bungalow did not have any A/C, so we took full advantage of our rental car during the hottest parts of the day.
But our bungalow also came with another special feature to help keep us cool, an outdoor shower!
Roger loved the outdoor shower with the beautiful blue ocean view, so when we built our house with a mountain view he had a plan to someday create an outdoor shower in our backyard.
He found the perfect outdoor shower that easily hooks up to an outdoor faucet (hose bibb) and simply changed out the shower head to give it a more sophisticated look.
I finally got him to sit down and write out a detailed tutorial for how he created it and we hope that it helps you create your dream outdoor shower for your outdoor living space.
Do you like outdoor showers?
Materials (click product to shop):
1 ft by 1 ft concrete pavers, approximately 32 of these (depending on the size of your space you are converting into the shower)
Plumbers Tape, as needed
Sand or Paver Base, optional
Plastic Pipe Hanger, for securing to the wall
2″x4″ Treated Wood – approximately 5-8 inches long, depending on the distance to the wall
Planters/Plants
Tools (click product to shop):
Circular Saw & Masonry Blade (for cutting concrete pavers)
Drill Bit, for concrete holes (masonry drill bit) to secure shower base to pavers (size based on screws that come with your specific shower kit)
Instructions:
1. First, use a shovel to dig away the top layer of dirt/grass on your shower space, our space was approximately 10 ft by 5 ft. Make sure that you have an exterior water faucet at the end of your space on your exterior wall, try to center it as close as possible, but since there is a connection hose you will get, it doesn’t have to be directly on center, (ours was about 1 ft off center to where the main shower was).
2. After the space is clear and mostly level, lay down the landscape fabric or plastic sheet (this will help prevent weeds from coming up on your shower floor).
3. Then on top of the landscape fabric, add a layer of sand or paver base as needed, then place the 1 ft by 1 ft pavers evenly spaced. Ours were approximately 2-3 inches apart on all sides. See the above pictures for how we laid ours out.
NOTE: at the ends, you will likely have to cut some of the pavers in half to square up all the edges/ends. Use a circular or handsaw with a diamond tip circular blade made for cutting concrete/tile. Make sure to wet the blade/pavers as you cut them, they will get very HOT!
4. Once all of the pavers and half-cut pavers are in place, spread out white marble stones to fill in all the spaces around the pavers (these are almost like grout around tiles).
Now that your base is done, you can move on to shower installation.
5. Be sure to follow the directions that came with your outdoor shower when installing it.
We placed ours in the center of one end of the shower floor pad, and secured the base to four individual pavers, to give the base a little better stability, if you have one large paver you could secure it all to one heavy one if desired. Use the diamond tip drill bit and water to drill holes for the anchors which come in the shower kit.
6. Once your shower base is bolted down to pavers (approximately 10-16 inches from the exterior wall), you can change out the shower head that comes with the kit, for a circular rain shower head. Use the plumber’s tape as needed to prevent leaks around the threads of the connection between the top pipe and the shower head.
7. Next, use the connection hose to run water from your exterior water faucet to the back of the shower base tank, again use plumbers’ tape as needed and get a very tight connection to prevent water leakage/spray when turned on.
This is a solar shower so water can sit in the tank, and during the summer we often leave the wall faucet turned on and the shower handle off, so we have easy access to water right away. In the winter you will probably want to drain the shower water tank and leave the wall water faucet turned off to prevent water from sitting in the hose line and shower tank. If it freezes it may expand and break the plastic shower tank, (we speak from experience, it happened to use one year and we had to replace the shower tank).
8. Lastly, you may want to secure the top of the shower tank to the exterior wall to improve the stability of the base.
We did this by measuring a treated piece of 2″x4″ wood and cutting it to length to help be a brace to the top, then we secured it with a plastic band with holes in it, which plumbers use to hang pipe in crawlspaces, etc. You can find this here. Screw the plastic band to the exterior wall and wrap it around the top of the shower tank, this tension should help hold the top tank with the piece of treated 2″x4″ wood against the wall. Make this pretty tight and the shower will feel even more secure. You can use black spray paint on the wood and plastic band as needed to make it all black or whatever color you like.
9. Add final touches with planters and plants to the area to make it feel more like a resort. Also, place nice outdoor furniture/chair nearby, and you have a wonderful outdoor shower space you made yourself and can enjoy spring, summer, and fall, (and possibly winter if you are so inclined).
-By Roger Miller
I hope this post helps you as you prepare for summer!
If you are looking for more home decor inspiration you can find many more home posts, inspiration, and tutorials by clicking here.
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Do you like outdoor showers?
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With love, Giusti
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10 NIV
