How we built a SHOWER IN A PROMASTER VAN + Nature's Head Toilet Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ค. 2024
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We get a lot of questions about how we built a shower in a Promaster van. Building our van shower was arguably one of the most difficult parts of our DIY van build, but we're so thankful we did it. Our wet bath is absolutely essential for us to live and work on the road full time. In this video, we'll talk you through the steps to build a shower in a van, and we'll also give our Nature's Head Toilet review while demonstrating how to empty and fill it.
#vanlife #promastercampervan #vanshower
Nature's Head Composting Toilet: amzn.to/2AR99rf
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FINALLY! Someone smart enough to out the toilet under the showerhead. My thought was doing that the water would be less likely to get it wet, and there wouldn't be a need to take it in/out.
Yep, doing it this way made sense to us! We can easily keep the toilet inside while we shower, and the toilet lid even serves as a “shelf” if you need to put anything on it while you’re showering (like brushes or soap bottles). The Nature’s Head definitely gets completely wet still, but it’s meant to be in a wet bath environment so that’s not a problem.
I have a SUV camper And you would be surprised at the items it has....But the one thing that was a must was a 3gallon bucket with pool noodle seat Bio grade garbage bag TP on the handle And a 2 liter sport bottle ...Now going to the bathroom while pulled over I do have to flip apart of the bed over But just picture where my rear seat(s) use to be And where a 1/2 size bucket sits..Oh and also my the back of my drivers seat has a nap sack with hand san, baby wipes, in with shaving gear
We routed our Nature’s Head liquids directly into the grey tank. It took a bit to find the fittings, but it worked great. No more bottle to empty.
Ewwww, urine is considered black water, not gray water!
Lol it gets dumped. Do you drink your gray water or something? 😂
Thanks for taking the time to share the showerbuild very informative well done.
Excellent! Well done & calmly narrated. I like how the comments add to the dynamics of such a project. 😊
Thank you so much...
Love and appreciation as always 🙏👍
Very informative. Nice finished product.
"I like your funny words magic man!"
Thank you so much for sharing all your helpful tips!!!!
Excellent explanation and presentation, this video has answered a number of questions we have when installing a toilet in a shower, thanks very much. We’re going to use Coir over Peat Moss, it’s environmentally friendlier, although the preparation of the medium is a bit more involved. We’re also going to get a 2nd urine pot to give us time to dispose of a full pot. Thanks again, all the best.
Glad you found it helpful! We are about to try coconut coir in our next toilet change, and I’m interested to see if it works better (or just as good) as peat moss. I have learned more about coir from the comments on here and would like to be environmentally friendly if I can! Second urine pot is a great idea if you have a spot to store a full one. It’s a pain emptying it every day. Happy New Year and safe travels!
Guys, hello from an Argentine living in Panamá. I downloaded your list and it's amazing! It will be of great help once the quarantine is over and we begin to plan out our van for our new life. Thanks so much for such important info. Saludos.
Hola! Thanks for watching and downloading our list. We're glad to help your future van build process! Wishing you all the best.
Wow, I love the fact that You are living in my Beautiful 😍 ❤ country Panama 🇵🇦, Panama bello lugar y es parte de la vida, k chevere
Thanks for the 5 things you would change. Those are always interesting. Your layout is still my favorite after many many many many many videos. ☺
Sorry to read about your shower pan.
Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for the kind words!
Very helpful!!!
Enjoy watching this video (and your other van videos). I am still not sure though if we want a shower in a van.
interesting upload Acts of Adventure. I shattered the thumbs up on your video. Always keep up the good work.
thank you very much for this!!!
I'm looking to build a spot for my composting toilet, in my cargo van I use for delivering packages and mail as a postal rural carrier. I'm getting ideas since I plan on keeping shelves in it, I'm also looking to add a sink to wash my hands.
Enjoyed watching this video. What you like,what you might change after using awhile. 👍🏻🔨 hammered the thumb 😊✌💜
Thanks! In our shower, we really like the wooden bath mat. It's a great addition to any wet bath. We don't really like the Nature's Head composting toilet. We would choose the Airhead composting toilet if we could do it again.
Nice van shower 🚿/bathroom 🚽
this is the best van I've seen hello frm the philippines ❤️
Hello!! Thanks so much 😊
Great job on explaining your thought process. Well done on the shower build. I am plumbing the liquids to a 27 gallon grey tank. Thanks for posting this and a thumbs up for the video 👍
Thanks for watching! ✌🏼
How are you doing this? I didn't think the shower can drain to the ground (can it???). Thanks
@@robertc.atkinson8937 urine can be legally but not shower water. Funny that its legal to wash your vehicle with chemicals you would never put on your body.
So where are you putting the grey water tank and does it require a pump to get the liquids (shower water and urine or just shower water) into it? Thanks
@@robertc.atkinson8937 it will be between the frame rail and the drive shaft, drivers side. It will be gravity flow in and out
Hi there! Thanks for this amazing video! Do you remember what height shower door you got?
I'm so happy I came across you guys. We have just purchased a Fiat Ducato which is the same as your promaster (I'm in Australia) and ours is the same size as yours. The only difference is ours has a double seat on the passenger side. The design you have done is exactly the same as what we wanted so this is going to be very helpful to us as we have never converted a van before. My hubby is a carpenter so he's clued up on the build and has every tool known to man and is good with plumbing but the electrics are scaring us a bit as we have no idea about that. We won't need as much power as you guys as our water and cooking as going to be gas. Any tips would be appreciated. Your van looks fab. We had estimated $20,000 aussie so we might need to up that as yours works out at $26000 aussie. Thanks and can't wait to follow you.
Hi Linda! I'm so sorry I missed your comment two months ago. Thanks so much for your kind words and for following along. How is your van build progressing? Happy to help with any questions at whatever stage you're working on currently. Apologies again for the delay! Best wishes.
love the shower, nicely compact. please don't use peat people, not eco friendly. try saw dust.
Sell the nature's head and buy other one probably worth the cost to save agravitation great ideas and video
I think the Separett 12 volt toilet I think would have been a better choice since you are not composting with the natures head and it's around the same price.
Thank you for sharing. The energy and money spent on the Nature Head was most helpful as that is not the solution for me. Nice explanation!
You’re welcome! Glad to help your decision making process.
Great video - thanks! Question for you: how do you keep the hole for the natures head vent water tight? Also when you unplug it to shower where are you putting the cord for the fan?
Thanks! We used a rubber grommet to keep it air tight. We linked the exact one in our Parts List (linked in the video’s description). We don’t unplug the toilet when we shower as it’s water-tight and rated to be used in a wet bath. No problems so far and we’ve had it for almost 2 years.
Thank you for the video. One question though; how to do fasten the pan to the frame? Do you drill the pan on the side ears or just glue it down?
Good question. We built a frame out of 1x5's that the pan sits in. This wood frame supports all sides of the pan while allowing the bottom of the pan to sit on the subfloor. The wood frame is screwed down into the subfloor. The pan is glued to the wood frame with construction adhesive. We didn't want to make any holes in the pan at all.
Hi! Thank you for this great info. Do you cover the toilet when showing? Or, is the solids container waterproof?
You’re welcome! The Nature’s Head is fully waterproof and rated to be used inside of a wet bath.
"Cheap and good one from harbor freight" I think that is an oxymoron! xD
Thanks for the great vid! :)
Haha generally that’s true! The sheet metal shears are such a random tool though - I wouldn’t want to spend more for a nicer one. Thanks for watching!
Hey that’s a nice shower. I was wondering where you found the rubber grommet for the pipe from the nature’s head. I’m installing the airhead and need something to get my pipe thru the wall. Thanks
It’s linked on our Van Build Parts List and also on our shower blog post (both linked in the video description)
@@ActsofAdventure Thank you for taking time to respond. I’ll check it out.
I was wondering if you put an on/off power switch on your water heater. We are building a bus and using your shower as a guide. We have the same tank except ours is 7 gal. I’ve seen other add a wall switch to the heater. I’m not sure how to wire it in and I’m curious if you added one or new how to wire a switch in.
Yes, we did put an on/off switch for our water heater. It’s just a regular 120v switch. I cut the power cord of the Bosch and wired the switch in between. Our water heater is located very close to our switch panel, so extending the power cord was not necessary. In most cases you would need to splice in more 120v wire to reach your switch. Use a thick gauge like 10awg. Hope that helps!
Looking to pick up a promaster this week. It already has the floor installed with spray foam insulation. Do you think this will make it harder to install drainage for the shower/ sink. Thanks for any and all advice
Congrats on your new Promaster! Having a floor shouldn’t make it too much more difficult. Just measure a bunch of times to find the exact place you want to drill, then drill a hole through the wood floor and metal floor together. If you route all of your pipes on top of the floor, they are less likely to freeze, and you don’t have to route out your floor everywhere. Should be no prob once you get into it! Good luck.
Hi I was wondering is your cord that connects to the fan of toilet running though that rubber hole where exhaust for toilet is?
Yes it is! That rubber gasket creates a nice seal and outlet for the hose and the electrical cord.
Can you tell me where you bought the FRP panels?
We had to special order them at a local building supply store. We’re in Colorado Springs and it is called Western Interior Supply. Pretty pricey compared to the Home Depot textures FRP but we had to have smooth white!
If you were to get a new shower pan what size do you think would be perfect
We love our shower pan size. 24x36. It’s very comfortable to both use the toilet and stand up in front of the toilet during a shower. We wouldn’t get a smaller one. However, we wish we made a custom shower pan out of stainless steel and put the drain hole further toward the center of the van, rather than in the center of the shower pan.
Hi, thanks for the vid! I looked through the comments and didn't see this question (hope I'm not repeating). It looks like you guys have the AC to DC converter on the Nature's Head. How do you have that plugged in in the shower? Is it run through the wall? Do you have to keep the fan safe from water by putting anything over it? thanks!!
Hi Abigail, our Natures Head came as a DC unit from the factory. The electrical connection is waterproof and the fan is too. We’ve never had an issue with water shorting out the fan or anything. We run the wire out of the shower wall through the same rubber grommet that also allows the vent tube to pass through the wall. Hope that makes sense! You can find more pics on our blog post at actsofadventure.com/van-shower
Where did you guys install the toilet fan?
The Nature’s Head comes with a little computer-sized fan installed already. We vented it out the shower stall and down through the floor.
Is your plywood walls inside the pan? Or is just the frp I since the pan?
Good question! The plywood walls go down to the top edge of the pan. The plywood is vertically flush with the plastic lip of the pan. The FRP extends down into the inside edge of the pan. More info and pics here: actsofadventure.com/van-shower/
I looked through the parts list but wasn’t seeing the grommet used for venting the toilet through the frp? Also, do you run the 12v wiring through the same grommet?
Here’s a link to that grommet!
amzn.to/3dXNFJk
It has worked super well. Yes, we route the wiring through it as well.
Nice video! How are you guys going the grey water tank? Under body or in the garage?
I'd like to know. The discharge from the shower is unclear.
i think he drilled a hole under the shower and it drains out the bottom of the van
Under body grey water tank
hello where did you buy the door please.txs.
The shower door is a Stoett Nautilus retractable door.
I am no handy man but I would love to have this in my build. Debating hiring. But can’t afford. How hard is this or how can we save money by getting help too
🙏🏽🙏🏽
im not holding no conversation with a naked man 😂😂😂.
So does the floor mat completely hold your Natures head? You didn't drill into the shower pan at all?
Correct! The wooden mat extends down both sides of the toilet and is cut out to contour it, so it is securely held in place. I custom cut the floor mat, it does not come like this. But it is the perfect width for the shower pan, so I only had to cut the length and the toilet contour.
You should look at Separette Tiny toilet. It's not composting, but urine diverting. You said yourself, composting toilets are sort of pointless when it doesn't even have a chance to compost anyways.
That’s definitely a popular option in a van!
What did you do about the column behind the bathroom area please?
We covered it with reflectix and then built the shower wall in front of it. There’s a picture of it in our shower build guide blog post: actsofadventure.com/van-shower
@@ActsofAdventure Great!! Thank you!
i would just add a flush out sewer system at home, and go with the regular black tank.
A black tank is definitely more like a regular toilet, which would be super nice and easy to use. It didn't make sense for us because we always camp off-grid, and we often do not have the opportunity to empty a black tank whenever necessary. Our toilet lasts 2 weeks between changing the peat moss.
Thanks for the video! The only thing that remains elusive in EVERYONE'S shower video is..... what light fixture did you go with? Same dimmable LED puck lights as the rest of the van? Or something else? Thanks!
Good question! Yes, we used the same Acegoo led puck light as in the rest of the living space. I added a little bead of caulk along the top edge of the puck light just in case. No problems with the light in the shower in 2 years.
@@ActsofAdventure Amazing. Thank you for the quick reply. You've solved a lot of problems!
Can you keep the toilet in when you shower? Does any water get into the toilet?
Yep! The Nature’s Head is rated to be used in a wet bath environment. No water gets in.
i thought you are supposed to add some water to the peat moss? at least thats what i had been doing
Yes, good point, watering it is recommended. We do add a little bit of water, but probably not as much as recommended. Whenever we empty the toilet, we notice that the peat moss is very wet and solid in the corners where the metal turnstile doesn’t reach. The peat moss gets difficult to turn in about 10 days of full-time use for us, so we like to keep it drier.
Did you have any problems with your 90 degree drain getting clogged?
We haven't had a problem with it!
Skipped the door, only reason i watched.
Well to answer your “question,” it’s a Stoett Nautilus self-cleaning, retractable RV shower door
Hey, how much did you spend adapting the Van to a small apartment? Cause I want to do it but I would like to have a money reference or maybe some company or business that you can recommend me to do this job.
Hi! We go into detail about how much it cost to build this van in this video:
th-cam.com/video/rOz9xIlNFdc/w-d-xo.html
We took an entire year to build this ourselves, and we did it in 2019 when prices were very different than now. I’d expect to pay 20-30% more today for raw materials and 40-50% more for the van itself. But still, building it DIY is cheaper than buying a pre-built one or paying a builder! Good luck to you!
Do you not have to worry about the toilets electrical getting wet?
Nope! Nature’s Head toilets are built to be in a wet bath environment.
so your shower pan is raised a bit?
The shower pan has foam attached to the bottom of it for support. I think I might have shimmed about a 1/2” of wood under the foam. The sides of the pan sit on 1x5” supports. So it basically sits on the wood subfloor. We had to cut the wood subfloor and insulation to fit our two 90-degree drains. This would have been easier if we had elevated the shower pan, but then I wouldn’t fit in the shower if it was any smaller.
is there no danger having the 12v electrical plug with water getting all over it?
The electrical connection is rated for a wet bath environment. No issues in 3 years!
What model promaster van do you have?
2500 159 non-extended
Thanks
Can you not put a garbage bag in the poop tank with the moss so when you change it all you have to do is just pick the bag out and throw it away?
Seems like more work to turn over the toilet and empty in bag?🤔
Unfortunately you can’t put a bag in the toilet because of the metal spindle inside the toilet that you also have to turn every time you go number 2
I don't understand why you would have a compostable toilet and then empty it out into a plastic bag and into a trash bin... There are compostable bags and compost bins... 🤷
That's a great idea! Do you know where public compost bins can be found in most cities / counties? We would much rather compost the bag instead of throwing it away.
You didn’t talk about the door
It’s a Stoett Nautilus retractable shower door
Just stumbled upon ur channel and we enjoy your videos. We also have the natures head and have mixed feelings toward it. Wish we could go longer between having to dump 😂. Anyway, love your van! Come by and check out our channel. We're going to post more stuff in the coming months 🤙
Hi there! Thanks for this amazing video! Do you remember what height shower door you got?
Hey Shelby, our Nautilus door is 68” high!