Installing a bathroom

Shel_B

Shel_B

New member
I've been thinking about a Class B for a while and decided that I don't want a fully dressed interior. My current thought is to get a basic E-series van and build a minimalist setup, doing some work myself and farming out other work. Just about the first thing I'd want to install is a bathroom.

What's involved with such an installation? I'd want a shower, maybe a sink, and a comfortable toilet. What are my options? What questions do I need to ask? I'm pretty ignorant at this point and I need to learn what's available and what might work best.
 
The plumbing is going to be the hardest thing I'd imagine. In a traditional RV, the wastewater stream is split into two separate tanks, one for black water and one for grey water, so you'll either need 2 tanks, or one somewhat larger tank if you were going to drain everything into one. (Although I'm not sure if there is some reason you wouldn't want to do that, probably is or RV manufacturers would have long ago taken the cheaper 1 tank solution route. My guess is that there are places you can dump grey water that won't take black water, but again, I'm not completely educated on this topic.)

That settled, since you want a shower, you're going to need something to heat the water. The RV lifestyle is limited to 110v, so electric water heaters are slow, combo electric/gas are faster, and there are gas-only 'on demand' styles available. From what I can tell, it looks like the on-demand units take up about the same amount of space that the 6-gallon combo unit which is pretty common does. I generally die on the hill of 'you want both gas and electric'. We use electric about 85% of the time, kicking on the gas just if there is a need for lots of showering since the recovery time is almost as good as a 'tankless' in my opinion and I can use the parks power that I'm already paying for as opposed to my propane.

As for plumbing, PEX is the way to go. Flexible enough to deal with the vibration of being in a vehicle and easy to work with.

There are also, of course, a bunch of RV-specialized things to go with it, waterless p-traps come to mind.
 
Wayne said:
@Shel_B you may want to look at these folks https://wayfarervans.com/

They claim they can convert a van in 24 hours.
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I looked at their site some time ago and it seems they only convert certain model vans, and my interest, at least at this point. is an E-series Ford van, which is not mentioned on their site. Maybe I'l reach out and make a personal contact and see what else they may offer.
 
Toilets by van lifers is all over the map. Some guys have nothing, some have a lid screwed to a pail with a baggy inside, others go full RV with a black tank, others go with a composting toilet (natures head seems popular) that separates the liquid into a canister and the solids into a bin that decomposes using moss/coconut ruffage etc. Lots of options.

Showers same thing; some have nothing, some hang a curtain up and use a garden hose "sprinkler" attachment which is pumped from a pre-heated bucket of warm water, some guys go all the way and use a home style shower enclosure.

There are no rules, but for me one thing always stands out; the designs that are more open and airy always win out for me in a small van like that. Just not enough space to do anything bulky and permanent, space in a van is at premium and needs to serve more than one purpose so I'd lean towards a temporary hanging curtain type of setup that can be setup and torn down as needed. A composting toilet can be rolled/slid under a shelf/counter type of thing when it's not needed etc.
 
ctechbob said:
The plumbing is going to be the hardest thing I'd imagine. In a traditional RV, the wastewater stream is split into two separate tanks, one for black water and one for grey water, so you'll either need 2 tanks, or one somewhat larger tank if you were going to drain everything into one. (Although I'm not sure if there is some reason you wouldn't want to do that, probably is or RV manufacturers would have long ago taken the cheaper 1 tank solution route. My guess is that there are places you can dump grey water that won't take black water, but again, I'm not completely educated on this topic.)

That settled, since you want a shower, you're going to need something to heat the water. The RV lifestyle is limited to 110v, so electric water heaters are slow, combo electric/gas are faster, and there are gas-only 'on demand' styles available. From what I can tell, it looks like the on-demand units take up about the same amount of space that the 6-gallon combo unit which is pretty common does. I generally die on the hill of 'you want both gas and electric'. We use electric about 85% of the time, kicking on the gas just if there is a need for lots of showering since the recovery time is almost as good as a 'tankless' in my opinion and I can use the parks power that I'm already paying for as opposed to my propane.

As for plumbing, PEX is the way to go. Flexible enough to deal with the vibration of being in a vehicle and easy to work with.

There are also, of course, a bunch of RV-specialized things to go with it, waterless p-traps come to mind.
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I'd agree with PEX, but in my trailer I've had a lot of headaches with PEX fittings. I installed a small inline pressure tank in mine to prevent the 12v pump from cycling on/off constantly, and it was a nightmare. Fitment was tight and hard to get to, so it required some jiggling of the PEX cables while I was installing it and it triggered a chain of failures into 3 different spots. Fixing one end jiggled the line of the next and it ended up leaking all the way into my hot water tank. Might have just been installer error where the clamps weren't clamped tight enough? Seems odd that nobody else is talking about it, it's my only experience with PEX to date. My fittings that I replaced aren't leaking yet so fingers crossed.

The copper lines in my home I've never had any issues with, other than when one blew during a winter black out when it froze. That's one advantage of PEX in that they can handle freezing far better than copper as they just bulge while frozen and then return to natural state when thawed again. (Not that one should rely on this! I do winterize and blow them out every fall.)
 
FrozenNorth said:
I'd agree with PEX, but in my trailer I've had a lot of headaches with PEX fittings. I installed a small inline pressure tank in mine to prevent the 12v pump from cycling on/off constantly, and it was a nightmare. Fitment was tight and hard to get to, so it required some jiggling of the PEX cables while I was installing it and it triggered a chain of failures into 3 different spots. Fixing one end jiggled the line of the next and it ended up leaking all the way into my hot water tank. Might have just been installer error where the clamps weren't clamped tight enough? Seems odd that nobody else is talking about it, it's my only experience with PEX to date. My fittings that I replaced aren't leaking yet so fingers crossed.

The copper lines in my home I've never had any issues with, other than when one blew during a winter black out when it froze. That's one advantage of PEX in that they can handle freezing far better than copper as they just bulge while frozen and then return to natural state when thawed again. (Not that one should rely on this! I do winterize and blow them out every fall.)
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I know I noticed in mine that all the PEX fittings are plastic, which gives me pause. I have it in my mind to tear all those out and replace them with brass. I can see how it could be an issue for sure.
 
I googled "camper van floor plan" I can't believe how many plans are out there and how much detail is given.
 
ctechbob said:
I know I noticed in mine that all the PEX fittings are plastic, which gives me pause.
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All of our piping and fittings are PEX as well. New Horizons told me they do not have problems with PEX. Many years ago they used rigid PVC and would not go back, way too much cracking over time.
 
We had a cassette toilet like MSCH shows in 2 different pop-ups and they aren't that big of a deal. What I found is don't let it get very full. It had it's own cabinet so it was out of the way. I dumped them at the dump station and in the restroom at campgrounds, never tried to dump one at a convenience store or truck stop.
 
Azjeff said:
We had a cassette toilet like MSCH shows in 2 different pop-ups and they aren't that big of a deal. What I found is don't let it get very full. It had it's own cabinet so it was out of the way. I dumped them at the dump station and in the restroom at campgrounds, never tried to dump one at a convenience store or truck stop.
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Did you have any issues with the cassette toilets stinking?
 
No. It's easy to give it a really good rinse and a little deodorizer. Just stay ahead of it. If it were just me and a dog and a bike traveling I could do a basic adventure type van like Shel is thinking about.
 
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