Asked on Nov 24, 2012

is it possible to have a tile shower in a mobile home?

Amanda
by Amanda
I want to re-do our whole master bathroom and our guest bath. I want to rip out the tub in the master bath and add a tiled shower....I have a seperate shower and tub already but I am wondering if a tile shower would weigh to much to be in a mobile home. Also, our guest bath is tiny and has NO window in it so it seems dark and really small. How hard would it be to add a window?
  19 answers
  • Originals by Rhonda Originals by Rhonda on Nov 24, 2012
    Hello Amanda. You surely can have a tile shower in your mobile home as long as the floors and walls are solid and free of damage. Depending on the makeup of your walls you may need to have them framed in the area for shower with 2x4's and be sure you have someone who knows what they are doing and you should be very happy. Installing a window is a different story depending on the anatomy of your home. The inside and outside walls will most likely need removed in this specific area to do the appropriate framing. Good Luck! :)) Rhonda
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Nov 25, 2012
    We had a window enlarged vertically in our house last year and it was a very difficult decision to make. I am not sure I could decide to do that horizontally since that would entail a lot more risk...as would adding a new window. I would make sure you select someone who has experience working on mobile home construction since they have totally different specs than a house. Also, you might want to think about a "porthole" if light is all you are after. Check with a mobile home dealer and also with the manufacturer of your unit. You should be able to get good input from your manufactuer.
  • Amanda Amanda on Nov 25, 2012
    Thank you ladies!!! Its a Palm Harbor home. I am excited to shop for shower tiles now!!!
  • All very good answers. @Amanda when you say mobile home, do you mean modular home? If modular and recently built; then your house should have standard 2x4 structure. The subfloor may require extra bracing to support the additional weight of the durock and tile. As for the window, if modular home; then the same applies and your carpenter would need to open the wall up and reframe the window opening and then close up the interior and exterior walls properly after the new window is installed. You can do a search on Hometalk for a qualified carpenter, tile installer or remodeler in your area. Then check references and go see the work performed so you know the quality you should expect.
  • Amanda Amanda on Nov 25, 2012
    AWESOME! Thank you so much! Its not a modular home though =( Its a 2006 Trailer home. It needed a lot of TLC when we first got it.
  • Amanda, sure you can do both of these projects, as AK stated, just be sure to reinforce the floor structure and properly cut and seal the window when opening the wall. Both of these types of projects are done all the time in both trailers and modular homes.
  • Wayne Filer Wayne Filer on Nov 26, 2012
    You can have a tile floor in a mobile home, however your structure must be sound and reinforced apporpriately. Also, be sure that your tile is standard thickness, roughly 1/4 inch. The thicker the tile, the more it will weigh.
  • Sue Felan Sue Felan on Aug 19, 2013
    I've built a nice, big walk in shower in my mobile home. Was quite the project, but well worth all the work involved.
  • Kerry Kerry on Jun 15, 2014
    When you say structure are you talking about the subflooring? Or the structure under the mobile home?
  • Gloria L Gloria L on Mar 24, 2015
    Our friends had no window in their small second bathroom which had no access to an outside wall. So, of course it was pitch black in there until you turned on the light. They put in one of those tube skylights in the roof and during the day it looks like there is always a light on. Was a very reasonable price, too.
    • See 1 previous
    • Stephen Watkins Stephen Watkins on Feb 24, 2018

      The good thing about the SolaTubes is they make a fixture to go inside of it that holds a bulb so that you can turn it on at night and looks like it does during the day. The best part about them is they just look like a surface mount can light and there is very minimal ceiling and roof modification and penetration. Overall a great product.

  • DB47 DB47 on Jun 29, 2015
    I wouldn't put tile in a mobile home unless I was sure it wasn't ever going to be moved. Same with drywall for that matter.
    • Shirley Shirley on Sep 27, 2020

      what would you use that would work along the same line as tile? in other words, i'd like to do an altogether open bathroom where there is no lip for shower, only a shower curtain that gets pulled. it would be designed along the line of some of those in hospitals where you could almost come in and spray it with a hose to clean it. of course, i would want at least a seat (could be fitted/fixed in) but no tub, sink with no wood area (vanity) under it. the idea would be to be able to clean it, get water on the things there w/o fear of damage. whatever "might" be kept in there would need to be in sealed areas or outside storage areas.


  • Denise Denise on Aug 09, 2015
    If you are not planning on moving, or can sell it where you are, you will have to reinforce the subfloor. Check with a contractor to see how thick it would need to be. I want to do this to my parent's master bath. It would involve tearing out an unused jacuzzi tub (my dad is in late 70s). I thought a very nice tile shower with glass doors, and niched product shelving, bench seat, 6 jets and a handheld showerhead would go great in that spot. They currently have a 3x3x6 or 6-1/2ft tal shower I would tear out and use as linen closet.To accomodate all of that, the floor would have to be reinforced. Now, if I could talk him into it...!
  • Susan C Susan C on Aug 28, 2015
    We rebuilt my husbands bath into a walk in shower. Reinforced the flooring and the walls, then shaved down the shower area.
  • Shirley Shirley on Aug 30, 2015
    We had a contractor do this, but it is a double mobile. Seemed to be no problem. They made the bath into a shower and the old shower into a linen closet. Tile on the floor and shower walls. The lavs and toilet etc are as they were prior.
  • Peg Peg on Mar 31, 2016
    Some months ago I saw a trailer that was all done over ,it was georgeous . Try Googling it!
  • Doris Bishop Doris Bishop on Feb 06, 2017

    replacing shower stall in mobile home

  • There's absolutely no reason that you could not I would definitely support the floor and make sure you maintain that you're home stays level because that can cause you cracking and problems later

  • Chitra Chitra on Aug 28, 2017

    I want to have ceramic tile installed as a back splash in the kitchen over the mobile home vinyl walls. Do we need to use bonding primer over the walls before installing the tiles?

  • Rose Rose on Aug 03, 2019

    We gutted our master and put in a tiled shower we love it put a bench seat and neich this is where the garden tub use to be