Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - New shower in basement

I'm thinking about knocking out part of the wall in the 1/2 bath in my basement to add a standup shower, and I have a couple of questions. The first is about the shower drain. The main drain comes down the wall and into the concrete right next to the rough in for the shower drain. The problem I'm having with that is that once I put the new wall up with the main drain pipe behind it I will only have about 8 inches clearance between the wall and the center of the shower drain. So far all of the shower bases I can find require 12-18 inches from the wall to the center of the shower drain. What other options might there be?

Also, the ductwork goes along the ceiling right above where the shower will be. If I get creative with how I do the ceiling I'm pretty sure I can 7 feet of clearance, but that's before the shower is installed. Any thoughts on whether or not that will be enough once the shower base is in?

Thanks!

Norm Walters
nfwalte@comcast.net

You may have to go with a custom shower pan and a tile shower rather than a prefabricated shower. Building codes require drains to be a minimum of 12" from the wall. Ceilings are typically not lower than 8 feet. As long as you don't have the basketball team over for showers, the lower clearance in the shower should not be a problem. Don't forget to check with local authorities regarding permits, codes and inspections before beginning the project.