Has anyone installed a Kinedo self-contained shower cubicle -
Thanks.
I was completely changing the layout of the kitchen/bathroom area of my house a couple of years ago which meant that the bathroom was out of action for a few months. I put one of these together as a temporary shower in a spare room (basically a big cupboard!), and plumbed it in like a washing machine! I've now finished the bathroom and intend to re-use this as an ensuite shower in a couple of years' time.
It was very easy to put together, except that the suppliers neglected to send some of the bits. You need to be able to get all the way round it while fitting though, so if it's going in a tight space it might be tricky.
I would worry about the quality if it was to be your main shower. The doors are good quality, with nice ball-bearing rollers, but the shower tray is quite plasticy, not like the stone resin ones I would like. Also you'll lose quite a bit of space behind & to the side of it so, again, if space is tight I'd be tempted to fit a standard shower tray and tile the walls.
If you're interested in the sauna option then this is probably the best product!
I don't understand how we lose space behind. All the pictures I've seen show this unit in a corner. There is no gap between the shower cubicle and the wall. The main advantage of this self-contained cubicle is that you don't have to tile, and so eliminate a possible cause of leaking. No tiling also means it's easier to install. A standard shower tray is also prone to leaking at the join with the wall - in fact that's exactly what happened to our previous shower. It leaked for a long time, and eventually wrecked the plasterboard.
Specific question I have are:-
How easy is it to assemble/install? How durable is it? Is it really leak-proof?
If you are specifically worried about leaks at the interface between tray and tiles you can get trays with upstands to fit most shapes. I looked at the prefab units and decided that they were relatively expensive compared to a more d-i-y approach.
Andy
The shower tray fits against the wall at the bottom, but the shower tray is slightly tapered, I assume so the manufacturers can get it out of the mould, so by the time you get to the top you're already about an inch from the wall. The moulded upright sections then slot inside the lip of the shower tray, giving about another inch from the wall. The upright sections are moulded into fancy shapes so at some points it's around 6" from the wall. The section in the corner where the shower riser rail is mounted cuts the corner, so in total this is over a foot from the corner.
It's definitely easier to install. If tiling is done properly with waterproof cement, and the grout pushed well into the joints, tiling down to the shower tray, then sealed with silicon then there's no reason for it to leak. If you're paranoid then you can tile onto aquapanel cement board, which will not deteriorate if it gets wet.
very
I haven't used it for very long but I would worry about the longevity of the tray.
The upright sections fit inside the shower tray, which has a lip. Water can get under these sections but there should not be enough power in the water to get over the lip on the tray. If you were to spray the shower directly under the uprights then you might be able to build up enough water to get over the lip, but if the flexible pipe goes through the loop as per the water regs then it shouldn't be possible to get the shower head down this far. The uprights are made from 2 sections which are connected together by a long u-shaped piece of plastic, so any water leaking through should be deposited on the tray, behind the panels and will seep back in.
So yes you do get water behind panels but it's all designed to fall into the shower tray behind the panels then fall back into the cubicle and down the plughole.
Agreed, unless you want the steam option.
Really? I priced up a thermostatic shower, merlin raised shower tray with upstander, and Novelini cubicle at around =A3800. Plus cost of tiles. Add to this installation costs, which I've been quoted as 3 days @ =A3150/day. I'm looking at around =A31300.
The prefab unit can be bought for around =A3550, and I reckon I could install that myself.
days @ £150/day. I'm looking at around £1300.
I've No argument with that, I reckon I paid about £500 for the shower tray, enclosure and a thermostatic mixer. I did my own plumbing and tiling, so there was a fair amount of time (although nothing really difficult) and the cost of the tiles on top. I was looking at pod units that came in circa £900 so it seemed a bargain to me - if I had come across the Kinedo stuff I might have been tempted that way.
Andy
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