I had originally thought to tile the new shower but am meeting opposition from the cleaning dept. (grout discolours!)
There appear to be several variants/prices in the wall boards on offer. MDF core, Polystyrene, plywood...
Does anyone have good/bad experiences to report? Shower base is 800x1200 and I need to cover 3 sides.
I am particularly concerned that ply or mdf cores sat on a damp tray seal may deteriorate.
The "quality" melamine faced plywood boards will be fine. But can I remember the names?
I've used PVC "tongue and groove" ceiling cladding for the ceiling. Cheap, light, easy to keep clean. Not durable enough for walls.
There a chap on eBay selling foam sandwich board intended for lining commercial kitchens with a hygienic waterproof surface that is easy clean. I used it to line a toilet cubicle in my workshop rather than tile it.
AWEM
I refitted my shower using
It's certainly not cheap; though at least the stuff can be fitted directly to studwork so I suppose it saved me the time and cost of aquapanel board. I bought mine from the cheapest supplier I could find, which at the time was
You can read the multipanel specs on the website, but basically it's a plastic-laminated waterproof plywood, so no worries about it getting damp - not that I think that's likely as the seals provided are excellent: basically it sits on a bespoke seal and can't sit in a puddle
- see page 12 of the Installation Guide at:
I'm very pleased with the result - it's looks really good, durable, completely sealed and is very easy to keep clean. On the minus side, apart from the cost I found it quite difficult to install as a one-off; my feeling was it's aimed at tradesmen who fit them regularly. YMMV but I found it a bit difficult sometimes working out exactly how to fit bits and where to cut. The fact that you're working with three very expensive boards takes the adage "measure twice, cut once" to a whole new level! As my walls and ceilings aren't all perfect 90-deg corners (are they ever?!) it made quite hard trimming the panels to fit correctly on all four sides (especially the one at the back of the alcove. So the project took me a lot longer than intended (as SWMBO will attest, through gritted teeth)
If you do go for multipanel, whatever you do don't go for the associated 'soundpanel' - an audio system which you build in and which we went for, unusually, on a bit of a whim. Complete and utter crap; makes me weep over its huge expense every time I use it.
HTH David
High-end is DuPont Corian and its clones.
Corian tends to be available to the trade only, but LG Hi-Macs is more readily available - but still $$$ (I balked at the price of doing 2 of
3-sided shower enclosures).Alternatively, really large tiles?
Yes. I found them. They appear to be factors in that stuff is delivered direct. Nothing wrong with that.
Is that seal intended to raise the board: leaving a space for sealant?
Did you screw to battens or use the recommended glue?
Although I am fitting in an alcove, I will not span the full width so exact measure not quite so critical. Also, the carpenter in one of my rented barns has a panel saw.
Actually the shower kit offer looks OK. I'll get to grips with ordering after Christmas now.
Hi-fi is wasted on my hearing:-(
Our best effort was playing the CD from Titanic with the stereo speakers standing on the kitchen work top!
Thanks. Nice to get some confidence.
I suppose so - what you see in the finished shower is the 45-degree plastic bevel, about 5mm high. It's finished with a tiny bead of silicone (see item 25 on page 13); that's the only visible bit of silicone; the rest is 'hidden' behind the plastic seal
Don't know how you'd do it using screws TBH, as the holes would break the seal and look crap; glue is definitely the way to do it. You can (and probably should) screw the extruded aluminium corner joint (Figure D, page 4) to the wall though.
David
In message , Lobster writes
OK
Small stainless screws perhaps with a touch of clear silicone? My experience of *instant* glues is that the advertisers suffer from a degree of optimism beyond my reach.
The shower end wall will be battened but I suppose a bit of effort expended in getting a level surface for fixing and some wooden props across the alcove to apply pressure while the glue sets off will do.
Thanks
Can't remember how quickly the provided glue was to go off; it was no-more-nails / gripfill type stuff though; and I held the boards in place under pressure eg using lengths of 2x4 wedged in place and (born pessimist that I am) for a couple of days.
It's very important, I think, to get the substrate really flat so there's no tendency of the boards to bend or resist being pushed down to meet the underlying battens (ie so they could 'pop off' later and bugger up the seal at the bottom). That said, the way the system works is that the boards are held in place by the rigidly fixed extruded metal corner joints and the frame of the shower door, so right now if all the glue were to fail, I'd probably never even know.
Forgot to mention that the best way to buy this stuff is definitely as one of the manufacturer's 'kits' - that way you're sure you've ordered all the right stuff you need, and it's a bit cheaper too.
David
In message , Lobster writes
Now if only I could get the boss to agree a board colour!
Can't help you there I'm afraid - but in case you hadn't spotted it, you can get sample bits of laminate posted out to you which we found very useful.
Except that when the actual order arrived on our doorstep, She says "That's not the one I wanted" Sheesh.
David
And epoxy grout ?
Simon.
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