Fitting a shower

[sweetheart]

Another general query checking what I get told.

My dad needs a shower fitted. He is getting old. OH said he would fit one. So we got one ( dad and me - one he liked) from Homebase.

OH is now saying it cannot be fitted because its a large one ( not a square cubicle) and he will have to hang it off a plasterboard wall on the one end. The room is not tiled presently and I thought he would stuff it in and we would decorate afterwards. He also says he will have to raise the base to

10" to get the drop for the waste . We don't mind this but OH is making it a big issue. The floor of the room is solid

So if, like a lot of folks, you have such plasterboard walling, how do you fit these things?

Would just like to know if I am asking the impossible.

[Lobster]

A link to whatever it is you have bought would help... some sort of cubicle?

David

[sweetheart]

[Owain]

The walls would be best tiled first to make sure the tiling goes behind the cubicle seals.

If tiling is out because of lack of time or skill, then waterproof plastic wall cladding.

Owain

[Bill]

In message , sweetheart writes

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm sounds like OH is stalling for some reason :-)

I fitted a shower cubicle in a corner, one wall brick and the other plasterboard. There were no problems, it was useful to know where the noggins were so that there was something secure to screw to, but I don't think even this was essential.

Definitely tile first and then fit the cubicle, when fitting the frame of the cubicle to the tiles a bead of sealant will make it water tight, much easier than tiling up to the frame afterwards.

I too had to raise mine above the floor to get a decent drop for the waste. No problem at all, I just bought some 3" X 2" and made a framework and then clad it top and sides with marine ply. I also made a step so that it was easier to get up into the shower. When the room was carpeted the fitter did a marvellous job of covering the ply up to the base of the shower so that it looked almost professional.

The fun bit was getting the water and electrics in.......................

I hope you and your dad get it sorted.

[Hugh - Was Invisible]

Make sure the tray is fitted absolutely rigidly or the seal to the tiling will fail very quickly

[John Rumm]

The weight of the cubical it taken on the tray - the wall fixing only need stop it flapping about.

With a solid floor, the tray will need to be raised a bit - how much depends on how far to the drain exit. Four inches of lift ought to be enough for a run of a couple of metres.

The piccie looks like a stone resin tray. If so the order of work would be:

Install staging for tray, there or four 4x2" on edge would probably do for support. Cover with 1/2" WBP ply with a cutout in it for the waste fitting.

Lay a couple of offcuts of 15mm plastic waster pipe (or similar) across the ply to act as supports for the tray (these are heavy). Mix a bed of mortar and spread it out on the tray to a bit over 1/2" deep. Lay the tray onto the pipes and slide into position (the pipes save your back when working in a corner!) Pull the pipes out dropping the tray onto the mortar. Using a level, tap it down so it makes good contact all over the base, and is level. Apply silicone sealant down the wall adjoining edges of the tray.

Fit the waste to the tray.

Now tile the space down to the tray - leave a tile thickness gap at the bottom. Grout the tiles, but not the corner or tray adjoining lines. Silicone those.

Finally fit the cubical.

The above assumes you are already installed the shower itself!

[sweetheart]

Thank you all for the explanations.

[Alan Braggins]

Based on experience of my mother-in-law's shower, yes, what Hugh said.

[Newshound]

I *hate* tiling in showers: there are various sorts of 12 mm ply with a high quality laminate surface. Aquamura is the only one which immediately comes to mind, but there are others. They do aluminium extrusions to do good 90 degree junctions.

You will have to sort out a "plinth" to get a suitable fall for the waste. Make it substantial.

[Ret.]

I agree. I installed an 'offset quad' shower cubicle about three years ago when I completely re-fitted the bathroom. I used 'Mermaid' laminate boards for lining the walls inside the cubicle. Mermaid provide an excellent seal for the right-angled joint between the two wall boards - and between the bottom of the boards and the tray. The boards are very easy to clean - and you avoid all that discoloured grout that you invariably get with tiled walls inside shower cubicles. Also, you screw the shower cubicle frame into the boards, which deals with the problem of screwing into plasterboard.

My shower tray came fitted with adjustable 'feet' that enabled it to be raised by about 4" (this allowed for the fitment of a purpose made curved plastic 'skirt' around the base of the tray. That 4" allowed for a sufficient 'fall' for water to drain through the piping to the opposite corner of the bathroom.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

A raise of 10" seems extreme - quite difficult for an old geezer to get in and out of safely with wet floors.

4" is more usual - just enough to get the shower trap clearance under the tray and commonly done with concrete blocks on their sides. If the 4" raise necessitates a new hole cut in the wall for the shower waste pipe, then so be it.

[Ret.]

The shower tray I bought simply came with four adjustable feet that you could screw in and out to 'level' the tray properly. I just assumed that they all came with this means of adjustment?

The 4" raise on my shower tray is sufficient to allow for the trap - and sufficient 'fall' for the shower to drain through pipes laid along two walls and into the main soil pipe which is in the opposite corner of the bathroom to the shower cubicle. I agree with you - I cannot see why a 10" raise should be needed.

The only problem I had was that the shower drain joins in with the bath drain - and initially, after installation, I found that when the bath was emptying, the water backed up the pipe and started filling the shower tray!

A Hepvo trap, fitted horizontally after the main trap, solved that problem completely.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

I suspect it's to get the trap above an existing drain line, as he can't be arsed to cut a new hole in the wall.

[John Rumm]

That sounds like a fibreglass tray... these indeed have a frame with adjustable feet usually. They are ok, but sound hollow and are a bit bendy at times.

The stone resin trays are made from concrete with a resin gel coat layer on top to give a smooth Finnish. They feel nicer under foot, and are much quieter. They also have the advantage of usually being slimmer - so on a suspended floor (joist direction permitted) can offer very low step heights.

Agreed, that would be excessive.

[Ret.]

Nope - it's definitely stone resin. You should have seen me struggling to get it up the stairs - it weighed a ton! I never expected a shower tray to weigh so much.

I laid plywood over the bathroom floor boards (because I used Karndean flooring tiles), and then, under each of the tray feet, I put another square of timber (cut off a length of floorboard) to spread the load. I was a little concened about how such a heavy tray, sat on four feet on a suspended floor, would maintain its seal with the Mermaid wallboards I used - but in 3 years the seal is still perfect. (Their very clever 'transeal' bottom seal helps with this).

[John Rumm]

Oh well live and learn. Not seen one with legs before!

[Lobster]

These are really good:

quite a 'stone resin' tray but they are certainly as rigid as one (seems no different to the end-user); and dead easy to lift and install; having fitted both at home I would never do a conventional stone resin one again, with all that weight to lift upstairs and lower into position; and all that faffing about with mortar beds...

David

[Newshound]

They look excellent. Presumably have a high density foam to provide rigidity without weigh. I like the upstands too. Bookmarked for next time!

[John Rumm]

What are they like price wise?