Shower Installation

[RDC12345]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. I didn't know whether to put it in plumbing or building.

In my en suite I have a shower cubicle that's leaking. Can't tell whether it's the shower tray or where it attaches to the wall. Either way, my wife doesn't like the cubicle anyway (it's old and badly stained) so it's going, as are the tiles on the walls inside the cubicle.

Currently the shower base is raised with the trap underneath. The riser looks a bit DIY, though fitted with the house when built by Barratt's in 2001. It's a piece of board on five metal legs that the tray is sat on. Not sure if the tray is bonded onto the board yet as I haven't fully deconstructed everything. The metal legs are screwed into several pieces of wood that are, in turn, screwed into the floor. The floor is chipboard.

I'm looking for advice on replacing the shower tray. We wanted to switch from square to quadrant so the base has to go. I've seen stone resin bases with risers that appear to be just straight legs. Is it OK to use these on a chipboard floor? We want to use a riser for easy access to the drainage in case of any future problems.

 

[dann09]

1. Begin by shutting off any shower power and both hot and cold supplies. Give yourself a clear working space. Remove all clutter.

2. Next, remove the enclosure.

3. then strip the tiles.

4. Disconnect the trap from the base - v. carefully, it's full of water.

5. Remove leg screws, or gently lever up the leg plates. Check to see if the base is somehow secured to the walls/studding and release - remove tray/base. Empty trap.

6. Clear to outside all so far debris.

7. Examine the condition of the wall backings, and in-situ shower valve, and flooring.

8. Question your supplier ref the height of a new base, and determine if the new dimensions will fit into what space you have. Remember that new dims will apply to the enclosure, and enclosure door.

9. Depending on what you intend for your future floor coverings, then chipboard is fine.

10. If really a concern, then an access panel can be cut in the ceiling below the trap area, and behind the shower valve.

 

[Burnerman]

A stone resin tray is definitely the way to go, but personally I don't like leg risers....instead I construct a timber frame that the new tray can rest on to, using 4" x 2" tanalised timber.
The riser legs will be fine on a chipboard floor (so long as there are never any leaks) but a sturdy sheet of 22 or 25mm ply is better, if you want to go down that route.
After installation, do keep things open for a while just to keep an eye on the drain connections.
John

 

[RDC12345]

Thanks for the advice so far chaps.

I've started to remove the tiles now. There's a single screw holding the base into the wall and several underneath but I'm not quite ready to remove those yet.

Annoyingly, the shower cubicle looks a bit of a bodge job. When removing the tiles near the bottom I've found that the walls are just plasterboard with the tiles directly attached. The tile cement isn't even completely covering the tiles. As you can guess, water has got in and at the bottom there are areas where the plasterboard has got wet and fallen apart leaving only tiles. I would have expected some sort of waterproof board or some tanking at least.

To fix this I'm guessing I'll need to replace the boards. Any tips? I've never done that before.

 

[RDC12345]

A stone resin tray is definitely the way to go, but personally I don't like leg risers....instead I construct a timber frame that the new tray can rest on to, using 4" x 2" tanalised timber.
The riser legs will be fine on a chipboard floor (so long as there are never any leaks) but a sturdy sheet of 22 or 25mm ply is better, if you want to go down that route.
After installation, do keep things open for a while just to keep an eye on the drain connections.
John

At the moment it's on a frame. Not timber though - chipboard I'll replace that too. For the ply, does it need to extend outside of the base or would I get away with just covering the floor area that the legs will stand on?

 

[dann09]

Why not post pics - you will be well better advised.

Remove all damp or degraded backings, perhaps, remove all plaster board.

We use ply underlayment for a tile or vinyl backing, not for some kind of waterproofing, believe me, if water gets thro, no matter, ply or chipboard it will begin to rot and disintegrate.

If you do use a piece of ply, then only cover the s/base footprint, do not go outside it.

Whenever you use an underlayment you will be raising the FFL, or, in your case, the s/base.

Go with what you've got, and do as suggested above and build a 4" x 2" frame - note that too high a frame and you will have difficulties with your trap connection.

 

[RDC12345]

Why not post pics - you will be well better advised.

Remove all damp or degraded backings, perhaps, remove all plaster board.

We use ply underlayment for a tile or vinyl backing, not for some kind of waterproofing, believe me, if water gets thro, no matter, ply or chipboard it will begin to rot and disintegrate.

If you do use a piece of ply, then only cover the s/base footprint, do not go outside it.

Whenever you use an underlayment you will be raising the FFL, or, in your case, the s/base.

Go with what you've got, and do as suggested above and build a 4" x 2" frame - note that too high a frame and you will have difficulties with your trap connection.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to borrow a camera and upload photos.

 

[longdogs]

If your walls are plasterboard, why not remove and replace with Aquapanel or similar. You only need to replace the area in the shower. Screw the panels to your wood frames. Seal joints with a good mastic and then plasterer's tape at the time of tiling.

 

[RDC12345]

If your walls are plasterboard, why not remove and replace with Aquapanel or similar. You only need to replace the area in the shower. Screw the panels to your wood frames. Seal joints with a good mastic and then plasterer's tape at the time of tiling.

That's the kind of advice I'm after

If I use aquapanel, is there any benefit in also tanking?

 

[longdogs]

No, not really. Tanking is more for wet rooms. The good thing about aquapanel is that even if your grout fails and the wall gets wet, it will not warp or rot.

I normally replace the plasterboard

Fill gaps and joints with mastic

Apply a waterproof PVA - leave to dry

Fit shower tray

Apply mastic where tray meets wall

Apply plasterer's tape along the joints using tile adhesive
Then immediately tile the area with a flexible waterproof adhesive

Grout with a waterproof flexible adhesive

Fit shower screen (follow instructions as to where to seal)

Mastic where tray meets tiles and again shower screen according to instructions. Shower screens are generally sealed on the outside and not on the inside but follow instructions

hope that helps