Stud wall with 'aquapanel'

[bigal43]

Hi,

Rennovating a bathroom and I will be fitting an electric shower...etc on the one side wall. Will have to get 15mm copper piped water supply and 45amp ...10mm electric cable power supply, to the unit, which my local registered electrician + plumber will do.

So - i am wanting to ceate a very thin false wall to hide the new cold water supply pipe and electricity cabling...etc. The wall that I am wanting to attach this to...seems to be a stud wall with an integrated 'aquapanel' of some description ( I know this because as I was preparing to remove the bath, I noticed the end of the bath is recessed into this aquapanel layer and its about 10mm thick)

So - my questions are:

1) What's the best way to fix some thin battens on the surface of the existing aquaboard....this is already well fixed and integrated to an existing stud wall.

2) What's the best way to then mount another sheet of aquaboard type covering on top of this ( or anything suitable purely for the purposes of hiding the cable and water pipe) - I was thinking about using a thinner (6mm sheet to keep the weight down) to mount to the battens. This outer surface will then have very light pvc 'sparkle cladding' stuck to it and then the shower fixed to this.

I would be very grateful for any helpful tips and suggestions. Thanks very much

Al

 

[roboughton]

Can you not just strip back and start again?

 

[bigal43]

I would be reluctant to do this as it's very well embedded into the rest of the wall. The house was built in 1895 and the room in question is on the upper story. The outer walls are original lath + plaster and Kent clay tiles on the outside for cladding. You could probably put your foot through it if you kicked it hard enough! This Stud wall is connected to the outer wall at 90 degrees....so I would not want to be subjecting the structures near it with too much force and vibration....etc.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

So if your bath is up against the original plasterwork, then there are battens with aquapanel on (1/2" thick),then your new service space (big enough for a 15mm pipe?) then your finishing layer then your sparklie layer. This sounds like a disaster to water seal to the top of the bath.
First of all are you certain that the "aquapanel" is that or some sort of patent fireproofing for your mainly wooden house. If its AQ then it should be fixed with ceramic cross head screws, so just unscrew the panels and cut through any butt joints with a hacksaw (or stanley knife) blade held in a holder (not a frame). You can then run your pipes and cable up between the old battens and replace the AQ panels.
OR mark out where the new shower heater is to go, look at its fixings* are and cable/pipe entries. Cut a suitable large hole in AQ panel in a safe area behind the shower heater. Cut a large hole under the bath vertically in line with first hole. Use plastic pipe and feed the pipe and cable through top hole and fish out at bottom. First of all best to check that there are no horizontal battens in the way.
Frank
* AQ panel is cement based so while its strong its coarse so it will not take screws to support the shower unit. So use high load plaster board plugs into the AQ to take fixings.
Frank

 

[bigal43]

Hi Frank

Really good advice. .thank you. I have had another look and the first option is no go. Definitely some kind of very hard cement type shell that seems to have been molded or maybe precast to the adjacent wall and the corner...forming a hollow, rectangular shell. .(no plaster board ). This shell actually is closer to 15mm thick ..with no evidence of any fixings. Not what I expected given the relatively fragile outer walls in the rest of the upper level of the house.

So I will look to go with the second option. Given the thicker shell than was first mentioned ..do you think it would take a rawl plug, rather than the high load plaster board fixing for the shower unit ....or just stick to the high load fixing?

Thanks for your thoughts again and to roboughton for taking the time to post suggestions.

Cheers

Al

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

Shower units are not heavy so ordinary plugs should do. As its an unusual construction I would check to see if there is any steel mesh buried in this concrete skin, because you can't render mortar on to nothing! Could be a right PITA to cut holes in.
Frank

 

[bigal43]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind