Ideas for shower stall walls

moneymgmt

We're adding a bathroom upstairs with a shower but no tub (is that technically a 3/4 bathroom?). Anyhow, the house a bungalo so two walls of the bathroom are on a 30 degree slope. I plan to put in a 36"x36" shower base in one corner. If you're looking at the shower from the front, the right wall is 90" tall, the left wall is 42" tall, and the back wall follows the slope down from right to left; the shower head will be in the back right corner.

What should I do for walls? I found a plumbing place going out of business who has 36" fiberglass walls and I was thinking of using a fine blade to cut them to fit height wise. The other option I've had is tile, but I'm worried about losing area once you put the backer board and tile on (maybe 2"?). In a house with a declining value (I love Michigan) the pre-fab walls are the economical choice, but can they be cut down?

The bathroom is framed in, but not the shower yet so I'm really open to anything.

Ron The Plumber

How about marble walls? They will cut to fit.

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moneymgmt

does the part about declining home values kinda knock those out of the options list? I would have assumed the cost of marble to be a few thousand minimum.... any thoughts?

Daryl

IMO Tumbled marble is the way to go.





More chronolgical shower pics can be found here...

http://www.ontariotile.com/ceramic-t...ovation10.html


-Daryl

troubleseeker

I believe he is referring to sheets of cultured marble (man made) , not real stone.

troubleseeker

That is a very nice looking shower, but from the original post, I would say a couple thousand over his budget, unless he is doing all the work himself.
The bull nose corners are a very nice touch, so much better that when they just have the tile edges and grout showing.

troubleseeker

Exactly what are the "fiberglass panels"? Do you mean the thin sheet liners that are retrofitted over old walls and glued in place. If so, you will still need 1/2" material on the wall to back it and bond it to (equal to the cement board for tile), so the only extra thickness you will loose with the tile is the thickness of the tile itself. And it will certainly make a more attractive job.

moneymgmt

Good call, guess I hadn't thought about how the panels attached to the wall! Here is pic of what I had in my head. Believe me, I would LOVE to go tile! If I did, I think I would keep the shower base and tile just the walls. The only tiling I've done was a 4x7 floor area but I would DIY this. Couple of questions:

1. Can these preformed panels be cut?
2. Is there a specific material needed for backing them?
3. Is there an alternative to gluing? (gluing is just so.... permanent!)
4. Any idea on ballpark cost of tiling only the walls?

Unfortunately, the reality of this area is that I can't financially justify putting more than about $500 into this shower..... I'll never get it back. I know I can get a base for $50, now I'm deciding on the walls. Thanks for your input!

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Daryl

your terminology of "i can get a base for $50" suggests that you have not yet purchased

can you fit a 2 piece stand up shower into your house and then into bathroom? they can be had for under $500.

as for tiling the walls it will exceed $500.

-Daryl

moneymgmt

Correct, I have bought nothing yet. I found a plumbing supply going out of business nearby and they want $50 for the base, and $25 for each 36" wall. So if cost was the only factor, there's no fighting that option.

Would 12x12 or 18x18 tile work? I've found tons of it local on craigslist, the dimensions would be easily adaptable to the 36" widths, but I'm not sure if it would look odd in a small enclosure.

NateHanson

Do I understand correctly that the ceiling height is 42" on the left, and 90" on the right? I'm 72" tall. If I stood in the center of that shower my head would be half a foot into the ceiling! (center height 67") In fact only the first 12" of the 36" width will have standing height. (at 12" from the right wall, the ceiling height is 74")
I'd just make sure you've mocked up where this shower will be, and ensured that it will actually be usable. Sounds pretty tight to me, but maybe you're much much shorter.

Also, how will you hang a curtain over that steeply sloped opening?

A finished tile wall will be less than an inch thick. About the same as the fiberglass panels (attached to drywall).

I've used that sort of fiberglass wall system, and they can be cut down with a fine saw. You won't get a finish-quality edge though. As long as you can keep factory edges exposed, and bury all the cuts in inside corners, you should be fine. I'd definitely glue it to the drywall with a v-notch trowel. I'm not sure how much less permanent you want to get with this. If you want to remove it in the future, you can possibly pull it off the drywall, or at worst you'll pull out the drywall, and put up another $10 worth of gypsum, right?

Can't you usually find some 4x4 or 6x6 basic wall tile at the big box store for a little over a dollar/sf? He's only got about 75 sf of wall and ceiling. I'd think he could get his tile for $100, backerboard and mud for another $50.

moneymgmt

You got it! In a 1200sf bungalow you take what you can get. This is a secondary bathroom & shower so I'm not too worried about it; I won't be using it. I know that my neighbors with kids would KILL to have a second bathroom OR shower though. I just happened to buy a house where the second floor was not finished yet (and I don't have kids) so its much easier for me to do it from the rough-in than it would be for any of them to completely remodel the second floor.

As for the shower curtain, I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm confident a light will click on in my head one of these days with the answer. Worst case scenario I put a hook in mid-slope, and one on the short wall and the curtain has to be hung across manually when you get in.

troubleseeker

1. You could probably cut the bottom where it sits in the pan, and will be disguised by a bead of sealant, but it would need to be fairly accurate, so the sealant bead could be consistant and minimal in size. Cutting the inside corners may be a different matter, as most of these panels I have seen have some type of slip joint on the corners to interlock the wall panels. Ripping this off would mean counting purely on the bead of sealant in the corner for waterproofing the joint. If you decide on this, I would then definately use a tile backer board, and lay a nice wide bead of sealant up both sides of the corner before applying the panels, effectively bedding an inch or so of the back of the panel in sealant, then caulking the panel inside corner.

2. I have seen panels glued to everything; green rock, all brands of tile backer board (better, but a few $ more), and even plywood. Since the panels have no grout lines or seams in the "field" like tile, the moisture resistance of the material is less important.

3. Glueing it is suppossed to make it permanent , plus it gives the wall a much better feel, by keeping loose floating panels from flexing.

$. Very dependent on the tile selected. As you will see, that can range anywhere from $1.50 per sf to $$$$ per sf.

If you can do the work, the tile will be a much nicer job for a few dollars more.

LawnGuyLandSparky

I think they stick out and detract from the monotone style.

troubleseeker

I was actually refering to the use of them as oppossed to just square butting the tiles. I personally agree about the contrast detracting from the overall look IMO also. Really irritating to me how many tiles are available, but no matching trim pieces .