How Would You Build a New Shower?

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

Thanks, Newhaul,

That is good to know about the pourable shower pan use on boats. I suspect the tile substrate on ur boat may be something similar. It is very firm- like a concrete slab [which may be why we haven't experienced loose tiles or cracked grout.]

Can you recommend any specific products we or others might consider? I could see that sealed with epoxy and with KiwiGrip applied as the non-skid finish to make a very robust and long lasting head/shower sole.

Thanks again,

Cheers!

Bill

Personally I would recommend adding some 30 grit silica sand of an appropriate color to the epoxy clear coat or even sprinkling it on top of the epoxy then let it cure and sweep off he excess ( personally I would add it to the epoxy clear coat ). Lots cheaper than adding kiwi grip on top also maintains the rick colors of the terrazzo or tile base. ( the whole reason you went this route to begin with)

Lastly my shower on the spencer is the stock tank and sink spray hose I mentioned in my first posts on this thread

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Personally I would recommend adding some 30 grit silica sand of an appropriate color to the epoxy clear coat or even sprinkling it on top of the epoxy then let it cure and sweep off he excess ( personally I would add it to the epoxy clear coat )...

Horrible advice. 30-grit sand will take the skin right off the bottoms of your feet.

[dkroar]

As I am the "Admiral" onboard with Bill, I will give my opinion to the tile floors in the heads. I dislike them very much. They are very cold to the feet, and keeping the grout clean is not as easy as he says..... Yes, they are the original flooring, and if they were on the list of projects, I would want them replaced, but (as you all know), there are many other items that require more immediate attention, and flooring that has nothing wrong with it, (except personal dislike, ugh, scrubbing tile and grout), is not near the top of priorities.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Personally I would recommend adding some 30 grit silica sand of an appropriate color to the epoxy clear coat or even sprinkling it on top of the epoxy then let it cure and sweep off he excess ( personally I would add it to the epoxy clear coat ). Lots cheaper than adding kiwi grip on top also maintains the rick colors of the terrazzo or tile base. ( the whole reason you went this route to begin with)

Lastly my shower on the spencer is the stock tank and sink spray hose I mentioned in my first posts on this thread

Hi Newhaul,

I may have misunderstood your first reply.

Our tile needs no extra non-skid as they are great on their own.

I thought you were describing something analogous to pouring an epoxy based mortar bed for a shower pan. Based upon that I was thinking that would be a good finished substrate for a KiwiGrip nonskid coating to make a very foot friendly shower/head floor... [Sand is too sharp on bare skin from my experience, but you are right; it sure works!]

I hope this helps explain where I was coming from even if I misunderstood the experiences you were sharing...

Cheers!

Bill

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Horrible advice. 30-grit sand will take the skin right off the bottoms of your feet.

I use 30 grit others may prefer 100 or something in between . Just my preference ( you don't put so much in that its like walking on a sanding disk.). Just enough for texture. I must have thicker calouses

[newhaul]

Bill the terrazzo we installed comes in bags just like cement so yes it is a pour in I suppose just give it a good trowel finish. Add a bit of silica sand of the grit you want and colored to match terrazzo in final epoxy sealer coat.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by cruisersfarm

I'm sorry.

It's hard to get all the details in sometimes.

This is an area designated as a shower stall. It is empty. There is no sink, no plumbing, no vanity, no floor, no shower pan, no walls.

It's just an empty space in a fiberglass hull without anything there.

I need to build the entire thing from scratch. Also, it can't be "use a pump sprayer", "dive in the ocean", etc.

I need to build a real shower a wife would want to use. It will make my life much, much happier if she has a real shower.

Specifically, what materials and construction techniques would you use to do this in a very lightweight way, using no or very little epoxy and no sanding? I have epoxy sensitivity and don't enjoy sanding.

I think the prefinished honeycomb panels came closest.

I'm open to buying whatever it takes. Not on a strict budget.

I prefer not to build a shower and use a washcloth with water heated on the stove. This isn't for me though. It's a minimum female requirement.

Thanks!

You can buy prefab polypore fibreglass panels, or foam cored glass panels they use in the caravan/campervan industry. Think they use polyester or vinylester resins. Tape it together using glass tape and vinylester if you're allergic to epoxy.

Getting a nice finish without sanding will be tricky though.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by cruisersfarm

How would you build a very lightweight shower in an empty hull without...



1) Using epoxy other than to coat wood

2) Sanding



Ideas? Do they make really lightweight tiles or plastic tiles?

So, how large of a space did your wife expect, and how big is the area you can revision a shower in.
Is this "boat" going to cruise or mainly live at the dock?
You can do tons of things with a houseboat, not much with a Catalina 27.
You haven't stated your headroom, beam, elbow room needed, or type of vessel.
Is it a powerboat, sailing vessel, barge, trawler type, I'll stop here.
Please add some pictures, and realistic expectations that your wife can live with.
This is a boat, unless it isn't.


Sent from SV Cloud Duster

[cruisersfarm]

Originally Posted by Boatyarddog

So, how large of a space did your wife expect, and how big is the area you can revision a shower in.
Is this "boat" going to cruise or mainly live at the dock?
You can do tons of things with a houseboat, not much with a Catalina 27.
You haven't stated your headroom, beam, elbow room needed, or type of vessel.
Is it a powerboat, sailing vessel, barge, trawler type, I'll stop here.
Please add some pictures, and realistic expectations that your wife can live with.
This is a boat, unless it isn't.


Sent from SV Cloud Duster

None of tht has anything to do with building a shower in the space described.

The one and only relevant piece is the shower is a small one.. 40" x 22" pan, wider as you go up due to hull radius.

There are 3 heads.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by cruisersfarm

None of tht has anything to do with building a shower in the space described.



The one and only relevant piece is the shower is a small one.. 40" x 22" pan, wider as you go up due to hull radius.



There are 3 heads.

Hard to build anything, without knowing the size of the space it goes into, especially on a boat where everything is important.
And pretty darn relevant to each other.
40 X 22" shower pan is a start, if this is going to be a box, but that's the extent of it.
The truth is the space isn't " described" at all.


Sent from SV Cloud Duster

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

A shower shell preferably from fibreglass and gelcoat. Build a simple plywood mold.

Tiles have no place on a boat.

Sounds like you want a cheap quick solution. That will likely end up as a cheap low quality solution.

You might be able to retrofit a generic home depot trype shower.

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Sent from SV Cloud Duster

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Bill the terrazzo we installed comes in bags just like cement so yes it is a pour in I suppose just give it a good trowel finish. Add a bit of silica sand of the grit you want and colored to match terrazzo in final epoxy sealer coat.

Thanks, Newhaul,

Understood. It sounds like a very stable base- especially for wet areas.

Cheers!

Bill

[first wind]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

You might be able to retrofit a generic home depot trype shower.

that was my thought, too. just cut it down to fit.

[first wind]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

But step back to the bigger picture . . . so you have an empty hull, and can't do epoxy or sanding or painting . . . . what's your plan? Why is it just the shower you are asking about and not the rest of the interior?

he wants a real open airy feeling. he would sail around in a completely empty boat (sleep on the hull in sleeping bags and wiz in the bilge) but, the wife insists it has, at the very least, a shower. so, he will have an empty yacht with a shower stall in the very middle of all that empty space. it will be a vey unique boat.

[hellosailor]

Happened to walk past the "showers" aisle in Home Depot the other day. A "phone booth" all prefabbed can be under $150 (probably plus fixtures) but I don't know if those are the kind you can trim to size before installing the corner liners. That 22" dimension would seem way smaller than most home shower pans, putting it back in the RV lines.


The biggest trick to keeping grout clean is to use epoxy-fortified grout. The problem being that can make a $5 bag of grout into a $8 bag of grout (or more) so there are damn few builders or tile masons who use it, unless they're charging a premium price to a premium clientele. Sealing grout after the fact, just isn't the same. Especially on floors, where it actually compresses under pressure every time it is walked on, so it "works" and moves. Not much, but enough to matter. Which is also why "floor grout" always has sand it in, for compressive strength, and wall grout does not. Little things that make a big difference down the line.