Shower Stall

Other than improving the looks of your bathroom, constructing a ceramic tile shower has many other advantages. Ceramic is a very nice-looking material and available in many designs. It’s a highly durable material that resists scratches and needs slight maintenance or care. If considering the installation of a ceramic tile shower, you should cautiously choose appropriate tiles. For a shower it is good to be using ceramic or mosaic tiles with glazing. Estimate the number of tiles required for the purpose from the plan of your house. And, do add a margin of ten percent to cover wastage, which can’t be avoided altogether. Initially, it may appear to be a simple job that can be accomplished within a few days, but needs a lot of accurate work and patience with detailed planning and may take longer than your expectations if you are looking forward to a lasting installation.

1. Framework and plumbing

Before getting started with the installation you need to prepare the walls and take care of the plumbing requirements of the shower. Simultaneously, you can provide insulation between the studs for the purpose of soundproofing. For fixing of water resistant concrete paneling to frames you’ll need sufficient quantity of studs and a quality-nailing strip. You may also need some furring strips to have enough nailing surface.

Measure the walls and mark position of all the openings required for plumbing. Copy these measurements on concrete panels.

2. Install the concrete panels

With the help of a knife having carbide tip and a T-square cut off the fiberglass mesh on one side of the panel and snap it up like usual drywall, thus making openings for different pipes. The rough side should be installed to face the inside of the shower. Use aluminum or galvanized roofing nails for attaching the panels to the framing. Seal the joints using fiberglass mesh tape and provide a liberal coating of polymer glue, especially at the corners and joints.

3. Pour cement on the floor

Cover the drain with a sponge to prevent its getting blocked due residual dusts.

From the drain, using a level put a mark on the walls around the shower, measuring ¼ inch for every foot between the drain and the walls. Next, draw one more line using a red marker; about 1 inch above the first mark to ensure that the difference between that mark and the level of the cement remains uniform. Using these marks, draw leveled lines on all sides the walls on the inside of the shower. Screen the cement with a slight tilt in the direction of the drain. As it dries up, smoothen the surface using a block of concrete and do away with the dust.

4. Install the membrane on the floor

Take away the sponge from the drain. Using roller or a paintbrush applies primer on the floor/wall angles up to a height of six inches (15 cm). Allow the primer to get dried. Depending upon the room temperature and the thickness of applied primer it may take four to twenty-four hours for drying. Stick multipurpose waterproofing tape all along the length of the floor/wall joints, 3 inches on the floor and the wall. To ensure that the joints between the pieces of sanded membrane remain watertight, you need to assess the position of the joints of the membrane, taking it to be one meter wide, and fix tape on the joints, keeping a gap of three inches on either side.

4.1
Cut the sanded membrane and position the same, starting from the periphery of the wall.
Find out the size of the opening of the drain and secure the membrane while removing the protection sheet. Apply a bit of pressure on the membrane using a rubber roller to get better adhesion. Stick every strip of membrane next to each other on the multipurpose waterproofing tape joints that are already in position and cover the complete floor, sticking the membrane with plastic cement, about half an inch inside the drain. Take a strip of membrane about six inches wide and fix it at the border of the wall at its bottom. Apply sealer to have a watertight seal.

If you are unable top procure sanded membrane you may use 20mil PVC that generally comes in rolls of four or five feet.

5. Install ceramic on the floor

Cover the ceramic with a sealer, once before the installation and thrice after grouting. Measure the size of the drain and accordingly cut the ceramic to have an opening. Cover the drain with a tile and spread the tiles all over the floor to know how the tiles would fit, cutting those wherever required. Take out the central tile, cover it with adhesive and put back the same to its position. Carry on in the same way with the rest of the tiles and keep inserting spacers between the tiles. Allow the adhesive to set. Tightly close all the joints by applying grout with the help of a rubber float. Remove excess of grout with a sponge or a moist piece of cloth. Let it dry for at lease 24 hours and then apply grout sealer on all the joints.

6. Install ceramic on the walls

With a tile cutter cut sufficient number of tiles to cover the walls and shower edge. Using a notched trowel cover the ceramic and concrete panel with adhesive. Starting from the bottom of the wall start laying ceramic while keeping to move away from the outside towards the inner side of shower, Take one wall at a time and keep using spacers between the tiles. Remove the spacers after the adhesive gets dry. Using a rubber float apply grout, taking care to thoroughly seal all the joints. Use a sponge or moist rag to get rid of excess grout. Seal all the joints using grout sealer after the grout gets dry.

7. Install the doorsill

Attach the shower sill to the edge of the shower. Apply more adhesive on the outside, making the sill to incline slightly towards the inside of the shower, thus directing the water flow towards the drain. Let it dry and firmly seal the joints using bathroom silicone.

8. Finishing

Wipe off all the surfaces using a dry cloth after finishing the work. Take out the sponge from the drain and tightly screw the drain strainer in its place. Finally apply a silicone joint on the border of the faucets and shower stall, and also at the wall and frame junction and at other places. For installing accessories, faucets and supports for the shower it helps to first attach a masking tape on the wall at the desired position to point out your markings and avoid cracking of ceramic. Drill the holes and fix accessories at the end.

There are many benefits of having a shower stall with ceramic. Some of these are: a wide range of options, very durable solid material that’s easy to maintain and the attractive looks that only ceramics have. Feel free to ask for help from your dealer for comparing quality, prices and styles. Any good dealer should be happy to extend such help.