'Marine' Ply
Chris Turner
One further point on the ply base tho. Presumably if a get a decent piece
of ply (one supplier qouted for something called far-eastern ply for my
needs) that provides a solid base (18mm) for my stone resin tray (on a bed
of concrete/silicone), that should be more than adeqaute.
If i do the job above the ply level properly, then there shouldn't be any
water even getting as far as the piece of ply, yes/no?!
Chris.
wanderer
> Thanks all for the help/advice.
>
> One further point on the ply base tho. Presumably if a get a
> decent piece of ply (one supplier qouted for something called far-
> eastern ply for my needs) that provides a solid base (18mm) for my
> stone resin tray (on a bed of concrete/silicone), that should be
> more than adeqaute.
I bought a piece of 18mm marine ply, 1200 x 1200 for my shower base,
which was 900 x 900 quadrant shape. The local timber yard was quite
happy to cut the sheet, although as I live in the heart of Norfolk's
Broadland (boat building and all that) that might have had something
to do with it! It certainly didn't cost an arm and a leg, although I
can't recollect just how much I did pay. In the end, it's ship's and
ha'porths of tar, if you're doing something for the next 25 years or
so.
I built up a plinth from 50 x 100 timber, just under 200 high on a
concrete floor, which left me enough room for the waste plumbing. I
included a centre joist in one direction as well, to suit the plumbing
arrangements. The whole structure is as solid as rock now. I used the
off-cuts of ply to cover the sides of the plinth for tiling.
> If i do the job above the ply level properly, then there shouldn't
> be any water even getting as far as the piece of ply, yes/no?!
My plinth said use concrete or silicone, but as I knew the suppliers
quite well, and they do lots of bathroom installations in and around
Norfolk, they said they always use silicone to stick the trays down. I
sort of followed suit; I had two or three tubes of polyurethane
foaming wood adhesive (it's in the screwfix catalogue). I used some of
this to stick the plinth together, to the wall and the floor, to hold
the ply onto the plinth (as well as screws) and also on the marine ply
under the shower tray. Be warned - it sticks like the proverbial sh*t
to a blanket! I also ran a bead of silicone down in the 'v' recesses
formed by the (slightly) sloping sides of the tray and the two corner
walls.
I went to a specialist tiling supplier for the tile grout, to make
sure it was the right sort for a wet area. The stuff the sheds sell is
an all-pupose grout, but not the ideal for a wet area. I used a fairly
generous coating of tile adhesive in the shower area, to make sure the
tiles actually did sit down on top of the back edge of the shower tray
rather than flush with the very edge or even slightly behind it, with
a well-formed bead of mastic to seal onto the tray once the adhesive
and grout had gone off, so any water drainage is into the shower tray
rather than potentially into the gap between the tray and the wall.
Regards
--
The Wanderer
(Cut .myob to email me)
A consultant will borrow your watch
Then charge if you ask him the time.