Building a shower cubicle

A second shower is a great selling point for your house if not a necessity in a busy household.
By all means construct the shower cubicle yourself, but it is safer to hire professionals if you are not competent to install electrical wiring and plumbing.

Building a shower cubicle requires some experience in carpentry and tiling. You also need a degree of expertise in wiring and plumbing in order to install a shower unit.

The simplest way to screen off a bath shower is to hang a simple waterproof curtain that is long enough to drape inside the bath rim. However, unless you remember to tuck the curtain against the wall each time you take a shower, you always seem to end up spraying the bathroom with water. A rigid shower screen overcomes the problem. There are various screen kits to choose from. Some are designed to shield just the end of the bath where the shower is located. Others enclose the entire bath. To provide access, complete screens have hinged or sliding doors. Hinged screens take up space when open and need good flexible seals.

To erect a fixed screen, fasten the channel to the wall with screws. Apply sealant behind the channel before tightening up the screws, or run a bead of sealant down the joint after fixing. Fit the glazed panel and seal between it and the bath rim.

Fit a hinged or sliding screen following the manufacturer's instructions, making sure you correctly install the seals provided with the screen.

Shower-cubicle components come in practically every combination imaginable, from self-contained cabinets to screen panels for enclosing alcoves, building into a corner or against a flat wall.

A range of sliding, hinged and bi-fold doors are available to fit all the various shaped shower trays on the market (4).

A shower cubicle, fitted in a bedroom or some other part of the house, must be at least 2.5m (8ft) from the nearest electrical socket - move the socket if necessary.

Decide on the most convenient position for your shower, taking into consideration the pipe runs for supply and waste. Check also on the electrical-wiring requirements for instantaneous electric showers and pumped power showers.

You can incorporate any existing wall into your shower cubicle, provided it is sound enough to be lined with ceramic tiles.

It is easy to construct an alcove in the corner of your room by building a stud partition to enclose the third side. Measure your shower tray carefully to ensure you can make a good fit all round. It is usually best to remove the skirtings and, if necessary, hack off some of the plaster from the existing walls. This will enable you to set the rim of the tray into the walls to make a waterproof seal after tiling.

A stud partition provides a convenient wall on which to mount the shower unit, because all the services can be run within the frame.

Construct the partition from 100 x 50mm (4 x 2in) softwood treated with preservative. Erect four uprights nailed to a similar-size piece of wood, known as a sole plate, screwed to the floor. Nail them at the top to a head plate screwed to the ceiling. Screw into the joists whenever possible. If need be, fit timber bearers between the joists to provide fixing points.

Fix noggings between the uprights to stiffen the frame, but leave a clear path for the plumbing (and wiring) down the centre.

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