DIY shower room/toilet

[tommyleyland]

Hi all,

I've just finished (kind of) the process of re-doing my bathroom.

 

It's a tiny cupboard bathroom and annoyingly I didn't take a photo of the 'before' but I did take photos during the process. I thought it may give some handy tips to anyone that might be having issues with making the most of their tiny bathroom.

 

The first step was ripping out the old floor, I couldn't believe the state of it when I took up the cheap lino flooring. The setup used to be: shower tray sunk in to the floor at the back and the toilet crammed in right by the door so the room was split in to two.

The previous owner had literally nailed in chipboard on top of the original floorboards, cut out a square for the shower tray and screwed it in, then popped some lino over it. Foolproof!
Only until I took up the lino and the chipboard was sopping wet and crumbled to the touch from years and years of being sodden and was very smelly. Yuck.

 

 

Next up, mopping up all the leftover horrible water left underneath (And this is why I had water in my bilges regularly). The photo above is just before cleaning up and letting to air/dry out for 2-3 days.

 

Now it's time for a new floor, Thick plywood was added with a countersunk hole for the shower drain. Luckily all the plumbing was fine so I extended the waste pipe and fitted a new drain.

One problem I had is because the floor was now lower (more headroom for the shower) there was a 2-3 inch camp from the wall to the new floor. Back to the wood shop! I screwed in the plywood again around the edges to create something resembling a large shower tray.

 

 

Time for painting, I know it's a sin to use wood walls in something like a wetroom but tiling the whole room wasn't an option. I bought some heavy duty waterproof paint which should hold up fine to a quick splash from the shower, as long as I give it a quick wipe with the towel when I'm done.

This is the first coat but it dried nice, white, shiny and thick. It looked like enamel.

 

 

To make this room as waterproof as possible, especially where standing water will be, so I purchased a wetroom kit. This included waterproofing sheets to lay down, PVA based paste to prep and waterproofing membrane to stick down the sheets and cover all over the place. Everywhere in grey has had a waterproof membrane.

 

 

Tiling time! I purchased some large tiles from the DIY shop, this is them laid out before using the adhesive. I had limited ways of cutting as I only had a tile cutter, nothing that could cut circles or anything intricate so around the drain is an improvised solution.

 

 

I finished off the tiling around the edges to complete the large 'shower tray' look which has since been grouted and sealed.

 

And finally this is where it stands at the moment, it's not complete as we're fitting a pump out soon but it really makes use of all the space, or what little space there is. I'm really happy with it and hope it is of any help to any fellow boaters.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2016 by tommyleyland

[Pennie]

Looks lovely now, very done. Very smart :-)

[NB Lola]

Won't the toilet roll get wet when you have a shower?

Looks nice btw

[John V]

Hmmmmmm! You've started giving me ideas for my yoghurt pot.....nice job

[WotEver]

Lovely job, Tommy

 

Heard anything back from Merlin yet?

 

Tony

[Alan de Enfield]

Good job and a sense of achievement.

 

I have just finished ours today but took a slightly different tack by Glass fibre and gelcoating the whole room from drain plug to ceiling (allows for following of all the curves)

 

May I just suggest that having a 220v light switch in the shower is maybe not a very good idea.

[GoodGurl]

Hmmmmmm! You've started giving me ideas for my yoghurt pot.....nice job

when we did our room on the dawncraft we covered the whole lot with fiberglass and resin, totally waterproof and no need for a shower curtain.

[tommyleyland]

Lovely job, Tommy

 

Heard anything back from Merlin yet?

 

Tony

 

Hey Tony, I've got it back now after the confirmed there was a fault. I'll post something on here as a follow up as the thread was closed as I'm sure you know.

 

Won't the toilet roll get wet when you have a shower?

Looks nice btw

 

I mentioned we should get one of those plastic waterproof covers but my girlfriend disagreed, just pop it outside the door for now

 

Good job and a sense of achievement.

 

I have just finished ours today but took a slightly different tack by Glass fibre and gelcoating the whole room from drain plug to ceiling (allows for following of all the curves)

 

May I just suggest that having a 220v light switch in the shower is maybe not a very good idea.

 

Thanks, the switch is for a 12v light which is being relocated

Edited February 8, 2016 by tommyleyland

[sueb]

I used nekan tiles. They are plastic with a polystyrene backing, totaly waterproof and easy to install

[Sea Dog]

If the paintwork doesn't turn out to be as waterproof as you'd hoped, consider using cushion floor on the walls. It's relatively cheap, easy to stick on, it's easy to silicone the corner joints, it's lightweight and totally waterproof, lasts forever, plus you can get something very nice tile effects.

[Alan de Enfield]

If the paintwork doesn't turn out to be as waterproof as you'd hoped, consider using cushion floor on the walls. It's relatively cheap, easy to stick on, it's easy to silicone the corner joints, it's lightweight and totally waterproof, lasts forever, plus you can get something very nice tile effects.

 

Just the other side of the coin :

 

That is exactly what we had, it was useless, the joints were not sealed, the mastic 'moved' or dried out or something, the moisture got in behind the lino and it started to come away from the walls.

 

Don't go down the 'lino' route you will be doing it all again in a couple of years.

 

We had three bathrooms, so decided to make one 'toilet & basin', and one shower room both to serve the 'master suite', and a toilet / basin /shower room for the other cabins.

 

Before ( with tile effect cushion floor on the walls)

 

 

And, as of today with the 'lino' removed, sink and toilet removed and the walls fibreglassed and gel coated

 

Edited February 8, 2016 by Alan de Enfield

[Sea Dog]

Just the other side of the coin :

 

That is exactly what we had, it was useless, the joints were not sealed, the mastic 'moved' or dried out or something, the moisture got in behind the lino and it started to come away from the walls.

 

Don't go down the 'lino' route you will be doing it all again in a couple of years.

 

 

Crikey, really? Mine's now 7 years old and still pristine. What a difference!

 

It can only be down to workmanship, specifically poor joint sealing, because there's no doubting that it can be done right and the stuff itself is impervious to water. Same with tiles: some last years, others fall off - hard to blame the tiles.

[blackrose]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks nice, but I wouldn't want wooden T&G walls in a shower room and I can't help thinking water will still find a way through.

 

What happens to any water that does get under the tiles - does it just stay trapped between the tiles and waterproof membrane? Tile grout is notorious for cracking and not being flexible enough to deal with flexing, expansion and contraction on boats.

Edited February 9, 2016 by blackrose

[OldPeculier]

Looking good. I reckon the bathroom is the most difficult bit of a boat to get right, especially when re-vamping an existing space. Still thinking about how to do mine.

[BlueStringPudding]

Nicely done

[Pykebird]

Just done my walls of the shower in the camper. I used pvc tounge and groove slats that are light and easy to lock together. Comes in loads of patterns and i now wish i had insisted on using it on the boat.

[stagedamager]

Great work, for such a small space it works really well!

Picking up on other comments about wall coverings, This is our example of a shower room refit to bathroom with pvc panelling:

 

 

 

Having used it I'd never go back to tiles or the like!!

The colours are for our daughters.....

 

Dan

Edited February 9, 2016 by stagedamager

[BlueStringPudding]

Love the purple!

[blackrose]

Great work, for such a small space it works really well!

Picking up on other comments about wall coverings, This is our example of a shower room refit to bathroom with pvc panelling:

 

 

Having used it I'd never go back to tiles or the like!!

The colours are for our daughters.....

 

Dan

 

Yes, I wouldn't use tiles on inside the shower itself either. I've tiled bathroom outside the shower just for decorative effect, but used Showerwall panel inside the shower. The floor is B&Q green MDF water-resistant laminate.

 

 

Edited February 11, 2016 by blackrose

[boat fan]

 

Great improvement.

 

 

That is a very tidy job Alan !

 

 

Another great looking job here too Dan !

 

 

 

 

I used painted corrugated steel cladding.

Edited May 17, 2016 by boat fan

[sherrycanon]

The bathroom looks really great. I really liked the midnight blue tiles that you used for the bathroom it makes the white bathtub stand out. It is good that you painted the cabinets white because it would be easier to clean.Most people are a bit apprehensive about painting their cabinets white because they are afraid that the dirt may show up too easily but that would make the cleaning process all the more easier. When I was doing my bathroom renovation I took some of the bathroom renovation ideas from a blog from better living dispenser.