Showers

[DaveR]

Having looked a couple of boats last year which had shower trays and tiled bulkheads, they were - if I am kind - a disaster.

 

Obviously they had been leaking for some time and had all the classic signs of water damage to the surrounding woodwork.

 

At home when fitting a shower tray I kick out the bottom row of tiles about 1/4" at the base and then seal down onto the shower tray. With the boat is there enough flexing to prevent the use of tiles or should I go for a faced board ?

 

I have been following the thread about fixing the shower base to the hull and have that sussed but it is the seal between bulkhead and tray that is my concern. Could there be enough movement between the boat hull & shower base to the paneling to prevent a good seal ?

 

Does silicone have enough 'give' to allow for this?

 

Thank you

[John Orentas]

It is perfectly feasible to have tiled surfaces on a boat but there are a few areas you must watch.

 

Narrowboats are not the bendy flexible things that people portray, but they are subject to vibration and sudden deceleration so for that reason you must make the bulkhead walls as rigid as you can within themselves and where they are fixed to the floor, deck-head and other bulkhead elements.

 

Use minimum thickness 3/4 plywood with as much bracing as you can devise, if the cubicle is of the type that has two walls joined together, go to town on making a good screwed and glued joint here.

 

For tile fixing I used a special high strength adhesive sold at the time in tile shops but others have mentioned cork tile adhesive and silicone types.

 

An epoxy type grout is often recommended, but if I recall I didn't bother.

[Jus73]

I went for a shower tray with upstands to three sides. However these are always far to thick to tile over, therefore as an extra precaution i fixed waterproof cement board (from Wickes) to the three bulkheads. This gave me the extra thickness to easily tile over the upstand and then seal. No problems so far!!

 

Justin

[ChrisPy]

As I described in another thread, I'm going to build a wetroom so I don't need to worry about these things. The whole room will be lined with cushionfloor type vinyl flooring material from waist height down.

Edited March 5, 2005 by chris polley

[bottle]

As I described in another thread, I'm going to build a wetroom so I don't need to worry about these things.  The wgole room will be lined with cushionfloor type vinyl flooring material from waist height down.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I wish you luck with that Chris you will still have joins that could leak.

[ChrisPy]

I wish you luck with that Chris you will still have joins that could leak.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

marine ply, jointed and lined with epoxy-glass, lined with vinyl, sealed with silicone.

 

I doubt it.

[bottle]

marine ply, jointed and lined with epoxy-glass, lined with vinyl, sealed with silicone.

 

I doubt it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

You could be right there

[CAPT PHIL]

I am relatively new to canal boating, am in the process of refreshing my narrow boat and have now got to the shower room. I have problems with getting a constant temperature from the shower and my suspicion is that its to do with unequal hot and cold water pressures. Going into the mixer tap (one of those that has a single lever that rotates and moves up and down). The cold water supply comes via a Whale pump accumulator kit and the hot comes straight from the little Rinnai LPG water heater. The flow from the latter is slow when running into the sink compared to the cold supply. As a result the shower either is too hot or too cold and is almost un-adjustable. This does not go down well with my lady Admiral. My suspicion is that the cold water is forcing back into the hot supply thereby cutting off the heater.

I would appreciate any suggested mods I can do with this set up to acheive a constant temp.

Thanks in anticipation.

Capt Phil

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, CAPT PHIL said:

I am relatively new to canal boating, am in the process of refreshing my narrow boat and have now got to the shower room. I have problems with getting a constant temperature from the shower and my suspicion is that its to do with unequal hot and cold water pressures. Going into the mixer tap (one of those that has a single lever that rotates and moves up and down). The cold water supply comes via a Whale pump accumulator kit and the hot comes straight from the little Rinnai LPG water heater. The flow from the latter is slow when running into the sink compared to the cold supply. As a result the shower either is too hot or too cold and is almost un-adjustable. This does not go down well with my lady Admiral. My suspicion is that the cold water is forcing back into the hot supply thereby cutting off the heater.

I would appreciate any suggested mods I can do with this set up to acheive a constant temp.

Thanks in anticipation.

Capt Phil

Hi Capn

 

You have resurected a very old thread. In reply to you if I were you I would disconnect the cold supply to your shower and just leave the hot water direct from the rinnai. I did this years ago on an old boat and all you need to do is set the temp on the instant water heater and open shower tap fully and Roberts your auntie. Just ensure no one else uses water outlets anywhere else at same time.

[bizzard]

27 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Hi Capn

 

You have resurected a very old thread. In reply to you if I were you I would disconnect the cold supply to your shower and just leave the hot water direct from the rinnai. I did this years ago on an old boat and all you need to do is set the temp on the instant water heater and open shower tap fully and Roberts your auntie. Just ensure no one else uses water outlets anywhere else at same time.

This is it. Once the showers ideal water temp is found mark the knob positions on the heater for future shower use.