Panels Used With Shower Bath

The last number of years have seen a marked increase in popularity of the shower bath.

Many people find showers more convenient than a bath but tend to shower over the bath rather than removing the bath and installing a shower cubicle in its place. One of the drawbacks of showering over a bath is the limited amount of width available - standard baths are 700mm wide which is smaller than the majority of cubicles.

The shower bath attempts to overcome this problem by incorporating an enlarged shower area at one end of the bath - this limits the amount it cuts into available space compared with installing a much larger bath or even a corner bath.

The following image shows a typical shower bath installation (click to enlarge):



The customer has opted to panel around the bath/shower area with Mosaic Jade waterproof wall panelling. As the panels stop short of the bathroom ceiling they have finished off the edges with Decos Capping Trim.

The bath has a curved glass shower screen to contain the shower water when in use. This tends to work well with a low pressure showering system or an electric shower but can prove slightly less effective in use with a power shower (we have had quite a few customers who have fitted an Outasight in place of the glass screen as they found the screens were too small and didn't cover enough of the bath leading to water escaping onto the floor).

Sealing Wall Panels In The Corner of a Shower Cubicle

We very often get asked about the best method for fitting the panels into the corner of shower cubicles.

There are three methods for fitting panels into the corner of shower cubicles:

1. Use a corner trim supplied by the manufacturers of the panel


2. Butt-joint the panels in the corner and seal with a good quality silicone
   
3. Score the back of the panel and bend the panel 90 deg to form the corner

Most fitters tend to use option 2 as it is the quickest, easiest and neatest method - providing you cut reasonably accurately.

If you are concerned about water ingress you can dry fit the panels first, then run a thick bead of silicone into the corner and then push the first panel into the wet silicone, embedding the corner of the panel in sealant. Run another bead of silicone down the corner and push the second panel into the wet silicone to form the corner. Wipe off any excess on the front of the panel and run thin bead of silicone down the newly formed corner to completely seal it off.

This method is ideal for patterned panels such as mosaic or tile effect panels as corner trims tend to break up the pattern.

This method can be used where there is a shower over the bath or in shower cubicles.