Do-it-yourself shower cabin: drain, tray, photo, video

Shower cabins are often made in small bathrooms. It is popular in baths and cottages, they put them instead of a bathroom in apartments and houses, they do it in addition – who knows how. But not everyone likes plastic cabins: they are too flimsy. A do-it-yourself shower cabin, although it takes more time, is more reliable. 

If you want to make your own shower stall in order to save money, do the math first. Many note that a homemade shower cabin is not cheaper. And it’s still good. Often it turns out even more expensive. But what is a plus is that you can make it exactly the way you like it. As big as you want (or how you get it). Just estimate the cost for each of the items and knock out the result. Here’s what you need.

• You will need good waterproofing, and most likely for pools.
• You just need a good drain.
• To install the drain, you will need to raise the floor, and this is a decent amount of solution with plasticizers that increase water repellency.
• For finishing, you will need a good floor tile with a non-slip surface or mosaic, and glue (water-repellent).
• It would also be nice to have floor heating – it is very unpleasant to stand on a concrete floor in winter.
• You will also need doors, although you can get by with a curtain.

It’s already a big amount. If you also need to build walls, even from drywall, then there will be no savings for sure.

An independent shower cabin is inexpensive only if there is a ready-made nook that is simply fenced off with a door or curtain. But even in this case, the cost of draining and flooring does not disappear.

Ways to organize a drain in a shower stall

Despite outwardly almost the same appearance – the walls and floor are tiled, some doors, home-made showers have many options for internal arrangement. There really is plenty to choose from.

Types of pallets

The easiest and most reliable option to make a waterproof floor in the shower is to put a ready-made pallet. It can be installed on bricks or made of foam blocks. By “ready-made pallet” we mean two types: acrylic and enamel. Acrylic is light and non-slip, but yellows over time. Enameled – not bad in operation, but slippery when wet: you have to put a rubber mat. The advantage of acrylic is that it is not so cold – it feels like.

If both options are not suitable, a pallet is made of brick or monolithic concrete, which is then tiled with tiles – ordinary, for the floor, or with mosaics. This is a capital solution, but difficult to implement. If you decide to make a shower tray from tiles, and you live in an apartment building, you will need a very good multi-layer waterproofing: so that there are no problems with neighbors from below and from the side. This does not mean that in a private house a do-it-yourself shower cabin is made without waterproofing. It’s just that if you “screw up” you will suffer yourself.

There is another option – an intermediate one. A “trough” of suitable sizes is brewed from metal, it is well treated with anti-corrosion materials. They are installed on a podium made of bricks or foam blocks (a drain is also needed), if necessary, they are covered with bricks from the outside, forming a side or a step. A mosaic is glued on the inside.

These options are usually chosen. There is also a device without a visible pallet at all, and the drain can be made into the wall, but then in the entire bathroom it is necessary to raise the floor level and form a slope towards the drain.

Dimensions and shape: choose

Now about the dimensions of showers and trays in particular:

• 70 * 70 cm – this is very small, it is difficult to bend down even for a slender person, you constantly touch the walls;
• 80 * 80 cm – somewhat better, but still cramped;
• 90 * 90 cm – can be considered optimal for a medium-sized person;
• 100 cm and more – you already feel normal, you can sit down without any problems.
  

If you want comfort, make at least a meter gap from wall to wall, but if the dimensions are very limited, try to leave at least 90 cm. One note: a square is not the best shape for a shower. A rectangle is more practical in this regard. With a cabin “depth” of 80 cm and a width of 100 cm, you already feel at ease. And if the width is 110-120 cm, this is already complete freedom.

Plum organization

Next, you need to choose how the drain will be arranged. There are two devices: a siphon and a ladder. The ladder is more expensive, but it is usually smaller in height and more reliable. Its margin of safety is enough for a decent period and it can be poured into concrete, which is usually done.

The siphon is cheaper, but when installing a pallet, you will have to provide for the possibility of replacing it. Just monolithing it is not a good idea, because if there is a repair issue, you will have to work with a hammer drill to get to it. You present the results. Therefore, when using a siphon, leave an inspection passage that is closed by a hatch or a small door.

In any case, the drain must be serviceable. This means that the upper part – the mesh can be removed and the pipe cleaned with a cable. And to make this possible, lay the drain pipe so that the maximum angle of rotation to the sewer is 45 °, but it is better not to do more than 30 °.

Now for the slopes. So that the water in the pipes does not stagnate, the pipe from the ladder to the sewer outlet is laid with a slope of at least 4-5%. This means that for one meter of length, the height difference is 4-5 cm. The floor should have approximately the same bevel: water should drain to the drain point.

How to make a shower tray

It will be about how to do it yourself, with your own hands, the floor in the shower. The height of the floor inside the shower cabin is far from arbitrary. It depends on how the drain in the shower is made, how high the ladder or siphon is set. And he, in turn, is set with such a condition as to form the necessary bias. That is, the lower your entrance to the sewer, the less you will need to lift up the ladder and floor.

That is, before starting work, you will have to put a ladder. A cup for sure. But wrap it well and close it, plug the drain with a crumpled newspaper or a rag so that nothing gets inside during work. Keep a decorative grill handy so you can try it on in time.

How to install one of the ladder options – linear – see the video. Maybe the model will be different, but the general principles will remain the same.

Homemade shower cabin with a brick tray (with step by step photos)

When installing a brick shower tray, the floor must be at least relatively flat. If there are already very large differences, level them in advance (make a rough screed). Expose the drain device, connect it to the sewer, and then step by step like this:

• Coating waterproofing of the base. In the simplest version – bituminous, but many are afraid of the smell. Can be smeared with liquid glass, cement-based hydrophobic impregnation, waterproofing for swimming pools. Whatever you find or what you like more in terms of properties, then use it. The best option, of course, is the composition for pools. These compounds are designed for high water pressure, therefore they are reliable. Slightly worse in such conditions are impregnations based on concrete, but moisture absorption is reduced significantly. They often lubricate two or three times: to be sure that they didn’t miss anything.
  

• Gluing the joint with the wall with waterproofing tape. The minimum height of the tape on the wall and floor is 10 cm. This is an additional protection of the most vulnerable place, where water usually seeps into the rooms below.
• layer of bricks. Use exclusively full-bodied ceramic, as silicate is quickly destroyed by moisture.
  

• Concrete screed on lighthouses. At this stage, a slope towards the drain is already formed, but the level should be slightly lower than the drain level: you will have to lay tiles on the glue. Usually, some substances (additives) are added to the solution that increase the water-repellent properties. The most common are PVA and liquid glass.
• After the concrete has set, it is sometimes covered with waterproofing again, but this time it is best to use cement-based: any tile fits well on such a base.
  

• Tiles are laid on water-repellent glue.
• Rub the seams with hydrophobic paste.

If you want to make a heated floor in the shower, two more layers are added. A layer of mortar is placed on the brick, leveling the base. After the solution has set, a heating cable or cable mats (cable on a grid) are placed on it. From above it is filled in with a special composition for a warm floor. The layer thickness above the cable is at least 3 cm. And do not forget to form a slope towards the drain. After setting, you can lay tiles (you can turn on the heating only a month after pouring, otherwise cracks will go).

In order for the heating to work more efficiently, it is possible to put insulation on the mortar layer on the bricks, and in particular extruded polystyrene foam. Its thickness is at least 3 cm, it can be up to 5 cm. A metal mesh is placed on it in increments of 10-15 cm, a heating cable or cable mat is placed on top, and only then a solution.

From monolithic concrete

When making a do-it-yourself shower tray from concrete, you need to assemble the formwork. It is best to use a thick board (at least 25 mm thick) or trimmed OSB, fiberboard (thickness from 16 mm).

If the shower cabin has a concrete floor covered with tiles or mosaics, it is advisable to insulate it. To do heating or not is your choice, but it must be 100% on insulation, otherwise you will have to pour hot water “idle” for a long time to warm the floor at least a little or throw a grate knocked down from wood. For a bath, gratings are an acceptable option, but for permanent use in a house or apartment, it is unlikely.

So, the sequence of layers is as follows:

• Foundation waterproofing. All the same: well lubricate.
• We glue the perimeter with waterproof tape.
• If there is heating, we put another damper tape around the perimeter or a layer of insulation along the walls.
• We lay polystyrene foam with a density of at least 35 kg / m³, thickness – from 5 cm. We glue the joints with reinforced tape.
• Metal mesh with a cell of 10 cm.
• We expose beacons, forming a drain.
  

• A layer of mortar at half the height of the screed. We close the screed with a minimum of water, only so that it can be stirred, we lay it tightly, slamming it with a trowel. It is impossible to pull it – too dry.
• We lay the second half with a solution of normal consistency so that it can be leveled with a rule.

After 24 hours, beacons are removed, traces are rubbed with a solution. A little later – after setting and curing – they are covered with coating waterproofing, and only then they start laying the tiles.

If you are going to build such a shower cabin with your own hands in an apartment building, it is better to add another layer of waterproofing: break the screed layer into two parts. Schematically, then everything looks like in the photo below.

Determining the screed height

Regardless of whether you are making a pallet out of brick or out of concrete, you need to know at what height to pour the screed. Its height should be slightly below the drain grid – a siphon or a drain. It is more convenient to beat off its position on the walls with the help of a laser level. If it is not there, you will have to transfer marks with watermarks. For a little more understanding, watch the video. It is shown how to set the screed levels on the walls and how to make a rough screed.

Shower doors

If the cabin is rectangular, everything is solved more or less simply: a rectangle can also be cut out of glass in the workshop. There are many canopies for glass doors, you can choose the most convenient for your case. Just order doors with awnings: you will have to drill holes under them, and it is best to try them on.

It is desirable to take tempered glass. If it breaks, then into small fragments with blunt edges, which are difficult to injure. But, most likely, the fragments will remain hanging on the film. The disadvantage of this glass is that it is expensive. To save money, you can order the usual thick one – 5-6 mm, and at home paste it on both sides with a translucent polymer film. You will have to tinker, but the effect will be almost the same as with tempered glass: the fragments will be on the film.

One point: the glass is washed before applying the film, then degreased. The film is glued to wet glass. This makes it easier to expel air bubbles, and you can also move the film for a while.

If you don’t want glass doors, but you need translucent ones, you can make them from polycarbonate, but not cellular, but sheet. You will have to find a suitable furniture profile, make a frame out of it and put polycarbonate into the frame on the sealant. For reliability, you can also attach through screws with washers.

Another option is to buy ready-made doors. There are also glass ones specially for cabins, or you can adapt plastic folding “accordions”, as in the video.

Video in topic

There are different designs of shower drains: ordinary, which look like a round or square mesh in the floor, like a tray. There are more modern models – wall-mounted. A shower tray and a wall drain are necessary if you make a cabin with a large flow of water. In this case, the conventional design may not be able to cope with the retraction and more efficient models are required. And in the tray there can be two drain devices. Features of their editing in a video from one of the manufacturers.

One of the ways to waterproof the shower cabin

And another type of waterproofing