How to make a shower
How to make a shower? After all, shower cabins are becoming more and more common element of bathrooms of city apartments or private houses. Sometimes they are installed as a complete alternative to bathrooms, but more often, if the area allows, as an additional option for hygiene procedures. Love for them is due primarily to the fact that modern man is not ready to spend too much time for the adoption of water procedures, reducing them to a purely hygienic measure. And the shower, in this case, is more convenient. And since taking it in a familiar bath is not too convenient, you need to think about how to make your shower, for example, in the bathroom of a city apartment.
Homemade shower cabin will save space in the bathroom, because it can be made of any size and configuration.
Options for the device
The simplest and, as a rule, the most expensive option is to buy a ready-made shower with full equipment. In this case, it will only be necessary to prepare the base and perform the installation: make the assembly and connect the communications.
But this option may not be suitable because of many reasons. The first, and often the main, quite high price, even on models that do not have special additional options, for example, hydromassage. The second reason is that not always standard and not very large bathrooms do not allow to stop their choice, especially if there is no desire to refuse a bath. And the third reason is the banal desire to make a shower the way it most closely meets the requirements, including the aesthetic, of the owner and his family members.
The device is a ready shower.
It is possible to make a shower cabin yourself or order this work by specialists. In this case, you can clearly define the size of the area, which can be allocated to it and its location. Its appearance can fully be the embodiment of a dream, the entire internal "filling" will be selected exclusively according to the wishes of the owner. In addition, in this case, it is possible to perform the entire bathroom in one style solution.
If the shower in the apartment is decided to arrange for an individual project, then in this case it can be completed from individual elements completely, including walls with doors and a pallet. And you can only buy the most functional shower stand, and do the rest yourself, laying the walls of the cubicle from the brick and then finishing them with ceramic tiles. For the most courageous in accepting new design findings, we can recommend clinker bricks instead of tiles, which is more familiar in facade decoration. But its unique properties, which are provided by the high density of the material, are ideal for conditions with a constant high humidity, and it does not develop various fungi, in particular mold.
Depending on the location, the shower can have four, three or even two walls, but in each case, often one of the walls is the door. If desired, the shower can be placed in the center of the room, but the most rational option is its corner installation.
In addition to saving the useful area, it is possible to reduce expenses for its arrangement, because two walls in this case already exist, and sometimes even with finishing.
Device with pallet
A shower cabin without a pallet visually expands and makes the space in the bathroom more holistic.
Many believe that the shower must necessarily be with a pallet, but this is absolutely not the case. Very advantageous in terms of design space is a shower without a pallet, as it does not cut the space, on the contrary, it helps to visually expand it, especially if the finishes use the same materials as in the rest of the bathroom, or more glass and transparent structures. And the fact that its location, this apartment, is not an obstacle. And from a practical point of view, using a shower without a pallet is much more convenient. And for the diversion of water, an inclined floor with a ladder is arranged.
If it is decided to make a shower stall with a pallet, then first it is necessary to prepare an even groove in the floor screed. It is important to accurately execute the sewage drain, for its complete coincidence with the drain of the pallet. The installation of the pallet must be carried out close to the walls, additionally it should be treated with water-protective joints. For this, waterproofing mixtures can be used, but silicone sealants are most effective for seams.
Features without pallet
Given that, as a rule, a city apartment is in a house with neighbors, then in order to not spoil with them a good relationship, in the case of a shower device without a pallet, you should take care of reliable waterproofing of the floor. Additionally, waterproofing compounds and walls should be treated.
The concrete base of the cabin is waterproofed with bituminous mastic.
High efficiency provides a combination of different types of waterproofing. For example, before making a shower, the concrete base is first treated with bituminous mastic, and then two or three layers of waterproofing compound are applied, after drying it is a rubberized base. For walls, it may be sufficient to process only with mastic, but it is better to treat them, at least to a height of 0.5-1 m, with a rubberized composition.
First, multi-layer insulation from water is applied to the concrete foundation.
After that, a drain or ladder is installed and a screed with a thickness of at least 5 cm is filled with a certain slope to ensure the movement of water by gravity. It can be done in a traditional way from a sand-cement mixture, but it is more convenient to work with special dry self-leveling mixtures. They will provide not only an ideal coating, but also a higher reliability. It is important to take into account that if the shower is planned without a pallet, then the whole bathroom floor should be filled. The exception is only those cases when the cabin has a rim around the perimeter.
Finishing and installation of equipment
Dimensions for mounting the shower column.
After the work on the shower is completed, you can begin to finish. If the option using prefabricated wall elements is chosen, then they are mounted according to the instructions, and if the walls were erected on their own, they will need finishing. And there are practically no competitors for ceramic tiles in this case. For walls of a shower instead of a brick it is possible to use glass blocks: in the modern market of building materials they are presented in the big assortment and in a wide color scale.
Further, doors are installed, which are most often made of moisture-resistant materials such as plastic, glass or fiberglass, combining the advantages of the previous two. But sometimes the option is possible without a door, and to protect the bathroom from splashing, you can install a screen.
The final stage is the installation and connection of shower equipment to the previously installed communications. As a result, in a short time in the apartment will be another, but very functional and convenient plumbing device, which is quite capable of even decorating the bathroom.