The shower cabin has many advantages compared to the bathroom. Firstly, it takes up much less space, so it can be easily placed even in a small room. Secondly, during its installation it is not necessary to equip a special bathroom. It will be enough to connect a shower to the sewage system and observe certain sanitary standards.
Due to the ease of installation, you do not have to hire qualified specialists, which will save a decent portion of the family budget. Also, do not forget about the efficiency of shower cabins. In them, you can quickly wash or just refresh yourself with minimal energy costs. On average, you will spend about 50 liters of water per month for each tenant instead of 300-700 liters when using a bath. Due to all these factors, this plumbing equipment is very popular among many people. And, as you know, high demand entails a rise in prices. Therefore, many people think about how to make a shower with their own hands in the apartment. Although there is nothing complicated in this, nevertheless there are a number of features that should be taken into account. It is about them that will be discussed later in this article.
Financial, labor and time costs
Do-it-yourself shower in the apartment (you can see the real photos in the article) can be done in completely different ways. It all depends on your construction and plumbing skills, materials used and wishes. Some projects can be implemented with a budget of only 5,000 rubles, but they do not provide for waterproofing, as a result of which the life of the shower cabin is not only significantly reduced, but there is also a risk of flooding of neighbors. Therefore, you must carefully think through and calculate everything, since saving is far from always appropriate and profitable. As practice shows, you can completely meet the estimated 8-10 thousand rubles, which is not so expensive compared to the cost of factory plumbing, without making changes to the technical documentation of housing, as well as without issuing permits for redevelopment.
As for the time it takes to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands, then, working exclusively on weekends, you can cope with everything in about a month and a half. If you work a little on weekdays, it will take about two weeks.
Design features and dimensions
If you decide to make a shower with your own hands in the apartment, the dimensions must be calculated first. You need to do this so that it fits normally in the bathroom, and you do not have to redo anything. It should be borne in mind what plumbing equipment will be - with or without a pallet. The second option is more economical and easy to implement, but the first is more practical in operation, since water will not flow around the room.
For an average family consisting of people of average build, a cabin with a pallet measuring 80 x 80 centimeters will be enough. If the design of the shower does not provide for a bowl, then the dimensions should be increased to 110 x 110 cm. Otherwise, washing can be dangerous, since there is a high probability of slipping and getting injured. It is not recommended to make the sizes smaller than indicated, as it will be inconvenient for you to enter and leave the shower room.
Cabin Design
If you finally decided to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands instead of a bath, you must first draw up a drawing. In this case, the following nuances must be taken into account:
- The closing method is a door or curtain.
- Location - in the corner or near the wall.
- The design of the front door.
- The height of the pallet.
- Drain equipment and method of connection to a communications system.
- Glazing installation and canopy doors.
As for materials, a do-it-yourself shower in an apartment (photos of finished projects look simply amazing) can be made from almost anything, so you are not limited in anything.
Determine the method of closing
Let's dwell on this in more detail. So, you decided to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands. If you have a large family, it must be equipped with a door or curtain. This is where a very important question arises: which is better? The second option is more economical, however, when using the curtain, water will flow into the bathroom, so you will need to modify the bathroom. Also, a high pallet will help to solve the problem, but if older people live with you in the apartment, then it may be inconvenient for them to step over it. Therefore, the best option will still be the door. For its manufacture, you can use glass or plastic. A tree is not the best choice, because it spoils very quickly and loses its properties under conditions of high humidity. The door design can be straight, faceted and with a smooth contour. It is better to make it extendable, as it will be more practical in this way. Especially if you are limited in free space. For installation, use accessories that can be purchased at any hardware store.
Also very successful will be a glazed shower with your own hands in the apartment. Photos of such a cabin look very attractive and stylish. Glazing can be made of the following materials:
- silicate glass;
- acrylic glass;
- cellular polycarbonate;
- monolithic polycarbonate.
Glass is considered to be the best option, however, cutting it yourself at home without specialized tools will not work, and buying finished products is too expensive. Therefore, it is best to stay on polycarbonate. This is a modern polymer material, which in its characteristics resembles glass in some way. It is relatively inexpensive, lightweight, and it’s very easy to work with. In addition, polycarbonate, unlike glass, is translucent, so that a shower in the apartment with your own hands will turn out not only cheap, but also beautiful. You can calmly wash in it, without fear that someone will go into the bathroom and see you.
Shower cubicle with tray
Such plumbing equipment is the most common. The presence of the side prevents splashing water, greatly simplifies maintenance and reduces the likelihood of injury. You can also place a drain in it, and you do not have to spend a lot of effort, time and money on installation works. However, there is one important nuance. If you make a shower in the apartment with your own hands, the pan should be at least 10 centimeters high. Too low sides are very dangerous because it is easy to stumble and fall through them.
A height of 13-14 cm is considered optimal. Such pallets are convenient, and also children, elderly people and people with disabilities will be able to step over them normally. If you want a foot bath in your soul, then the sides should be from 20 to 25 cm. There is no sense in doing them above, because even young people will have a problem to step over them every time. Especially with wet feet.
Shower without a tray
What is its feature? This option has one advantage over the one described above. The absence of sides simplifies the process of access to the cabin. However, this is also a drawback, because, according to medical statistics, it is in plumbing equipment that does not have any fences that falls most often occur. Therefore, you should think very well before you start making a shower in the apartment with your own hands without a pallet. If you have small children or you live with parents of advanced age, then it is better to refuse such an idea.
Another drawback is the need for foam insulation. This material does not tolerate contact with water, and in conditions of high humidity it becomes unusable in a few years. Some people replace this insulation with extruded polystyrene foam, but it is also not very durable.
Since the design of the shower does not include a tray, you will need to build a water-resistant threshold so that during bathing water does not flow outside the cabin. This is a rather laborious and problematic process, to cope with which, having absolutely no building knowledge, will be practically impossible. It consists of several layers and requires compliance with a certain angle of inclination.
Drain ladder
So, what is it and what is it for? The shower room in the apartment with your own hands (step-by-step instructions will be given later) must be correctly connected to the sewer system. If the water is poor or not completely gone, then this will not only create ideal conditions for the spread of mold and fungus, but also lead to damage to materials. Therefore, it is imperative to provide for the sanitary equipment a good and well-thought-out gangway. Unlike the kitchen, it does not have a saturated solid suspension, so it will constantly clog up with hair and other garbage. In order to be able to clean the drain, the drain must not be monolithic. As a rule, it is made with a built-in slotted water trap that traps any objects.
The ladder can be of various shapes, as well as with bottom and side drain. The first option is more practical, since it provides better access to the sewage system, if you need to clean it. In addition, you do not have to fill the screed at an angle, which greatly simplifies the task. Given all of the above, the conclusion suggests itself. It would be much better to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands, which will have a pallet. It can be purchased ready-made in a specialized store or made independently. Ready-made bowls are more aesthetic and functional, but their cost can be quite high.
Making the pallet yourself is quite simple. The base is a conventional formwork made of a wooden beam or reinforced profile. The free space is filled with foam, after which concrete is poured onto the frame. In addition, you can purchase special profiles designed for assembling bowls for plumbing equipment. They are relatively inexpensive, so you get a quality and budget pallet.
Bowl decoration
What you need to know about this? As a rule, the shower cup is lined with tiles. This is the best option because it is easy to care for and has high strength. When choosing a material, it is better to buy one that has an anti-slip coating. The glue must be of high quality and moisture resistant, because otherwise the tile will simply begin to fall off, after a short period of time. The order of work is carried out in the same way as when finishing any other work surfaces.
If you used moisture-permeable concrete to fill the screed, then experts advise adding special additives to it that increase its performance. To shower. the do-it-yourself cabin in the apartment was convenient to use, it is worthwhile to provide a ledge inside the bowl on which the ladder fits. For its manufacture take materials made on the basis of wood-polymer materials, which are highly resistant to moisture and distinguished by their hygiene.
Runoff and drainage
On this aspect it is worth dwelling in more detail. As mentioned earlier, making a shower with your own hands in an apartment step by step is not too difficult, but you need to take into account many nuances. As practice shows, many people make the same mistakes, which subsequently cause certain problems with the operation and maintenance of plumbing equipment. One of those is an ill-conceived drain system. Undoubtedly, this option looks very attractive, but in leaving it is simply terrible. Among the most serious mistakes can be identified the following:
- pipe bends at an angle of 90 degrees;
- no access to steep bends;
- a large number of joints.
All this leads to the fact that the pipes clog faster, and it becomes much more difficult to clean them. In addition, if the drain will consist of many segments interconnected, then it is not recommended to use a metal cable and special machines to remove debris from them, since they can damage the drain. To do everything right, you should consider some nuances. Firstly, all joints need to be sealed with rubber cuffs, and secondly, it is desirable to additionally silicone them in order to improve waterproofing.
If you are making a shower with a tray, you must use a corrugated pipe to drain the water. It has good flexibility, so it can bend at any angle. However, doing too sharp bends is not worth it, since all the garbage will accumulate in them.
Connection to the water supply system is carried out both hidden and open way. In this case, all the locks and valves should be located at some distance from the shower. The best option for water supply are metal-plastic pipes. They have a low cost and durability, and are not subject to corrosion.
Conclusion
Now you know how to make a shower with your own hands in the apartment with high quality and durable. In this article, the most important nuances were considered, adhering to which you can independently make a shower booth that is in no way inferior to factory options. The main thing is to think through and calculate everything well in advance, so that later you do not have to redo anything.