Please help a Newbie

[LesD]

Hi,

I'm Les and I found the Tilers Form while Googling for BAL Products because I am looking for inspiration to get me kick started on fixing my shower having had one go a couple of years ago that has failed.

My first attempt involved adding a bi-fold door to a recessed shower that had a curtain at the front for far too long! Unfortunately I could not find a 900 mm wide bi-fold door in my local stores at that time so I used a narrower one, built some plywood faced buttresses and tiled over the plywood to narrow the space and fit the door. The door has been fine but two and a bit years later the plywood at the bottom of the buttresses is rotten. Investigation has revealed that there is not much of a leak but any leak is all it takes I guess! 😱

The main weakness in what I did appears to be the external corners on the buttresses where I used the generally available quarter round plastic edging strip. The little vibration as the bi-fold door snaps shut has weaked the seal to this strip and let some water weep through. I have considered fixes (like sticking 1" plastic angle over the external coners with Evode Wet Grap) but in the end I found a 900 mm bi-fold door and a 900 mm square stone resin base at Primrose Bathrooms on (of all places) eBay. I now have both the new 900 mm door and the new 900 mm square base in my garage while I contemplate what to do next. Body building would be a good idea now I know just how heavy these items are but suffice it to say I am just a wee bit past my prime so I will have to enlist the young men in my family to assist with the lifting and lugging tasks.

I will outline what I am trying to do below.

I have upstairs the recessed shower alcove that has been recently refurbished with new tiles over an existing tray/basin.


This old basin was "fixed" in using BAL Flex Liquid and powder some 25+ years ago and that part of the job is still going strong so my experience with this BAL product led me to want to use it again.


I have bought the nominally 900 mm by 900 mm by 95 mm stone resin basin that is going to be a right shoe horn job to get into the recess, especially considering how heavy it is. The instructions that came with this new tray recommend an external grade 20 mm plywood base board and bedding the tray into mortar. I fancy 18 mm MDF for the base board and buttering the bottom of the tray and the top of the base board with BAL FastFlex and bedding into that. Then filling round the tray between the walls and the tray and continuing far enough up the walls to stick on a row of tiles to make good the vertical gap between the existing tiles on the wall and the new tray with more BAL FastFlex. Grout up nice and white - job done. Well that was my plan.

I have also read up on the BAL tanking system and wondered about using it but I am not starting from scratch and the leak proof service I have had, having done the old tray with BAL Flex speaks for its self and encourages me to do it the same way again.


I have wondered with BAL FastFlex, as a non-pro. if I would be able to work fast enough to be able to use it instead of the BAL Flex that I used all those years ago. I am thinking along the lines that if I mixed up smaller quantities at a time and did the job in stages I might be OK but for the best seal I think it would be better if it all set together as a whole.


I will have the wall tiles removed to a height of 260 mm above the existing floor level when I take the old tray out of the shower recess and intend to remove all the old floorboards so that I can sink my proposed 18 mm MDF baseboard in on to the tops of the wooden joists. (This being an upstairs shower) The recess walls will be close up to the new tray when it is in place with about 12.5 mm gaps to fill between tray and walls on all three sides of the recess.


I expect that the new tray is going to be a pig to get in with the limited access so if I could do it without the recommended mortar bed this would be a definite advantage.

Any advice other than call in a proffesional (but it might come to that before to long if I can find a good one locally) would be very much appreciated.


Sorry but I can never use ten words when a hundred will do! 😉

Regards,

Les.

 

[mikethetile]

hi les

i wouldnt use mdf, is not the best stuff to use in potentally damp areas. also its not realy stable

18 mm wbp ply would do the same job

knocking up rapid flex in small quantities is fine and will not affect the overall job, but why use rapid

bal is a first class product and i would reccomend but you may find that mapei is not only cheaper but is at least as good

mike

 

[faithhealer]

hi les, forget the MDF for starters, have you seen what happens when it gets wet! I Does this tray slide under the bottom row of tiles or between the tiles? just trying to get a picture

 

[LesD]

Hi Mike,

Many thanks for such a speedy reply.

You have giving me the same about MDF as a friend did today.

I have tried to find BAL Flex but locally all I can get is the FastFlex.
I have tried Topps Tiles (Expensive!) but I don't know anything about Mapei or where to get it! :blush5:

 

[mikethetile]

do you have a tile giant near you les

 

[LesD]

hi les, forget the MDF for starters, have you seen what happens when it gets wet!

MDF what's that - It's forgotten! 😳

I Does this tray slide under the bottom row of tiles or between the tiles? just trying to get a picture

Under the tiles. The tray is strictly 895 mm x 895 mm and I have 890 mm face to face between the tiles. The tiles and cement are approximately 10 mm thick so Where the tray lies I have 910 mm. The tricky bit is that I don't have 900 mm in front because there is a vanity unit about 500 mm away so the tray has to go down and in at an angle!

 

[LesD]

do you have a tile giant near you les

Not that I know of. I live in Stafford but I will Google it and see what comes up.

 

[faithhealer]

MDF what's that - It's forgotten! 😳



Under the tiles. The tray is strictly 895 mm x 895 mm and I have 890 mm face to face between the tiles. The tiles and cement are approximately 10 mm thick so Where the tray lies I have 910 mm. The tricky bit is that I don't have 900 mm in front because there is a vanity unit about 500 mm away so the tray has to go down and in at an angle!

somethings gotta come out or come off, Tray really does want to be on a bed of mortar, or adhesive.

 

[mikethetile]

les

im pretty sure tilegiant originated from the stoke area, so there should be one near you

bal is good but its so expensive from topps

it would help if you can remove the vanity as that way you can fit the tray from the front

otherwise as you say you will have to try and ease in at an angle and im not sure how you will get under it at the back to bed it on

 

[LesD]

les

im pretty sure tilegiant originated from the stoke area, so there should be one near you

bal is good but its so expensive from topps

it would help if you can remove the vanity as that way you can fit the tray from the front

otherwise as you say you will have to try and ease in at an angle and im not sure how you will get under it at the back to bed it on

Hi Mike,

Yes I have found Tile Giant in both SOT and Cannock both of which are close by.

Despite there being one in Stafford, Topps is out even though they did say they would match any other written quote that I took in to them!

The Mapei products I have been advised are equivalents for the BAL ones are Mapei keraquick and Ultra flex. Any thoughts on these?

My idea is to use a pair of temporary runners, maybe dowels or broom handles, with the adhesive bed pre-spread between them. Slide the tray in on these runners above the bed then remove the runners. Sounds OK in the planning but might prove more difficult in the doing!