Fitting former. I suffered so you don't have to!

[cornish_crofter]

Just killed this thread :huh2:

HOW :huh2:

Oh well, another one bites the dust:whatchutalkingabout

 

[cornish_crofter]

...and now with the grout....

 

[Rob Z]

Hi CC,

If you'll indulge the American what is the "gulley"?

I watched a video on youtube that showed someone in the UK installing a cool base for a shower, quite different from what we do here, and very interesting to see.

One thing that I noticed on the video was that there was no trap underneath the shower. The drain piece was a complex looking thing that had a lot of parts, so I was wondering if it served the place of a trap and prevented sewer odors back into the house. I'll see if I can find the video again and post it for you guys to see. I'm sure it is something that you all are used to, but for me it was new and interesting to watch.

Edited to add:

This is the thing on Youtube that I watched, a wet-room base made by Wedi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NNrFbq6hNM&feature=related

 

[cornish_crofter]

Rob

The Gulley is where the water drains into the drain.

The gulley in the former I fitted goes in before the former is laid. The trap is integral inside the gulley, and is often formed by a removable water barrier that forces the water to flow down and up again.

The gulley/ trap arrangement in that youtube video is a similar idea but different to the one I fitted.

 

[heatybob]

hi hugo,
just a quick one m8,am i right in thinking that the former comes with the falls built in,and that these falls sort of originate at the gully and rise up to each corner,creating 4 triangles,if this is the case then did you follow these lines as grout lines for the envelope cuts or did you create your own falls using addy.the reason i ask is(an i think i am confusing myself here)if you have trimmed the former off the long edges should not the diagonal lines for the envolope cuts have been on the short edge of the former.i hope you understand wot i mean,not sure i do !!!
Nice job though m8,i wanna do summut like that in the future,

also an open question do you think that more an more people are considering wetrooms,am sure that wet decs can answer that one,as at some point i would like to go into this area more.
again thx cc and well done
Ged

 

[wetdec]

If you need to lop the edges off do so from both sides and it will balance itself.

The 3 sizes 900, 1000 & 1200 are square, if you want say an oblong, hexagonal round wet room base then these can be cut from any of the sizes no broblem.

Wet rooms are increasing in popularity because of the space they allow you and they are easy to keep clea. We are just taking on a screen that will fold back against a wall so its there when you want it but gives much more space when you dont.

hope this is of help

..

 

[cornish_crofter]

Heatybob

To answer your question the former started off as a perfect square. The fall lines all ran from the centre to each corner.

Cutting the tray to a rectangle and keeping the gulley in the centre means that the two edges that have been cut will not be level al the way along. They will dip, run horizontal, then rise again.

I can confirm though, that the falls work well. Each triangle, as you call them, are at the same fall towards the centre. The only difference is that I have steepened the falls slightly to compensate for the riven texture of the tiles that the customer chose.

 

[heatybob]

Heatybob

To answer your question the former started off as a perfect square. The fall lines all ran from the centre to each corner.

Cutting the tray to a rectangle and keeping the gulley in the centre means that the two edges that have been cut will not be level al the way along. They will dip, run horizontal, then rise again.

I can confirm though, that the falls work well. Each triangle, as you call them, are at the same fall towards the centre. The only difference is that I have steepened the falls slightly to compensate for the riven texture of the tiles that the customer chose.

cheers hugo &wetdecs,
i av just realised wot i saw wrong,ive thought you have trimmed the other edges,now my brain is in gear i can see what you have done,i have basically in my head trimmed the wrong two edges and have now got a former same as yours but turned through 90 degrees,
hope that makes sense.

 

[cornish_crofter]

Heatybob

To answer your other question, wet rooms are becoming more popular. People are going for the minimalist look these days and wetrooms lend themselves to this. Also there is no annoying shower tray to trip over when you get into and out of the shower.

This experience was a learning curve but I'm pleased I took it on as I would be more confident doing it the next time.

When the customer took me on, I was honest in that I told him that I hadn't done a wet room before. I'm pleased that I did the work, even though it hasn't all been easy.

 

[cornish_crofter]

cheers hugo &wetdecs,
i av just realised wot i saw wrong,ive thought you have trimmed the other edges,now my brain is in gear i can see what you have done,i have basically in my head trimmed the wrong two edges and have now got a former same as yours but turned through 90 degrees,
hope that makes sense.

1) Start with a perfect square 1200 x 1200
2) Draw lines joining opposite corners to form a 'X' and put a circle in the middle. That is your initial former shape.
3) In my case it needs to be 820mm wide and 1200mm long, not 1200 square, so trim off 380mm/2 = 190mm from two opposite sides, leave the other sides untrimmed.
4) There you have my former.

 

[heatybob]

nice one hugo,i was cutting down the wrong pair of edges(in my mind of course).you have also answered in your last post a Q i didnt ask but thought about asking,ie.about being more confident now re wetrooms and would you go down that route,
thx again ace,take care.
ged

 

[B16JOG]

This is an excellent post. It touches on so many of the issues I have been exploring this forum about. Am now going to read it again! I have now discounted any notion of levelling the wet muck and installing former. Will dig out a bit extra and drop in a deep-fill self-levelling compound first.

 

[Dan]

Just bumping some of the older popular (sometimes not so popular) threads. Probably wont be current discussion these days but I just need to do it. So just ignore the thread if it's not current for you.