Small apartments in which there is not enough space to install everything you need are far from uncommon in modern cities. So a shower without a shower stall in such apartments is also not uncommon.

But in order to be comfortable swimming in such conditions, you need to arrange the bathroom space taking into account all the rules and decorate it beautifully.

Peculiarities

Despite the popularity of this type of shower, many still find them strange and incomprehensible. Therefore, before talking about the process of installing and decorating such a structure, you need to understand its features, as well as determine all the possible pros and cons.

pros

There are many benefits to having a shower without a massive shower stall.

• First of all, this design does not take up much space, and the bathroom seems larger. The boundaries of the shower space are not determined by walls or even light partition. This is very good, especially for small baths.
• The next positive point is that such a shower is very easy to care for. There is no need to constantly clean the tray; just wipe the wall after taking a shower and periodically wash the floor. Many are attracted by this particular advantage, because most showers have glass walls The bad thing is that there are always fingerprints and stains on such a surface, so you have to bother with cleaning several times a day. In the case of such an unusual design without walls or partitions, cleaning is minimized and you don’t have to spend a lot of time.
• A shower without walls, once you get used to it, turns out to be very convenient to use. This is relevant for children, the elderly and those who have any health problems. There is no need to climb into the box or open and close the door - just turn on the hot water and you can take a shower. If a person becomes ill during bathing, it is much easier to get out of such a shower.
• In addition, it should be noted that she looks very good. Especially if you somehow show your creative imagination and decorate the surrounding space. In this case, the design of the walls and floor and the use of light curtains help.

Minuses

However, this design also has disadvantages.

• Firstly, if you do something wrong, there may be a risk of flooding the neighbors below. So you should always seek advice from professionals, or even entrust the work to masters, without relying on the fact that you will be able to do everything well without having any skills.
• Secondly, after taking a shower, the room may smell unpleasant. This happens because the shower floor is not installed correctly. Or rather, for the reason that it is not raised up and there is no water seal installed under the base.
• And finally, many people simply find it unusual to take a shower in a bathroom without a full shower. But this cannot be called a significant disadvantage, since there is always the opportunity to buy a bright curtain that will replace the usual partitions.
• But if a large family lives in the apartment, and the bathroom is combined with a toilet, installing such a shower is unlikely to be a reasonable solution. However, this option is more suitable for modern studios and bachelor apartments.

Design

A shower without a shower stall is very simple design, which is not complemented by either walls or partitions. It is very simple to equip a bathroom in this way.

Stock

The first thing you need to do in the bathroom is to make a good drain where all the water will go. There are two types of drain that you can choose for such a shower: linear or point. The linear drain is located on the floor, usually closer to the wall or to the corner.

The design is very compact and suitable for small rooms. If necessary, the drain can be integrated with a siphon for additional space savings. The point version is located in the middle of the shower.

If you make a mistake at this stage, the water will not drain, and the bath may well end up flooded.

Tiles on the floor and walls

Separately, it is worth mentioning the options for finishing the floor in the bathroom. This is also important, since not all materials can withstand such conditions, that is, high humidity and frequent temperature changes. The best option is to finish the floor, and in some cases the walls, with regular tiles.

It is important to consider that the bathroom flooring should be non-slippery. Therefore, it is preferable to choose tiles with a rough surface. In this case, there is no chance that a person will slip on a wet surface and fall.

In addition, tiles, tiles and mosaics react normally to humidity, which means that similar materials can be used to decorate the wall in the shower area. This is convenient because the room will remain well-groomed and tidy for a long time.

Design

Very important point- bathroom design. There are many interesting ideas for creating an attractive interior in this room that will inspire both lovers of classics and connoisseurs of modern art.

The first step is to decide where the shower will be located. The best option is, of course, an angle. It is there that he does not take up extra space. Although, as a rule, everything depends on the features of the bathroom arrangement, and in some cases, free space remains only in the center of the room.

Then you need to decide how the shower area will be allocated. As a rule, the space with a shower is highlighted either by color or other finishing material. Most often this is either tile or mosaic, since they react well to water and do not deteriorate under its influence. There are many interesting finishing options, including ready-made mosaic panels or full-fledged paintings that are laid out on the wall or floor using tiles.

Combinations of contrasting colors and dark inserts on a light background also look original. In some cases, the space reserved for the shower is decorated with some kind of patterns, which looks very good against a plain background. Patterns can be abstract, geometric or floral.

If you don’t want to highlight the shower space, then you can limit yourself to using a transparent curtain with a light pattern. It seems more airy and does not stand out at all against the colored background. This detail definitely does not violate the integrity of the interior.

Looks interesting modern finishing rooms made of lighting. It can be either plain or colored, resembling a garland. For this, waterproof lighting options are used, for example, high-quality LED strips.

If the shower room is combined with a toilet, then you need to make sure that there is still at least some personal space. To do this, you need to create a partition using a curtain made from any suitable material. A curtain can also be part of the interior if it is chosen correctly.

In general, there are many interesting ideas for decorating even the smallest shower room in a house or apartment. You can verify this later by looking at real examples of finished rooms.

How to do it right?

It is quite possible to make a shower without a full-fledged shower cabin with your own hands and it is not even as difficult as it seems. The main feature of such a washing space is that there is no tray, like in a regular shower. This means that the base is flush with the floor. So the floor turns out to be one level.

But at the same time it still consists of several layers.

• The main one is the base, covered either with polystyrene foam or any other means of thermal insulation. A screed is made on top of all this.
• Then a new layer of waterproofing, on top of which the screed again goes.
• The final touch is finishing the floor with beautiful tiling.

Despite the fact that the floor consists of many layers, its creation is not as difficult a task as it might seem at first.

Laying polystyrene foam

First stage work - laying polystyrene foam. The thickness of this layer, as a rule, reaches fifty millimeters. It is also an insulating layer.

Immediately after laying it, you need to consider the possibility of draining water. Either a tray or a ladder is mounted to the outlets. It is preferable to choose a ladder, since there are many varieties of it. It can be round, square, rectangular, horizontal or vertical. Everyone chooses the option that is best suited for a particular bathroom.

If the shower cabin is installed in a city apartment, and not in a private house, then you need to take into account the fact that the drain is installed in a special hole, which is located directly in the floor surface; this is done to save space. In country houses, as a rule, trays are used, the length of which, depending on the size of the bathroom, can be either 0.5 or 1.5 meters.

Screed

The next “layer” is concrete screed. After that - waterproofing. Such protective layers maybe two, or even three. Most craftsmen try to position them so that the surface of the protective layer protects not only the floor, but also the lower part of the walls. This allows you to extend the service life of the shower space.

After the waterproofing is finished, you need to additionally glue all the joints between the wall and the floor so that there are no seams or empty space. Next comes the screed again. True, this time it is done using a metal reinforced wall.

Facing

The final stage is surface finishing with facing materials. It can be tiles, mosaics or classic tiles. In some cases, pebbles or even smooth stone are also used.

By the way, here it is worth considering a separate point - correct slope tiles It should be directed towards the drain hole. This is done to prevent water from flooding the entire room.

When everything is finished with the floor, you can move on to attaching the shower. This is where it all ends. So it turns out that installing such a structure can significantly save time, since you don’t have to waste time on installing a partition or installing a full-fledged box.

Beautiful examples

A bathroom with a shower without a shower stall is unusual and original solution for a modern apartment. And in order for it not to look unnatural, you need to properly arrange the room and decorate it. There are many interesting ideas for decorating such a space.

Bright room

The first example is a charming, bright room in which you can truly relax even in the short time it takes to take a shower. Almost the entire surface of the walls and floors are tiled in shades of coffee color.

To prevent everything from seeming too boring, the surface of the walls is decorated with different types of tiles. The lower part is made of even squares, and the upper part is made of material more reminiscent of brick. In the middle of the wall is complemented by an original stripe decorated with a pattern. The top of the wall remains white.

The shower space itself does not take up much space. The mount for the watering can is fixed to the wall, and there is a point drain on the floor where all the water goes. This is convenient because there is no tray or elevation that would disturb the harmony.

Despite the fact that the bathroom is quite compact in size, there is also space for storing things. First of all, this is a niche in the wall. The designers here played with the space of the room very correctly, deciding to make a niche in the corner so that there was more space for all kinds of jars and bottles. There is also room for a small lamp. Since the niche is located high enough, water will not fall on the light source, and the lamp will be safe.

Another place to store things is a small elevation, reminiscent of benches in baths and saunas. Its surface is finished with the same tiles to maintain harmony. It can be used as a place to store towels and clothes, or as a bench. In general, despite the fact that this room does not have a shower box, it looks very attractive and stylish.

In shades of gray

The second option is a shower without a shower, which is located in the very corner of the bathroom. The bathing area is fenced off with a low side, which prevents water from flooding the entire space in the bathroom. This was done for the reason that in this case both the bathroom and the toilet are combined in one room.

The entire room is decorated in two primary colors – gray and white. But here such a combination does not seem boring, but even very stylish. Moreover, you can dilute the bathroom interior with bright accents, for example, colored towels, bathrobes or jars of skincare products.

Dark and stylish

For lovers of elegance and dark colors You'll love the following bathroom design example. It combines several interesting shades: dark brown, coffee, gray and metallic. They all harmonize perfectly with each other and create a pleasant atmosphere for relaxation. The shower in this room is modern, made of metal. There is a table in the corner, and above it there is a holder where you can hang a towel.

They also did a good job on the lighting. There are LED lamps above the shower, and next to it - original lamp. Since the room is large enough, there is space not only for a shower, but also for a sink with a mirror above it and for a toilet. Everything is thought out, so there is enough space.

The color division into zones also looks interesting. Each part of the bathtub is made in a new color to visually stand out from the rest.

Multifunctional

The last example is a multifunctional bathroom, in which a lot of useful things fit into a very small space. The first thing to note is the correct choice of color. Since the room is small, it needs to be somehow visually enlarged, and white copes with this task perfectly. The space is completely decorated in this color and this is a very right decision.

The shower area is located in the far corner. There is a shower mount on the wall, the drain is in the center of the washing area. It is separated from other areas by an opening glass screen. When folded, it takes up virtually no space. But, when unfolded, it protects the rest of the bathroom from splashes.

In another part of the room there is a toilet and a bidet. This area is decorated original holders for towels and beautiful framed paintings. On the other side of the shower there is a sink with a drawer for storing cosmetics above it. Overall the room looks as stylish as possible. It combines several zones at once, but at the same time there is enough space for everything you need and there is free space left.

A walk-in shower is a stylish and modern addition to the bathroom. It takes up little space, is easy to install and looks very unusual. If you do not make any mistakes during installation, then this design will be easy to use and will last no less than a regular shower stall.

The main advantage of a shower stall is that it does not have to be installed in a specially equipped bathroom. The shower cabin is a compact, fairly insulated device, inside of which sanitary requirements to common areas. Therefore, a shower cabin can be installed in a room that is not suitable for a bathroom, as long as it can be drained from there to a ventilated sewer riser or to a common lounger. On the one hand, this saves usable area housing; on the other hand, if it is abundant, it provides more opportunities for equipment and decorative design of the bathroom.

The water efficiency of the shower also plays an important role: to wash in it, you do not need to fill the bath with 300-700 liters. As a rule, washing in the shower requires up to 50 liters of water; 150 is already from the heart and with all sorts of effects. However, demand dictates not only supply, but also price: factory-made showers are not cheap. A DIY shower cabin will cost much or even several times less and can be made in accordance with sanitary standards and regulations. The service life of a homemade shower cabin can also exceed that of branded products. Achieving such indicators, of course, takes work, but it is quite possible at home. What and how exactly you need to know, be able to do and do to build a homemade shower stall is outlined in the material in this article.

The main incentive to make a shower stall yourself is, of course, economic. Prices of branded products in Fig. below are comparable to the cost of a small-family prefabricated house or at least a decent city car. If you want a shower room with a sauna, volumetric shower, Charcot shower, etc., then “doing it yourself from scratch” is hardly an option: saving up money for a “company” will be easier and faster than fiddling around on your own. But a homemade shower cabin is simply like a shower, in certain cases replacing a bath (see below), this is a real option without straining your budget and without spending your entire vacation on it.

More advantages

A couple of small additional ones and a huge main advantage of a compact shower stall were deliberately not listed above. The latter may be decisive for independent developers and buyers of open-plan housing.

The typical design of residential buildings goes through many stages until something acceptable emerges, but still there are apartments or houses that are expensive and inconvenient. When non-professionals design their own housing, they almost always end up with a nook or corner, the attempt to use which ruins the entire layout, and the entire cost estimate for construction very, very much depends on it. Homemade shower stalls can be squeezed into any nook or niche, incl. irregular in shape (top row in the figure), or be free-standing with a built-in boiler and waste tank (topmost right); in this case, the drainage after washing is released with a flexible hose.

By the way, the second cabin on the right at the top is from the so-called. Eurocubes, which have now almost completely replaced wall glass blocks. As for additional advantages, firstly, this is the design, bottom left in Fig. Secondly, summer and/or country showers, bottom right. Standard outdoor showers are available for sale, but a homemade one will cost many times less than a “company”, and it is much easier to make than an indoor shower.

What will happen in terms of money, work and time?

There are posts about DIY showers that start like this: “If you can handle a hammer and drill.” This is not enough - to build a shower stall, you need to be at least an average home craftsman who knows the basics of construction, plumbing and concrete work. You also come across materials about homemade showers for 5,000 rubles, see for example. plot:

Video: example of a shower stall with insufficient waterproofing

However, the comments to this video already indicate a flaw in that design: the lack of reliable waterproofing. Without it, the shower itself will last no more than 3-5 years, and the ceiling of the room under the shower is guaranteed to soak. It doesn’t matter how important it is to be your own or your neighbor’s: in terms of money and nerves it will come out about the same. If an incorrectly made shower in your home is above the subfloor, and not above the basement, then the entire floor can rot; if the house is wooden, then its entire structure will become unusable.

But the devil is not as terrible as he is painted. A shower that remains operational throughout the life of at least one generation can be installed both in a private house and in a city apartment, without documentation and obtaining permission, within the cost of 7-8 thousand rubles; country house is 1.5-2 times cheaper. It will take approx. time to build them. 2 weeks, but this takes into account technological breaks. If they are timed to coincide with the work week, then, working on weekends, you can make a shower cabin with your own hands in 1-1.5 months. or less. How? Let's get started.

Device and dimensions

Since we have decided to make a shower stall ourselves, we will try not to completely deprive it of the functions of a bath: a shower is not enough for a child, she also needs to bathe. at times you need to take a medicinal bath yourself; Sometimes you need to hand wash bulky items that the washing machine cannot handle. You will need a little extra space to ensure that the shower does not remain just a shower.

The structure of the shower cabin is shown on the left in the figure:

“Shower without a tray” (see below) is a relative concept: a shower tray is always needed, it just can be recessed flush with the floor. In the center are the standard dimensions of a corner shower stall with a low tray (also see below). For people of average height, normal build or thin, its dimensions in plan can be reduced to 800x800 mm. If the shower room does not have a tray, then, on the contrary, they need to be increased to at least 1100x1100 mm, otherwise the danger of slipping and falling in the shower increases greatly.

The minimum standard dimensions of a shower cabin with a high tray (also see below) are different, on the right in the figure, otherwise it will be inconvenient to enter and exit it. But a tray of this configuration can already serve as a sit-down bath for adults and is quite suitable for bathing children and hand washing large items.

Designing a shower cabin

Well, one of those tasks that needs to be solved when making a shower stall has already emerged. In general, their complex looks like this (in descending order of importance):

1. Installation of fencing and entrance (curtain or rigid fencing and door);
2. Type of construction (straight, angular) – depends on the location of the cabin in the house/apartment;
3. Choosing an entrance door design;
4. Selecting the height of the tray depending on user requirements for shower ergonomics;
5. Drainage equipment and connection to sewerage;
6. Water supply device;
7. Installation of glazing and doors.

Curtains or doors?

The possibility of installing a shower stall in an unsuitable room is determined by its, so to speak, sanitary self-sufficiency. A shower that splashes onto the floor should only be installed in a specially equipped room or outdoors. Showers with curtains (see picture) always splash and therefore must be installed in a specially equipped bathroom.

An internal curtain in a high-sided shower (on the right in the figure) will prevent splashing standing nearby plumbing fixtures in a small bathroom, but building one outside the bathroom is sanitary and building regulations do not allow. However, in a small apartment or house with a combined bathroom, a shower with a curtain may be optimal, because requires much less construction work, and the short distance to the common sewer bed simplifies the drainage system. In all other cases, it is better to give preference to a shower stall with a rigid fence and an entrance door.

Fencing and door

The choice of structural material for fences and shower doors turns out to be quite limited. Conventional sheet materials are unaesthetic, unpleasant to the touch, and in the shower microclimate they are not durable enough, unhygienic and often allergenic. Wood as a shower material in the country or in wooden house we will deal with it further, but for a wooden shower in an apartment it begins long before its manufacture: expensive material requires careful selection, preparation and pre-processing. What remains is glass and similar plastics. In this case, the structures of the fence and shower doors will be mechanically one and must be considered together.

Structurally, a glazed shower cabin can be made straight (items 1 and 2 in the figure), angular rectangular (item 3), faceted (item 4) and with smooth contours, item 5. The doors in any case can be sliding (item 1 and 5) or swing, pos. 2-4.

What kind of door should I make?

Already based on the “from scratch” condition, it is better to refuse sliding doors of a homemade shower cabin: to hang them you need fittings that you cannot make at home yourself. And it will cost significantly more than furniture for the same purpose, because... must work properly in conditions of high humidity and fairly significant temperature fluctuations. For a swing door, you will have to provide free space in the room or increase the size of the shower in plan (if the door opens inward) by approx. by 150-250 mm versus the minimum, but in both cases it is almost always possible to find space for a shower with a swing door.

An additional argument in favor of a swing door is sanitary and hygienic. In the shower, dirt and grease are washed off a person and fall with splashes from the gaps and grooves of the sliding door suspension. It can work for years anyway, but let’s do an experiment. After just 2-3 months. After putting the shower into operation, take a thin sharp splinter and poke it into the door hanger somewhere below. On the tip there will be a lump of mucus of an indeterminate color. It is strongly not recommended for people who have at least a superficial understanding of microbiology to examine it under a microscope for the sake of peace of mind. And in order to properly clean the sliding door hanger, it will have to be completely disassembled. And so almost every month.

Glass, acrylic or PC?

Glazing and doors can also in all cases be made from:

• Silicate glass.
• Acrylic glass.
• Monolithic polycarbonate.
• Cellular polycarbonate.

Silicate glass is definitely not a “from scratch” option, because... The most expensive parts of the shower will have to be purchased ready-made. Regular window glass is not suitable for a shower - it is too fragile. You will need to take a tempered display case with folded edges (to avoid injury), and parts made from it will cost 1.5-2.5 times more expensive than from a regular one, which is also by no means cheap. In addition, silicate glass is heavy. Shower glazing sheets made from it are needed with a thickness of 10-12 mm. A simple calculation shows that placing the weight load on the ceiling of a shower in silicate glass within the building code is 250 kgf/sq.m. m unrealistic.

Acrylic glass is much lighter and more transparent than silicate glass, but not much cheaper or even more expensive. Theoretically, acrylic glass can be bent with your own hands by heating it above 120 degrees. But in practice this is also unrealistic - a specially equipped room that consumes energy is required. technological equipment(heat gun), made with high accuracy template and perfect mastery of the rather complex technology of acrylic bending. At the slightest violation, the workpiece becomes cloudy, bubbles, warps, goes in waves and turns out to be irreparably damaged.

Polycarbonate is less transparent than acrylic and silicate glass and deteriorates when exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UV), which is not significant for a shower room. Much higher value It has a lower cost and high impact strength - polycarbonate is very difficult to break and can be safely processed with ordinary tools. Monolithic polycarbonate is lighter silicate glass and a shower room can most often be made from it without regard to weight standards, but it can only be recommended for glazing a shower room for those who want the cabin to be visible right through.

Cellular polycarbonate is inexpensive, even stronger and much lighter than monolithic: if you don’t go crazy with the design of the tray, then you don’t have to think about the load on the ceiling of the shower stall. Cellular polycarbonate is translucent: through it only the blurred outlines of a person in the shower will be visible. In addition, cellular polycarbonate is elastic across the direction of the stiffeners and can be mounted, without any technological tricks, bent into a rigid frame (for example, from a stainless steel angle from 40x40x2) with a bend radius of horizontal plane from 600 mm. If the shower stall is straight, then its glazing is made of monolithic polycarbonate with a thickness of 10 mm or more can be made without a top frame (item 2 in the figure above), which greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of work.

The disadvantage of cellular polycarbonate for shower cabin glazing is that its internal channels must be protected from moisture. It can be eliminated by using special framing profiles and silicone glue, see below. For shower glazing, 3-5 layer cellular polycarbonate (with 3-5 tiers of internal channels) with a thickness of 6-8 mm is suitable. Sheets of cellular polycarbonate are mounted so that its internal channels are located vertically.

Note 1: polycarbonate sheets are produced protected on one side from UV and precipitation by a special coating. The protected side of the sheet is marked. It is necessary to cut out the glazing parts of the polycarbonate shower cabin so that their protected sides are inward. Then the shower glazing will last for many years.

So, for now we can draw some preliminary conclusions:

1. We make a faceted shower cabin with a swing door;
2. A cabin with high sides (see figure on the right) does not provide any advantages, because splashes in the shower scatter mainly from the head and shoulders of the person washing;
3. We use polycarbonate for shower glazing. If you definitely want a transparent cabin, then a monolithic one, but best of all a cellular one;
4. If the layout of the room allows, first of all we consider the option of a straight shower cabin - making a straight shower cabin on your own is much easier and cheaper than a corner one, see for example. video:

Video: example of making a simple rectangular shower stall

Pallet and “without pallet”

As already mentioned, a tray with a slope is needed for any shower stall - the water needs to flow somewhere. Showers “without a tray” differ in appearance from the rest only in the location of the side of the tray and the type of its covering. In any case, the drain from the shower is located under the tray, so they also need to be considered as a whole.

A shower tray without a tray may differ in appearance from the surrounding floor only by the presence of a drain grate (item 1 in the figure below). The advantage of a shower without a tray is the ease of access to it. However, statistics inexorably show that the largest number of injuries due to falls in the shower occur in showers “without a tray.” A person, not seeing a visible barrier or boundary between dry and wet (and slippery) surfaces, does not subconsciously switch the algorithm for coordinating movements, slips and falls.

Note: An “ultra-low” pallet with a height of up to 100 mm is even more dangerous - people often trip over it. Shower cabins with “ultra-low” trays are not produced by industry.

The safest are showers with low trays 120-150 mm high (positions 2 and 3) - they are clearly visible and easily traversed by people with poor eyesight, the elderly, children, and the disabled. A tray with an average height of 200-300 mm (item 4) allows you to create a foot bath in the shower, but it is also not very good in terms of ergonomics and safety. You need to step over the side of a high tray with a height of 400-500 mm, but a shower cabin with a high tray is no more dangerous than a regular bathroom and can serve as one, see above.

Without pallet

A shower cabin without a tray is most likely just a fashion trend. But there are a lot of people who want to make one for themselves, so you should stick around for a shower without a tray.

On the right in Fig. A typical diagram of a shower without a tray is shown:

One of its drawbacks is clear: foam insulation. Granulated polystyrene foam in shower conditions will begin to disintegrate into granules after 2-3 years. Extruded EPS will last a year or two more, and then the concrete that makes up the structure of the pallet itself will begin to crack. Cracks in a surface constantly watered mean dampening of building structures despite any waterproofing. The second, and more significant drawback of this design is not so obvious: the height of the entire waterproof pie (5 cm polystyrene foam + 4 cm concrete + 4 cm concrete above the waterproofing + 1 cm floor covering + 2 cm slope for drainage = 16 cm).

Enter the bathroom of a house built according to SNiP; perhaps in yours. You will see that its floor is 3-4 cm lower than the finished floor in other rooms. The fact is that the floor of the bathroom (or combined bathroom), according to construction rules, must be a waterproof bathtub with a capacity of at least 200 liters, so that any spill on the floor does not cause soaking of the ceiling of the underlying rooms.

A typical bathroom floor layout is shown at the top right in Fig. The main floor screed is part of the floor structure. It can only be violated by redevelopment, major repairs or elimination of signs of disrepair of the building. In all these cases, a project is required, its documenting and permission to carry out work. What this burden is worth - those who know, know, and those who don’t know, it’s better not to know.

But a standard floor leaves only 60-100 mm for a drainage device into the sewer from a shower without a tray. The last value is enough to install a shower without a tray with a linear (slotted) drain, see below, but in most cases apartment buildings“without a pallet” will have to be abandoned. If technically there is such a possibility, then you still need to apply for a work permit, because there is no guarantee that the basic waterproofing will not be compromised. In general, poor waterproofing of a shower tray can cause serious damage to the entire structure of the building and should be given the closest attention, see, for example. video:

Video: waterproofing a shower tray

An option for installing a shower stall with a regular round drain without a tray in a private house is shown below on the right in Fig. It must be installed either above the basement into which the house drain is connected to the sewer system, or, in extreme cases, next to the main ventilated riser.

Drainage ladder

The shower drain is definitely not taken from scratch. You need to buy it, because... its operating conditions are specific. The drain from the shower is not fecal, but so-called. gray and. unlike kitchen ones, it is not saturated with solid suspension. But there may be a lot of hair in it, clumps of which can clog the pipes very well. An additional condition is that the drain from the shower may be difficult to access for repairs or may be completely buried in the pan (see below). Therefore, shower drains are made with a built-in slotted water seal, designed specifically for catching hair and fabric lint, as well as cleaning the outside. But other components of household waste immediately clog the slot drain. If, for example, you can still wash mushrooms in the bathtub, then you can’t wash them in the shower.

Round drains (item 1 in the figure below) are available with bottom and side drains. Hairballs are almost never allowed into the pipes; They can be cleaned from above by simply removing the lid. If the drain pipe behind the drain is still clogged, it can be cleaned without removing the cover. in the usual ways: plunger, pneumatic plunger. With the cover removed, the pipe behind the drain can be cleaned with a cable or machine. However, to install a round drain with a side drain, the distance from the bottom of the pallet to the main floor screed is required to be at least 120 mm (taking into account the slope of the outlet pipe), and maybe even 180 mm.

Linear drains (item 2) are available only with a side outlet. To install a linear ladder, you need a downward height of no more than 80 mm; There are 60 mm models, which allows you to use them to create a shower without a tray in your apartment. However, a linear drain catches hair worse than a round one and passes clumps of it into the pipes more often. The plunger and plunger are not applicable in this case; the cable, manual or from a machine, does not pass into the pipe. The only means of cleaning is a manual snake hair extractor. You can cut the snake extractor yourself from plastic bottle, but the cleaning procedure is disgusting.

With pallet

Now we can draw a second intermediate conclusion, which fully confirms the first: you need to make a shower cabin with your own hands with a tray. “From scratch” in this context implies not only the cost of money, but also specific plumbing skills. But there are different types of pallets: they can be homemade or purchased. There are also several varieties of the latter.

Purchased

Buying a shower tray is, of course, not “from scratch”, but it will save almost everything construction works and will make plumbing much easier. The range of shower trays on sale satisfies any requirements both in terms of cost and functionality.

The most expensive, but also the most practical choice is a floor tray with legs, pos. 1 in Fig. below. It can be inserted into a shower stall pedestal, but you can simply frame it with a screen. In this case, a shower drain will not be needed: because... the outlet will be available for repair; you can get by with a regular bath siphon. The glazing made of cellular polycarbonate will fully withstand the screen cornice. Getting to the outlet of a solid acrylic floor tray is more difficult: it needs to be moved away. Therefore, only waste drains can be placed in such pallets. Glazing is also difficult: it requires a lower support belt that is not mechanically connected to the pallet. As a result, it is also difficult to avoid splashing the shower floor.

The optimal option in terms of proximity to “zero” is a plug-in tray, pos. 4, acrylic, stainless steel or enameled. The last two can be turned into a complete analogue of a pallet on legs by welding a support frame for them, pos. 5. You can even insert the pallet directly into the flooring (item 6), but in terms of sanitation and hygiene this, of course, is far from The best way installation The most difficult, but most reliable thing would be to install a plug-in tray on a pedestal (see figure on the right), the construction of which in this case is much simplified: there is no need to maintain a slope along the concrete, a single-layer waterproofing is enough in case of leakage, the outlet remains accessible for repairs, and there is room for A glass shower with a drop-in tray will suffice even in a very small bathroom.

Shower tray completely from scratch

In many sources, the process of constructing a shower tray is described at approx. like this: we make formwork (they often forget about waterproofing), put insulation or ballast like brick into it, pour concrete and you’re done. This approach is fundamentally wrong: the layer is not reinforced concrete thickness approx. from 60 mm it spontaneously cracks even under normal operating conditions. In finished reinforced concrete products, 30-40 mm are left from the ends of the reinforcement to the edge of the monolith. In addition, the slope of the bathtub tray must be maintained within the minimum limits according to plumbing standards - 2-3 cm/m - otherwise the shower room will become hazardous. Have you tried to smooth even very viscous and greasy concrete evenly with a slight slope? Don't try, it won't work. At least “from scratch” in terms of experience in concrete work.

One way to make a shower with a tray “from scratch” is to purchase a set of reinforcing profiles; they will also be beacons for guiding the slope, see fig.:

Prices for special profiles for shower trays are reasonable, and the tray itself turns out “like candy,” completely ready for finishing and glazing. There is only one drawback: the dimensions are standard and it is unlikely to be possible to squeeze the shower into a suitable nook.

Another way is to build a shower stall with a tray using the so-called. Roman reinforcement with rubble stone or brick (ruble concrete with lime mortar was invented by the ancient Romans). Its key stages are shown in the following. rice.:

Please note: once the pallet is erected on existing floor bathroom (which is very reasonable - all the waterproofing of the floor is preserved), then the waterproofing of the pallet is 3-layer: bitumen mastic + membrane at the bottom and sides, and bitumen again on top of the insulation and ballast. How to build a tray for a homemade shower stall with reinforcing ballast, see video

Video: homemade shower tray

Note: to obtain moisture-proof concrete for the top screed of the pallet bath, add 1/5 - 1/10 volume parts of water-polymer emulsion (WPE) to the mixing water.

Tile or drain?

External finishing of the shower tray made of tiles is by far the best option. The tiles used are glazed tiles for bathrooms and/or outdoor use, or porcelain tiles, which are also less slippery for exterior use. Tile adhesive and grout are moisture resistant. The procedure for carrying out the work is the same as for conventional tiling. But as for the surface of the bath tray, tiling it already looks doubtful. Porcelain tiles for public places are still slippery when wet; the tiles are even more so, and the bottom of the bathtub must have a slope. You can add pigments to moisture-proof concrete, but the bathtub will still look unimportant. It would be better to make its sides with a ledge inside and lay a ladder on it for walking; For cleaning and repair, the shower drain is simply removed. The usual slatted shower drain (item 1 in the figure) has practically fallen out of use due to unhygienic conditions: with any impregnation in the shower it becomes slimy and rots.

However, recently a new wood-based material has appeared on the market - decking or wood-polymer composite (WPC). WPC has been developed for decking garden terraces and is produced various colors and invoices, incl. under a valuable tree. The durability and hygiene of a WPC shower drain is more than enough. WPC flooring is non-slippery no matter how wet, and when assembling it on standard gluers, 5 mm wide gaps remain between the boards (item 2 in the figure): quite enough for water to drain, but not felt by bare feet.

Drain and outlet

Diversion device Wastewater from the shower stall is either difficult to access or completely enclosed. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the rules of plumbing work for its installation with great caution.

At pos. 1 pic. Below are 3 serious mistakes. The first is that a sharp 90-degree bend in the sewer outlet pipe is only permissible vertically. The second is that a 90-degree bend must be accessible for inspection and repair, but here it clearly goes under concrete. Third - although formally the condition of no more than 3 joints or bends per meter of pipe is met, the shower drain is most often clogged with hair. Neither a hydraulic shock nor a pneumatic gun will squeeze out a lump of them from a 90-degree bend, and repeated cleaning of plastic pipes with a cable is strictly contraindicated, both manually and with a machine.

At pos. 2, the 90-degree bend is smooth, made up of several bends, which is acceptable horizontally. But after filling the pan, it will again be inaccessible for repair, and the drainage slope is clearly too small. To prevent the shower drain with its hairy blockages from becoming clogged too often, the slope of the drain pipe needs to be closer to the maximum, 6-7 cm/m.

At pos. 3 slope is correct. The bend of the pipe seems to be the same; 120 degrees once is quite normal. But - pay attention! – linear ladder. After this, the pipe can only be cleaned with a snake, and it does not pass through any bend, because... does not rotate.

The correct arrangement of a shower drain from a cabin with a ladder is shown in pos. 4, but there are nuances here too. Plastic sewer pipes are connected to the seal with rubber cuffs. If the drain goes under concreting, the joint must be additionally caulked silicone sealant in this way: lubricate the supply pipe with sealant and put a cuff on it. Then the cuff is lubricated with sealant and the inlet pipe is inserted into the outlet pipe. Thus, the sealant bead is squeezed out, increasing the reliability of the joint. If you do the opposite, the sealant bead will end up inside and dirt will constantly accumulate on it. And if you first insert the cuff into the pipe, it will most likely become wrinkled when inserting the supply pipe, because fresh sealant is a good lubricant.

The outlet of floor and insert pallets is made of thin-walled corrugated pipes. Bending of the sewer pipe is permissible up to 135 degrees and at pos. 1 pic. Below this condition is formally satisfied. But a blockage will constantly appear on the corrugation in the bend. Using a plunger, the hair plug is pushed through with great difficulty and not always, and of the other methods of cleaning sewers for thin-walled corrugated pipes, only one is applicable - disassembling the system.

At pos. 2 corrugations are taken of obviously excessive length and are almost not stretched, i.e. less prone to clogging. Bends correct angle OK. 120 degrees, but there are 2 of them in less than a meter of length. They are oriented in different planes, so such a drain will become clogged even more often than in pos. 1. As for the squiggle with negative slopes on pos. 3, then this is either the fruit of complete inability and misunderstanding, or an outright mockery of either oneself or the customer.

Water supply

For the sake of ease of use and, to a large extent, the aesthetics of the shower stall, it is preferable to make the water supply to it hidden. In this case, the shut-off valves are located away from the cabin in a separate plumbing niche. However, even welded (brazed) propylene water supply is not completely guaranteed against leaks, and control valves are needed in the cabin. Therefore, there is no need to wall up the water supply pipes into the wall, especially since this is a complex and time-consuming job. It is much simpler, although physically still not easy, to select a groove-niche in the wall and, having laid pipes in it, fill it cellulose insulation(ecowool). Ecowool insulation will not only reduce the idle flow of hot water from a cooled pipe, but will also prevent pests from entering the niche, because Ecowool is produced impregnated with a biocide harmless to humans - boric acid.

The outlet ends of the pipes are brought out with a margin of 10-15 cm. After this, the niche is sewn up with moisture-resistant (green) plasterboard sheet(GKL). It’s better to do it in pieces, keeping in mind the likelihood of repairs. For the same purpose, the width of the niche is taken such that the seams of the cladding fall on the edges of the gypsum plasterboard tire. Then the wall is plastered and covered. After finishing the protruding ends of the pipes are cut to size (not flush!), and threads are cut into them for the union nuts-flanges of the mixer. The connections between the mixer inlets and pipes are closed with its standard caps. For repairs, the cutting of the cladding seams and plaster are selected along the edges of the gypsum plasterboard tire and it is carefully removed along with the finishing. In this case, restoration repairs to the cladding are reduced to a minimum.

Glazing and door

As mentioned above, glazing a homemade shower stall with polycarbonate is optimal in all respects. Cellular polycarbonate is also good because its sheet of 2.5 x 1 x 0.024 m can be moved by one person as desired, without the risk of breaking parts or injuring oneself.

To glaze the shower cabin with polycarbonate, you will need to make the upper and lower frames from a stainless steel (better) or galvanized corner, pos. 1 in Fig. below. For cellular polycarbonate, a corner of 30x30x(0.6-1.5) mm is sufficient; for monolithic 40x40x(1-2) mm. If you take a more powerful corner, it won’t be worse. To give the parts greater rigidity and protect the internal channels of the honeycomb material, special edge profiles are used (item 2), which are sold in the same stores and/or by the same suppliers.

The instructions for glazing a shower cabin with polycarbonate are as follows:

• The wings of the upper frame blank are cut with a margin of length equal to the width of the corner flange + 2 of its thickness. There is no need to weld joints at fractures.
• Slots of the same length are made along the corners of the wings of the upper frame.
• The resulting petals (lamellas) on the wings are bent inward to form half-boxes along the edges of the wings.
• Holes for fasteners in the outer walls of the wing half-boxes are drilled in advance in diagonal pairs according to pos. 3 in Fig.
• Mounting holes are also pre-drilled in the parts of the lower frame. For a side panel width of up to 400 mm, 2 attachment points are sufficient; for a width of up to 600 mm – 3.
• The upper frame is immediately and tightly attached to the walls with self-tapping screws from 6x80 in propylene dowels through rubber gaskets from car cameras with a thickness of approx. 1 mm. Excess gaskets are trimmed flush.
• The parts of the lower frame are placed exactly under the corresponding parts of the upper one on a plumb line or a 2-coordinate level with an even rule bar adjusted to the length.
• On the side of the pallet, fastening holes are marked along the parts of the lower frame.
• The parts of the lower frame are fastened into place in the same way as the upper one.
• The side panels are covered with framing profiles according to pos. 4 and 5 fig. Glue with silicone glue; any excess that appears is immediately removed with a clean white cotton rag moistened with table vinegar. The joints of the frame parts at the corners of the panels are at 45 degrees.
• The side frame of the panel on which the door will be hung is not glued solidly, but with gaps for the door hinges, see below.
• The side panels are also glued into place with silicone according to pos. 4 in Fig. and propped up from the walls with thin wooden slats, twigs, planks, etc.
• Take a technical break for 1-3 days or more.
• Cut out the door leaf and profiles for it according to pos. 4 and 5 in Fig.
• The profiles are placed on the door leaf while it is dry, without glue. If they are not held tightly, they are secured with tape.
• They adjust the door to its location. The width of the gaps along its contour is 2-3 mm.
• They hang the door.
• Check the fit and movement of the door again.
• When the door fits perfectly, the profiles framing it are glued on.
• The time the cabin is ready for use is calculated based on the speed of complete setting of the silicone adhesive of 2 mm/day.

It is not necessary to frame the sides of the panels facing the walls. If desired, install a simple box-shaped frame or profile B with a trimmed ridge. But using silicone construction sealant instead of silicone glue is unacceptable! The strength and durability of its seams are not standardized, but with silicone glue they are monstrous. Aquariums of 400 and even 1500 liters, glued with silicone, cost decades and no matter what. But at the same time, the hardened silicone adhesive can be cut with a safety razor blade or a sharp assembly knife, so that the glazing of a shower cabin on silicone is repairable.

Door hinges for shower cabin

Shower door hinges need special hinges for showers. It is better to take self-locking ones, with a built-in ball lock that holds the door in the closed position. For polycarbonate glazing with a door on the middle edge, straight hinges are needed (pos. 1 in the figure), and for a door adjacent to the wall - angular hinges, pos. 2. For a door made of monolithic polycarbonate with a thickness of 20 mm or more or silicate glass, reinforced hinges are required, pos. 3. They all come with installation instructions.

Shower cabin in a wooden house

The load-bearing capacity of wooden floors is small, and it is technically impossible to provide waterproofing on them the same as on concrete ones. Therefore, a shower cabin in a wooden house must be made of the same structure as in a bathhouse, see fig. on right. But the reliability of a residential building should be much higher than that of an auxiliary building, therefore, firstly, the subfloor and shower purlins must be heavily impregnated several times with a water-polymer emulsion until it seeps through. Secondly, make the flooring and wall cladding from decking, but not with standard gluers, but with boards tightly mounted on stainless or (worse) galvanized screws. After assembling the flooring and sheathing, the joints of the boards are sealed with silicone sealant or flowing moisture-resistant wood mounting adhesive, which provides an elastic layer. The so-called ones are perfect for this purpose. liquid Nails. It is an adhesive and a wood sealant at the same time.

At a weekend or summer dacha, an outdoor shower with a drain into the ground and an autonomous water tank would be optimal. In a country house, there is most often no space for a shower and no sanitary conditions for its installation, and in case of bad weather, you can wait until you leave for washing or until the weather clears up. Drawings of a country autonomous shower are shown in Fig. (dimensions in inches). It does not need a foundation: the pillars rest on paving slabs laid on the ground. The peculiarity of this design is the complete absence of moving metal parts (the door is sliding on a wooden suspension) and minimal contact of the fasteners with water.

Heating water in an outdoor shower can be done using a homemade solar collector. It is clear that it is highly desirable to insulate the supply tank with foam plastic. But there is another trick: the locker room or clothes hanger is made on the south side, or the entire cabin, respectively. installed in place. Next, the roof of the locker room/hanger is made sloping and perforated. The inclination angle is taken to be approx. geographical latitude of the place minus 23.5 degrees, i.e. 90 degrees minus the angular altitude of the Sun at noon of the summer solstice. solar collector placed above the roof of the changing room/hanger with a gap of 30-70 mm (see figure on the right). Then rising from the compartment heated by the Sun will create something like dynamic insulation under the collector. The water heating time will be reduced, and the efficiency of the collector in cloudy weather will increase.

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The shower cabin fits perfectly into the interior of the apartment and serves as an excellent alternative to the bathroom. It doesn't take up much space and saves time on washing. But often the boxes offered for purchase do not meet all the necessary requirements - they are either too small, or the design and functionality are not satisfactory. So as not to waste time searching the desired model, you can make a shower stall yourself.

Design and benefits

A shower cabin made by yourself may be practically no different from a purchased design. However, such a hydrobox will already meet all the requirements of its owner and fit perfectly into the room. And besides, if something suddenly goes wrong and a breakdown occurs, it will be clear what happened and what exactly broke, because the entire structure, every bolt was selected and installed by hand.

The decision to create a shower stall is usually due to the following:

there is not enough space in the apartment, or rather, the bathroom is small, and a huge bathroom is an unaffordable luxury;

the house has a complex architecture with nooks and crannies that can be “played around” and created a full-fledged washing area;

in a private house you want to create an ideal corner with a “tropical shower”, hydromassage and other technical innovations;

At the dacha or in the garden you need a place where you can wash.

Making a shower cabin yourself can be done by a person who understands plumbing and has done it at least once major renovation. When arranging the box, you can cheat and install some completely finished parts: be it a tray or walls with doors. Ready-made purchased structural elements will significantly simplify the entire assembly process, however, the decision to install them will slightly limit the possibilities of an individual project and will fit into a certain framework, because ready-made elements have a strictly verified standard size.

There are several options for constructing a hydrobox:

Assembling a ready-made kit - simply buy and assemble the shower on site without any preparatory work.

Installation of the cabin on a ready-made pallet or bathtub. Here the walls are selected and decorated, and plumbing equipment is installed. There is no need to prepare the floor (leveling is carried out only in case of obvious defects and differences in height).

Construction of a hydrobox based on a homemade pallet. First, a corresponding pedestal with sides is made, and then the installation and decoration of the walls is carried out. Walls and doors are either made to individual sizes or purchased ready-made.

Complete self-assembly of the hydrobox, all parts are unique and homemade.

Construction of a shower structure without a tray with ready-made doors and walls.

Construction of a hydrobox without a pallet with unique partitions and doors, made to order or made by hand.

Setting up your own cabin will not save you from spending money. If you choose low-quality and cheap materials, you may be able to save money, but this money will still be spent on repairs.

Often, self-assembly can even be a little more expensive than the purchased option. But it’s worth it, since the finished kit will be fully functional, unique and practical.

The process of assembling a homemade shower stall will take place in several stages:

construction and preparation of walls; if the box is placed in a ready-made room, then this step can be skipped;

construction of a water barrier of walls and a pallet;

creation of a water drainage system with the ability to service all hidden plumbing;

laying communications;

purchase of finishing materials and further wall cladding;

installation of walls and doors.

Wall requirements

The washing area where the cabin will be installed is a very wet place. Accordingly, there will be a large load on the internal walls and corners. Mold, mildew, leaks (and, as a result, flooding) are the troubles that threaten owners of homemade shower enclosures who have not taken care to protect the walls.

Theoretically (and practically too) the hydrobox can be installed near any walls. Even wooden ones. But they must be protected from moisture. Not all types of wood are resistant to water.

One way to protect walls is to additionally cover them with moisture-resistant plasterboard. Of course, additional treatment with moisture-repellent compounds won’t hurt either.

In addition, the following have good water-repellent properties:

walls lined with tiles (tiles or mosaics) and if they are fixed with appropriate compounds that are resistant to high humidity;

walls covered with PVC panels;

walls made of glass, brick, stone.

In addition, you need to take care of the ceiling, ventilation system, and electricity. The top can be covered with panels or tiles, or covered with plaster, which contains protective components.

It is advisable to conduct electricity outside the area of ​​high humidity. The optimal solution would be to install 12 W LED lamps. They do not heat up much, are economical, but at the same time illuminate the space well.

It is also worth considering that very often after taking a shower, soap and lime deposits remain on the surfaces of the walls. When choosing materials for their finishing, you need to understand that you will have to wash them often.

Materials

Any shower stall consists of several parts: internal walls and ceiling, external doors, partitions, a tray (or a specially prepared floor area), and plumbing.

Walls can be built from any building material, but if they are made of wood (or other material that is not resistant to moisture), then it is advisable to cover them with moisture-repellent compounds. Better yet, cover it with special plasterboard. And then, to realize the decorative concept and provide greater protection, cover it with tiles (mosaics) or install plastic panels.

You can also build walls from glass blocks. This solution will create a warm and bright space.

When arranging a corner cabin, the external walls can be made of polycarbonate, plastic, or glass. Doors (both swing and sliding) can be made from the same materials.

The walls and partitions of the shower stall can be made from several types of materials at once. For example, they can be half bricked, and the second part will be made of glass.

The pallet is usually factory made from acrylic or enamel. For a homemade pallet, bricks are used (and, of course, cement composition, screeds, as well as waterproofing - for example, bitumen mastic), but it is also possible to use other materials (construction of a structure from plasterboard, wooden formwork and monolithic concrete). In addition, a homemade pallet can also contain a layer of insulation - polystyrene foam.

If the cabin is built on the base of a bathtub, then only doors and partition walls will be needed, which will act as a “curtain”.

There is an option to build a hydrobox without any doors or external walls. Walls and doors, on the contrary, are replaced with water-repellent fabric and curtains.

When choosing building materials, you should give preference to those solutions and mixtures that contain special additives that increase resistance to high humidity, mold and mildew.

Models and forms

Standard sizes of hydroboxes vary from 80 cm to 1 m in width. In the first there is very little space and quite uncomfortable. The meter-long booths are already more spacious, so you don’t have to worry that some awkward movement will accidentally knock over cosmetics or shelves.

The advantages of homemade cabins are that they can be made of almost any size in length, width, and height. But if the dimensions are still small, then you should strive for a figure of at least 90 cm. You can wash yourself comfortably in such a hydrobox, but there will be nowhere to turn around.

The shape of the booths can be either rectangular or square, as well as rounded. A rectangle and a square are quite easy to reproduce when constructing a hydrobox yourself, in contrast to the rounded options. To recreate a semicircle at home, you will need polycarbonate, which will need to be bent.

When determining the location in a room, very often they resort to such a booth option as a corner. It is built into the corner of the room, so making internal walls is out of the question. They are already ready. The corner can be shaped as a semicircle, trapezoid or at a right angle.

You can arrange the bath in the form of a shower stall. To do this, you only need partitions and doors. As a result, a space will appear in which you can not only take a shower, but also soak in the bath.

Determining the place

In a small apartment, every meter counts. Therefore, the decision to install a hydrobox is completely justified. The bathtub is removed, making room for the washing machine and leaving space where you can change clothes. It is important to consider that the box should not interfere with movement around the room or create inconvenience when using other interior items (washbasin, washing machine).

In a private house there is much more space to install a booth. In addition, the space for the box can be thought out at the stage of designing the house. But if this has not been done, then it is quite possible to build it later.

If the cabin is installed in a country house or in a garden, then it can be located where there is free space and access to water.

Choosing a base and drainage system

The fundamental decision in the matter of assembling a shower cabin yourself is whether to use or not use a tray. It is from the foundation that all work on creating a hydraulic structure begins.

The choice of base also determines what kind of drainage system will be installed. A deep pan, either self-made or ready-made, allows for laying pipes without bricking them up.

The palletless option involves a hole in the floor and a grooved channel into which the water will flow.

The use of a siphon is the simplest and most affordable solution for collecting and draining water. When using a pallet, the main thing is to provide access to the structure. The pipes should be laid at an angle of 30-45 degrees. The slope of the sewer pipes, which will help avoid stagnation of water, is two degrees per meter.

The installation of a ladder is considered a more reliable water drainage system. And besides, this system takes up less space in height. When installing a drain, it is also necessary to create a water seal that will protect against the reverse flow of water and waste.

The simplest ladder consists of several parts: grating, glass and the base itself with a hole for connecting the structure with the sewer pipe. Thanks to this structure, the possibility of clogging is minimized. Due to the fact that the grille is removed, there is access to the internal parts of the device. If you clean the parts in a timely manner, then you don’t even have to think about blockages. The shower stall is not a room where a lot of debris accumulates in the drain. But if a blockage does occur, for example, at the entrance to the pipe, then it is enough to simply push it inside the pipe. When it is laid correctly, the blockage will pass through it.

Installing a drainage channel is considered a more difficult task. But he has large area to collect water. The drainage channel can be installed in walls and also in the floor.

Full functioning of the shower cabin is impossible without a specially equipped water supply. From an aesthetic point of view, it is better to hide it. Shut-off valves will be located away from the box in a separate niche. But still, you should not wall up pipes in the wall. It is best to make a niche in the wall and, having laid pipes in it, fill it with cellulose insulation (ecowool).

If the cabin is located far from sewer riser, then you need to take care of the drain pump. It is advisable to install pumps with magnetic valves.

Ready pallet

Using a ready-made pallet greatly simplifies the process of building a box. It can be acrylic or enamel. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. So, an acrylic tray feels warmer. But enamel is non-slip.

In addition, there are also trays made of copper, ceramics, and glass. But such options are quite expensive, although they have a number of advantages.

The main disadvantage of any pallet is its standard nature. It is difficult to select a finished product according to your own individual sizes.

Installation of the finished pallet is as follows:

first of all, the base on which the container will be placed is leveled and a rough screed is made;

pipes are laid and plumbing installed (drain or siphon);

the finished product is installed and fastened.

Do it yourself

A homemade pallet is made of brick. It is also possible to construct a frame and then cover it with plasterboard. But using brick is more reliable. For its laying, cement with special additives is used. If such additives are not at hand, you can add PVA glue or liquid glass to the solution.

When the contour is laid out, you can take care of the rough screed. After this, cover with waterproofing in several layers. For these purposes, bitumen mastic is usually used. If insulation is needed, then the screed is laid in several layers - a small layer of cement mortar, insulation, screed, be sure to coat each layer with waterproofing.

The final layer will be a tiled covering - tiles or mosaics. They will provide an anti-slip coating. The layer of adhesive composition should be small and, naturally, it should contain additives that increase resistance to moisture.

The construction of a homemade pallet begins with the manufacture of a frame, formwork or small brickwork. A ladder, funnel and pipes are installed in this space. Please note: the height of the pallet wall must be such that after it is lined, the drain elbow and concrete screed can fit there, while maintaining the slope. During work, it is necessary to protect the plumbing fixtures and drain as much as possible from getting construction waste. While you are working, you can cover it with newspaper or other paper. You should not neglect waterproofing and, having built the formwork or brick side, you need to walk it in several layers along the walls to the height of the future screed. IN brickwork It is worth laying down fastenings for racks if you plan to have glass (plastic) fences fitted into a metal frame.

When the concrete screed has dried, you can begin lining the sides and floor. And if up to this point a slope for water has not been provided, then it can be done by finishing works. It is necessary to reduce the thickness of the tile adhesive. The closer to the funnel, the smaller the layer.

Some points regarding a homemade pallet made of monolithic concrete:

For a concrete pallet, insulation is simply necessary; you can also install heated floors (but this is a matter of taste and individual preference).

In the process of creating such a pallet, waterproofing in several layers and sizing with waterproof tape around the perimeter is also necessary.

After the waterproofing layer there is a layer of insulation along the walls. In addition, a damper tape is also laid around the perimeter.

After the beacons are set, the slope is formed, first half the solution to half the height of the screed. Moreover, the solution itself should contain a minimum of water. Afterwards, the second half of the solution is laid, which is prepared according to all the rules. It can be leveled by a rule.

When everything has set, there is a layer of coating waterproofing, and then ceramic cladding. When constructing a hydrobox in a multi-storey building, it is worth splitting the screed layer into two and coating each layer with waterproofing.

You will see how to make a homemade shower tray in the next video.

Without reason

Building the right trayless shower space begins with building the field. The main thing when arranging it is to ensure a slight slope, literally a couple of degrees, no more. The drainage system will be hidden. But it is worth remembering that it is necessary to form a gutter with a grate with the possibility of access to it.

It is best to design a barrier-free space when the screed is just being formed in the room. This makes it easier to determine the height around the perimeter of the room.

The first steps in this direction will be the installation of sewerage and communications.

Then comes the design of the perimeter of the washing area. A separation box is being constructed in this area. With its help, it will be much easier to bring the level of the main floor to 0 degrees. The base for the booth can be made when the main screed of the room has completely dried and set. The angle of inclination in the wet zone is small - 1-2 degrees. It is worth considering that when installing a heated floor, the screed is created in two steps. The first layer is reinforced, wait until it sets, and then heating mats are placed on it. A second thin layer of mortar suitable for this purpose is applied to these mats.

When the subfloor is ready, it is necessary to waterproof it. Afterwards you can move on to finishing work.

Making corners and installing fences

The corner shower stall is the simplest in terms of construction. In fact, it is built into a corner, meaning the construction of internal walls is not required. You just need to think about where to place the hood. As a rule, it is decorated on interior walls.

Usually the walls are made of tempered glass, covered with a special film that will protect against splinters. In a private house or on the street, the option of erecting glass block fencing is quite acceptable. They consist of glass, which means they will transmit light, but will not be translucent.

Polycarbonate has also proven itself well as a material for the construction of partitions and fences. Its undeniable advantage is that it can be given even the most intricate curved shape. With its help, the corner booth can be designed in a semicircle.

A glass booth is unthinkable without doors. Built-in doors can be hinged, sliding, and there are also options for installing accordion doors. To install them, you need a certain set of fittings that are attached to the frame.

All of the materials listed have good performance characteristics and can provide decent waterproofing.

To build fences, you will need to build a frame into which the main materials - glass or plastic - will be built.

You can assemble a corner or a simple booth with a pallet according to the following scheme:

First make a frame. As a rule, such a structure is made of metal profiles, corners, and guides. It will securely hold fairly weighty glass or plastic. But if there is no need for a heavy frame and a lightweight material is used, then its analogue can be made, for example, from nickel pipes.

Place a wall profile on the edge of the pallet and align it strictly vertically. Mark the drilling points for subsequent fixation of the profile.

In non-impact drilling mode, make the required holes. Install the dowels into the holes and mount the profile.

Hang wall panels. The seal should not interfere with free closing, but it should fit well to the base.

Secure doors and walls.

If you need to build a barrier-free space, you need to know that doing it right is not an easy task. The main thing here is the installation and installation of the floor. But such a booth will delight you for a long time with its modern design. You can conveniently arrange shelves in it, equip it with a seat, and install a good shower with a massage effect.

The sequence of work is as follows:

drill holes for mounting frame parts;

secure profiles;

install partition walls along with seals;

installation of special fittings and installation of door(s);

cabin sealing - all seams are treated with silicone sealant.

When the shower cabin body is completely assembled, you can take care of installing the remaining plumbing: faucets, taps, shower heads. Soap dishes, handles, holders, mirrors and other accessories are attached through seals. And finally, you can connect the water supply, check everything for tightness and leaks. If the latter are not available, then we can say that the hydrobox is finally assembled.

In order for the shower stall to serve for a long time, it is necessary to take care of it - regularly wash and clean it, ventilate it, and then there will be no plaque or musty smell of stagnant water. It would not be superfluous to periodically check the functionality of all hidden and obvious plumbing parts of the structure.

Special treatment of the seams between the tiles will protect against such unpleasant phenomena as the appearance of black stains, mold, and mildew. It is also advisable that the booth be cleaned after each wash. It is enough to rinse the surfaces first with warm and then with cold water, and wipe dry with a towel or napkin. The main thing is to carry out regular inspections and general cleaning designs.

When cleaning plastic and chrome surfaces, do not use active agents. chemical substances, rough brushes and sponges. For glass surfaces, mirror and glass cleaners are suitable. But for an acrylic tray, a special product would be useful. In the absence of one, a soap solution will help deal with dirt. The enamel tray is more resistant to strong agents. A homemade tray lined with tiles can also be cleaned with strong and even abrasive substances, but it is better to use the latter only in extreme cases.

Water procedures are a mandatory daily ritual for humans. But what should owners of small-sized apartments do, where the size of the bathroom does not allow them to accommodate all the desired plumbing fixtures? A compact shower cubicle is a modern alternative to a traditional bath. And the variety of materials for its arrangement allows you to turn it into a stylish shower room. Do you agree?

It does not require much space, saves water and time allocated for hygiene procedures. And most importantly, it is quite possible to make such a design yourself, according to your own design and measurements. Let's take a closer look at how a shower stall is made from tiles in three versions - with ready-made or homemade pallet, as well as without it.

We will tell you how to build a tile shower yourself, what materials and tools you will need for this. The article also contains expert advice and the main nuances that you should pay attention to during construction. And the videos posted in the material clearly demonstrate the arrangement of a tile tray for a shower stall.

Although today in plumbing stores you can choose the furnishings to suit any interior style, homemade shower stalls do not lose popularity. The main reasons are the bulky dimensions and the impressive cost of truly high-quality factory products.

Budget options are most often made of inexpensive plastic and with cheap components, which soon reveal themselves in all their glory in the form. Some of them can be eliminated with your own hands, but to repair individual elements of the shower cabin you will have to turn to the experts.

The color design of plastic cabins is quite sparse - most often they are produced in white or silver, while ceramic elements will allow you to decorate the shower enclosure in the same style as the bathroom

Additionally, many cabins are equipped with all kinds of electronics - from a radio point to a steam generator, lighting effects and a Charcot shower, the need for which is very doubtful, but they significantly increase the cost of plumbing.

In addition, factory products are manufactured according to a standard size range, which does not always fit small rooms in country houses or apartments of old buildings, where every centimeter counts.

Factory cabins are demanding on the evenness of floor and wall surfaces, and when making a homemade shower, these errors can be eliminated during the construction process

Therefore, a homemade tile shower has a number of advantages:

• Reliability and simplicity– the design with ceramic lining is much stronger than the plastic walls of standard shower cabins, so it will last a long time.
• Possibility to create original design – in addition to the shape of the booth itself, you can experiment with its design, because the range of mosaics, tiles and porcelain stoneware is very diverse.
• Safety and environmental friendliness– ceramics do not conduct electricity and do not emit unpleasant odors(unlike some types of plastic).
• Easy care– it is easy to care for the tiles, they do not turn yellow, they are undemanding detergents and can be easily cleaned of limescale deposits from hard water and soap stains.

There are not so many disadvantages to a tiled cabin (of course, if its installation is carried out according to all the rules and in compliance with the slope). Mostly they note poor sound insulation, which can be solved by laying an additional layer under the screed or installing a ready-made pallet.

Also, many people think that taking a shower while standing on a cold tile is not very comfortable. But in fact, ceramics quickly heat up under a warm flow, and if desired, a “warm floor” system and an additional heat-insulating layer can be installed under such cladding.

Options for arranging a homemade cabin

If you decide to start designing the shower area in the bathroom yourself, first decide on the installation location of the future stall and its design.

The complexity of the preparatory work depends on the choice of design - the need to level the floor, install hydro, sound and thermal insulation, install a drain and lay out pipes

Depending on the height of the ceiling, the entrance to the sewer, the size of the free space and your construction skills, three options are possible: with a purchased pallet, a ladder or a homemade pedestal.

Option #1 – shower with a ready-made tray

If there is enough space in the bathroom, and the main purpose of arranging a homemade stall is custom design, you can easily make your task easier and buy a ready-made pallet.

Moreover, in a plumbing store you can choose an option for any design and budget - it can be either the usual snow-white pedestal made of acrylic, or a product made of beautiful artificial stone or reliable cast iron.

In order for the structure to be stable and leak-free, it may be necessary to level the junction of the walls and the floor at a right angle

In addition to the pallet itself, for installation you will need:

• Flexible drain hose.
• Corrugation and siphon.
• Foam concrete.
• Tile adhesive.
• Silicone sealant with a gun.
• Tape measure, level and pencil for marking.
• Saw, wooden/rubber hammer.
• Tray and trowel.

The pallet is installed on a specially constructed foundation, under which communications will be hidden. First you need to make markings: place the pallet in the location chosen for installation and trace the contours with a pencil.

Then cut out four supports from foam concrete that will support the base of the future cabin, and check the evenness with a level (if necessary, the blocks can be easily trimmed).

The supports for the pallet are fixed with regular tile adhesive, but if the design includes height-adjustable legs, the installation process will be much easier

Now you need to attach the drain. To do this, you need to return the pan to the supports and outline the location of the siphon on the floor through the drain hole. Remove the pan again and attach it to the drain pipe so that it matches the markings.

If the entrance to the sewer is located at a distance from the drain of the future cabin, use a corrugated pipe or pipe of a suitable diameter, carefully sealing the joints

Then a foundation is erected from foam concrete blocks cut to the height of the supports and attached to tile adhesive. When the base is prepared, its upper surface is coated with the same tile adhesive, a pallet is placed on top and adjusted with wooden or rubber mallet by level.

On final stage it is necessary to ensure the tightness of the structure. To do this, wipe the edges of the pallet with a clean rag, degrease and apply silicone sealant along the joints. All that remains is to install the siphon in the pan and cover the foam concrete foundation with tiles.

Do you have an acrylic, cast iron or marble tray? On our website there is information on installing pallets from various materials. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with them.

Option #2 – design of a cabin with a gangway

An effective solution that looks attractive in photographs of modern interiors is a single-level cabin without podiums or differences.

This shower enclosure is ideal for small bathrooms, especially if equipped with transparent glass doors, and decorate the walls and floor from the same materials or in a similar color scheme with the main decoration. The result is an airy and stylish design.

To increase the space in a small room, the booth can be left without side partitions, replacing them with curtains or doors that fold into a compact “accordion”

To do this, you need to equip the corner not with a pallet, but. But it is best to plan such a structure at the renovation stage, because you will have to raise the floor by at least 15 cm in order to hide communications under the concrete layer.

The second option is to drill a hole in the screed for the drain and a groove for supplying sewer pipe. But this is the case if the thickness of the “pie” on the floor makes it possible to disguise communications, because it is impossible to chisel the floor slabs.

When installing a drain, it is important to provide for the possibility of its repair and replacement, so if you install a siphon, always leave an inspection passage, but the design of the drain is more reliable, therefore it allows the use of a monolithic screed

1. First you need to make markings for the future cabin, determine the place for the drain bowl where the water from the shower will flow.
2. Then, to the place of the shower drain, you need to connect a pipe entering the sewer drain. Here it is advisable to provide a slope of 3% (although 1-2% is possible for a linear drain) and a permissible angle of rotation at the entrance to the sewer within 30-45°. If these conditions are met, you can clear the clogged pipe with a regular plumbing cable.
3. After measurements, the drain is installed on supports of the required height and connected to the pipe.
4. When all communications are installed and connected, you can screed with concrete. But here, too, it is important to make a bevel of 4-5 cm for each meter of length towards the drain bowl, so that the water does not stagnate on the floor, but goes into the drain.

At the final stage, you need to make a water supply and close the booth with glass or plastic doors, which you can buy along with fasteners at a plumbing store or make yourself.

In an economical option, for example, when organizing a shower in a country house, you can get by with curtains made of polyethylene or waterproof fabric.

Option #3 – shower with a homemade tray

Instead of a factory podium, you can make a solid base for the booth on a brick or concrete foundation, which will only need to be covered with ceramic tiles or mosaics.

The size of such a shower completely depends on your preferences - it can be either a modest corner or a real mini-pool with high sides

But such a major decision may turn out to be very difficult to implement in practice, because in addition to the pedestal itself, you will need high-quality waterproofing, and the plumbing connections need to be thought out in detail.

Therefore, we will consider in more detail the main stages of such construction, so that it is easier to assess the scope of the upcoming work and our own strengths.

Making a booth from scratch: step-by-step instructions

First, decide on the shape of the future booth and make markings for it on the floor. The easiest way is to make a square or rectangular shower in a corner or niche, but if desired, you can also build a trapezoidal or semicircular structure.

But although a lot depends on the layout and availability of space in the bathroom, keep in mind that minimum dimensions comfortable cabin – 90*90 cm.

Step #1 – select materials and tools

To set up a booth, you will need the usual set of tools, which are likely to be found in the home craftsman's supplies: a level, a pencil and a tape measure, a trowel for mortar and glue, spatulas for grouting, a roller and a brush.

To mix the solutions, it would be a good idea to stock up on a construction mixer, otherwise you will have to prepare the mixture manually.

Materials you need to prepare:

• Moisture-resistant single brick (silicate brick can also be used, but must be treated with hydrophobic agents).
• Reinforcement mesh with cells 10*10 cm.
• Mixture for screed M-200.
• Waterproofing mastics or rolled materials.
• Insulation.
• Tile or mosaic with crosses for layout.
• Tile adhesive, grout and acrylic sealant.

It is also necessary to purchase plumbing parts in advance - pipes, drain or siphon with all the necessary connections.

Step #2 – install pipes and build a foundation

So, the place has been chosen, construction can begin. First you need to remove the old covering from the floor and walls.

If the floor is fairly level, you can process it immediately, but if there are significant differences, you should first do rough screed(for heat and sound insulation, glass wool, expanded polystyrene or mineral fiber can be laid).

Install communications: from the sewerage system, it is necessary to bring a pipe to the installation site of the siphon or drain with a slope of at least 1%, and from the water supply system, a supply for hot and cold water must be drilled into the wall

After drying, insulation, for example, bitumen mastic or liquid rubber, is applied to the surface of the floor and wall. You can also use rolled materials, but the ideal option is polymerizing impregnations (liquid glass), which are used to insulate swimming pools.

When they harden, they form a water-impermeable coating that will reliably protect against leaks.

The pipes should also be treated, leaving only the valves and outlets open.

Waterproofing is a mandatory step when building a shower with your own hands, because it can save you from the problem of flooding your neighbors, fungus and wear building materials upon contact with water

For the base, you can take a moisture-resistant red brick, which is laid on tile adhesive for masonry along the perimeter of the future cabin, forming the sides. Then a drain with a water seal or a standard siphon is installed and connected to the sewer pipe.

After this, the floor is laid with bricks or filled with a self-leveling mixture (3-5 cm thick) using reinforcing mesh.

All that remains is to carefully rub all the joints and cracks with a solution of sand and cement, dry and coat them again with waterproofing without affecting the siphon.

We have another article on our website in which we examined the DIY process in more detail, providing the material with step-by-step photos.

Step #3 – assemble the frame and lay the tiles

If you want to create a full-fledged stall, and not a shower corner, you need to erect partitions. Depending on the location, the cabin is already adjacent to the room wall on one or both sides.

The missing partitions can be made from moisture-resistant plywood or plasterboard and then covered with the same tiles or mosaics. To do this, you need to build a frame from a metal profile, sheathe it with plasterboard, smooth the seams with putty and prime the surface.

If a plasterboard wall does not inspire you, you can build a partition from transparent or frosted glass(preferably triplex), glass blocks, plastic panels

To finishing lays down beautifully, it is important to level the surface of the frame well, especially if you want to cover it with a mosaic that is capricious in terms of the quality of the base.

To do this, you can use plaster followed by treatment with moisture-resistant impregnation or a gypsum mixture.

If you have chosen a complex shape for a pallet, where there are smooth lines, curves or a large number of corners, it is better to choose sheet mosaic for cladding - it is easier to work with than large tiles, which need to be carefully measured and trimmed

After leveling, attach the cladding with tile adhesive and treat the seams with moisture-resistant grout. When the solution has hardened, apply sealant to the joints between the tiles and the shower walls.

The better the installation and the smaller the gaps between the tiles, the longer the decorative coating will last in a humid environment.

Step #4 – install doors for the booth

So that during hygiene procedures water is not splashed throughout the bathroom; it is advisable to enclose the shower area on all sides. The simplest option is to arrange waterproof curtains.

But this solution is more suitable for a shower in the country, but it is unlikely to decorate a room in an apartment. Therefore, you can buy ready-made sliding, folding or swing doors or make them yourself from plasterboard or plywood.

Hinged doors are the simplest solution for arranging a cabin made of tiles, and although their design is not airtight, it will perfectly protect against water splashes throughout the room

But still, the best option (both in design and level of moisture resistance) for arranging the partitions of a homemade booth is sliding polycarbonate or glass doors, at least 6 mm thick.

The ends of the blanks can be cut and processed in a glass workshop, and installed using ready-made canopies that are attached to both the ceiling and walls.

Construction and design tips

To create your own unique design, you can combine different materials without forgetting about the practicality and safety of the future shower room. For example, for the floor it is advisable to choose small embossed tiles or mosaics - there is less chance of slipping on a rough surface with frequent seams.

As finishing material for the pallet you can use multi-colored pebbles or other decor, bay finishing layer transparent sealant.

If desired, you can equip your homemade design with hydromassage and other functions from the arsenal of a factory hydrobox, but for this you will have to install additional pipes and make special outlets

A few important nuances:

1. To prevent water from building up in the pipes, an important rule must be observed: the entrance to the sewer must always be below floor level. The height of the pan with a built-in siphon or drain depends on this.
2. Before installing the drainage system, pay attention to the drainage capacity: the larger it is, the faster the water will leave the pan. In some cases, for example, for a cabin with a rain shower function, a standard drain may not cope with the flow of water.
3. It is best to lay whole tiles or mosaic sheets on a pallet. To do this, at the stage of marking the booth, you can make a dry layout. If you cannot do without undercuts, install end caps on the cut.

When creating the design of your future cabin, think about comfortable little things.

At the construction stage, it is easy to provide various shelves or niches for placing all kinds of shampoos, gels and other hygiene items, or build a small chair covered with tiles.

The construction of a homemade shower stall with tile or mosaic cladding allows you to bring to life the most creative design ideas. And if all the work is done efficiently, not forgetting about slopes and waterproofing of surfaces, such a shower will last much longer than plastic cabins.

But if you are not confident in your construction skills, you can always get involved professional builders or plumbers.

Do you like tile shower stalls and want to build one for yourself? If you still have questions or have any questions after reading our instructions, ask them in the block below.

Or would you like to supplement our material with practical recommendations for laying tiles and connecting to the water supply/sewage system? Perhaps you have just completed the construction of a shower stall? Write your comments and advice, add photos of a booth you made yourself - your experience will inspire many newcomers to this business.

Increasingly, apartment and country property owners are abandoning a full bath in favor of small and comfortable showers. Such a solution allows you to rationally use living space, save water and energy, without limiting yourself.

It is not difficult to buy a ready-made cabin, but you can make it yourself. Of course, before you make a shower stall with your own hands, you need to choose the optimal configuration for it, prepare tools and materials.

Shower stall: pros and cons

The main advantage of the cabin is that it can be installed in almost any room of a house or apartment, the only condition is that it is necessary to install a water supply and drainage system. A correctly selected and high-quality installed booth will not only not spoil the interior of the room, but will also add originality to it.

Note! Shower cabin – The best decision for a small apartment, studio or loft-style interior.

Design is good, but saving water is just as important. To take a bath, you will need to consume 300–700 liters of it at a time. With ever-increasing water and energy prices, a bathtub can be a luxury, especially since 50-100 liters is more than enough for a full shower.

The only disadvantage of a shower stall is its high cost. This is more true for branded models, the price of which corresponds to the quality. Cheap models may suit the buyer in all respects, but quickly break down.

The high price is a disadvantage, but it can be overcome. It’s easy to make a simple and functional shower cabin with your own hands. It is guaranteed to be cheaper than a store-bought analogue, and if made with high quality, it will pamper its owners with a warm shower for a long time and delight with its original design.

Choosing a design to make yourself

In the case of a cabin that will be made at home, you will have to give up a large number of moving parts; they are difficult to make with your own hands; it is better if the cabin itself is stationary. From this we can conclude that a shower room made of tiles is most suitable for self-production; in fact, this is a part of the room separated by partitions in which the shower is equipped.

The easiest way is to install the cabin in the corner of the room; this allows you to save on walls; to create it you only need to build one fence and install a door. It is easy to make a partition or fence from waterproof plasterboard.

The advantages of this design are obvious:

• relative ease of operation;
• low cost of material;
• smooth surface on which dirt does not accumulate;
• high coating strength, scratch resistance;
• aesthetic appearance of the structure as a whole;
• the booth can be squeezed into any corner of the apartment;
• plenty of design options.

A homemade shower cabin, made using durable materials, will obviously have a longer service life compared to factory models, the design of which is dominated by plastic.

All these are advantages, but there are also disadvantages. You must understand that a shower stall made by yourself will be simple; you will have to limit yourself to just one watering can. It is unlikely that you will be able to make a device on your own that has all the functionality of a modern cabin, including different hydromassage options. Another obvious disadvantage is the difficulty of dismantling it.

Of course, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just tiles. A cabin with walls made of glass blocks will look beautiful and impressive. In a wooden house, you can and should install a wooden shower, but it is important not to forget about protecting the wood from moisture.

Functionality and dimensions

Before you get down to work, you need to decide on the functions that the cabin should perform and its size. Regarding the functionality, it would seem that everything is simple - they take a shower in the stall. This is true, but not only that. Often, especially if the stall replaces a bathtub, its tray is used to soak heavy items that cannot be washed in a machine.

A special approach is also required when you need to squeeze a shower into narrow space, a niche in the wall or a cramped bathroom. Before you start making such a cabin, you should carefully measure the available space, choose the optimal mounting location for the shower and faucet, and the door mounting points.

A homemade cabin is not tied to standard dimensions, so its dimensions are chosen based on one’s own preferences. In any case, you should not make a shower smaller than 100 x 100 cm. The height of the cabin can be equal to the height of the room, in which case it is additionally necessary to install ventilation or not to reach the ceiling, then ventilation will be carried out through the open “roof”.

Choosing an installation location

Having decided on the dimensions of the cabin, you need to find the optimal place for it. It is easier and cheaper to install a cabin in the bathroom. The benefit is obvious - the bathroom already has all the necessary communications, they just need to be slightly modified.

If this option is not suitable, then the installation location must be chosen based on the availability of communications. At the same time, do not forget that a shower is not only hot water, but also evaporation. If a well-made cabin protects against splashes, then it will not be able to prevent the free escape of steam. The room must have good ventilation.

Doors or curtain

The entrance to the shower stall must be closed, otherwise there will be puddles on the floor. You can close the entrance using light curtains or doors. A curtain is simple, but ineffective. It is possible to use a curtain only if a shower is installed in the bathroom or when creating a summer shower in the yard.

The doors provide sufficient tightness, which allows you to install the cabin anywhere in the apartment. There are several options for their design: hinged, retractable, folding.

Perhaps the best option for a cubicle is a retractable door; it looks impressive and does not take up much space, but making it at home is problematic. You will need accessories that you definitely won’t be able to make yourself.

Swing doors are easy to make and are the best option for homemade cabin. Of course, when designing a shower with a swing door, you need to take into account the radius of its opening. Almost any sheet material can be used, but it is better to choose one of the following options:

• silicate glass;
• plexiglass;
• acrylic glass;
• polycarbonate

A glass door is practical and looks beautiful, but you will have to buy it ready-made.

You definitely won’t be able to do it yourself; it requires special glass; ordinary window glass is too fragile, which can cause an accident. It is easier to work with its acrylic substitute, polycarbonate or plexiglass (plexiglass). Each of these materials is characterized by ease of processing, sufficient strength and durability.

Acrylic glass is completely transparent, has a small mass, is easy to work with, just heat the sheet to a temperature of 120 degrees, and you can bend it by hand; of course, to get an accurate bend, you will need special equipment and skills in working with the material.

When choosing a material for a door, you should also pay attention to the price. Acrylic glass is expensive, its cost is comparable to silicate glass, and often more expensive. Therefore, if absolute transparency is not required, it is worth paying attention to other similar materials.

Advice! Polycarbonate is great for a home shower. Monolithic and cellular varieties are available for sale.

From a buyer's perspective, the only significant difference is the level of transparency. The monolithic one is relatively transparent, but through the cellular one only blurry contours are visible, which is even preferable for a shower. The translucency of cellular polycarbonate is due to internal voids - “honeycombs”. They also caused the need to protect the ends from moisture.

With or without pallet

Another question that will have to be answered when designing a homemade booth is whether it will be on a pallet. Essentially, the pallet is the floor of the cabin. Of course, a floor is needed in any case, but it can be a steel or acrylic bath, which is purchased separately, or it can be formed from a screed during the manufacture of the booth.

Using a pallet can significantly simplify your work; such a cabin is easy to repair and maintain. But a cabin without a pallet is not limited by its shape and dimensions.

It is easy to create a shower stall from tiles with a floor drain, which will be installed flush with the general floor level. It will fit perfectly into a modern interior, especially emphasized by transparent walls. At the same time, you need to be aware of the complexity of creating a cast floor and the difficulties that will certainly arise in the event of dismantling or repairing a drain.

Stages of making a homemade cabin

Having analyzed all of the above, we can safely say that for making it yourself, a shower stall on a pallet with a partition made of plasterboard covered with tiles and a swing door made of plexiglass is best suited. This is a fairly simple option, however, first you should sketch out a drawing indicating the main dimensions. A simple sketch will make your work easier and help avoid mistakes.

Pallet

You need to start working on making the cabin from the bottom, namely from the pallet. As already mentioned, it is easier to use a purchased part, but you can create the base from scratch. Using a ready-made base will help to significantly reduce the amount of work performed, both construction and plumbing.

Pallets are available for sale, differing in shape, material and price; acrylic with legs seems to be the best. It is easy to install, it is undemanding to the quality of the floor, there is no need to mess with concrete, build in a drain for water drainage, just fix the siphon to the drain hole and lay the pipelines.

If you decide to do everything manually, you need to start by protecting the room from moisture. Depending on the floor material, roll waterproofing or mastic is used. The treated surface must be completely protected from water penetration, this applies not only to the floor, but also to the lower part of the walls.

Concrete is poured. The surface should have a slope towards the drain of about 2–3 cm per meter. If the layer thickness exceeds 50 mm, then it is imperative to use a reinforcing corner or profile, otherwise the screed will simply crack. Of course, before pouring, you need to lay drainage pipes and secure the drain ladder.

Drainage

Since the water drain from a homemade shower stall is located in a hard-to-reach place, and in the case of a monolithic tray it is completely filled with concrete, high demands are placed on its organization. Pipe connections must be reliable, and efforts must be made to collect the drain with a minimum of bends. This is especially true for pipes embedded in the floor. Joints can become a place for blockages to form that are difficult to deal with.

A purchased pallet makes it easy to organize access to drainage, cleaning and replacement of parts if necessary, but even in this case it is important to create a system with a minimum of joints and without sharp turns. When using a flexible corrugated pipeline, you must ensure that it does not bend or wrap.

Walls

To simplify the task, the booth is placed in the corner. This solution allows you to save yourself from the need to select material for partitions; the walls can be sufficiently protected from moisture and covered. The door will be used as the front wall, therefore, only one partition needs to be made.

There are two options for constructing a shower partition: you can install a blank wall the entire height of the stall or combine an opaque material with a transparent one. The opaque part is easiest to make from drywall. The first step is to create a three-dimensional frame from metal profile. It is sheathed with waterproof sheeting. The surface is puttied.

If brick or cinder blocks remain after a recent renovation, the partition can be made from this material. Of course, in order for the wall to turn out smooth and of high quality, you will have to try. The finished wall is tiled; the beautiful masonry can be left as is, especially if it fits into the overall design of the room.

Tiling

Due to the relative simplicity of work, the abundance of colors and textures, tiles are the best material for finishing a homemade shower stall. The colors can be chosen to suit any interior, bringing the most daring design idea to life.

Tiles are glued to walls using special compounds; for fastening to drywall, it is preferable to use a sealant. Working with it does not require special skills; the coating will gain maximum strength in just a few hours.

Water supply

A shower whose supply pipes are hidden in the wall looks much more aesthetically pleasing.

In a room lined with plasterboard or panels, this is easy to do; if the wall is brick or concrete, you will have to drill a channel. Mineral wool or other insulation is placed in the niche in which the pipes are laid, this will avoid heat loss and the formation of condensation. For the same reason, it is recommended to use modern plastic pipes; moreover, they are easier to connect and do not require welding equipment.

The pipes are inserted into the booth and cut, leaving 10–15 mm ends for installing the mixer. The terminals are covered with standard cones, and the wall surface is puttied.

Door installation

It’s easy to buy ready-made doors, but if the task is to do as much work as possible with your own hands, they can be made from polycarbonate sheets. When using the honeycomb variety, it is important not to forget to cover the honeycombs using a decorative profile, for example, made of stainless steel. To give greater strength to the door, the profile can be glued to the remaining edges of the sheet.

To attach the canvas you will need loops. Industry offers wide choose models of similar fittings, you can buy simple and functional devices or truly unique products. In any case, the loops must be fixed. They will hold the door in the closed position, so there is no need to install additional latches.

There are angular and straight loops. This must be taken into account when purchasing; it is also useful to make sure that they can handle the load; if thick polycarbonate is used, you need to choose reinforced models.

A good shower stall is expensive. It’s not difficult to save noticeably, you just need to make it yourself. This is economy, originality and practicality. For everything to work out, you shouldn’t take on too much complex projects, but that’s not the main thing.

The main thing is to soberly assess your strengths, because making a shower stall is not so much construction as plumbing. This is a responsible job, and if it is performed poorly, instead of comfort, you can only get a lot of problems.