Waterproofing around bath

[Masterfulmatt]

Hi

I have come across a problem with my new bath, basically I've just realised it's not designed to be used with a shower over it.

The top edge has no rim, so any water splashed on it will not drain into the tub.

The bath is enclosed on far side and both ends The shower wall and wall running down the side are made of that plasterboard sandwich stuff, 2 pieces of plasterboard with a honeycomb cardboard centre. Removing it isn't an option as my newly finished tiled ensuite is the other side.

The shower also has a 2 bar pump, so in theory plenty of water could be splashing around.

I don't have a bath panel, i was going to make a stud frame and use plasterboard and tile it.

As a result I need to:-

1. make the the seal between the tiles (yet to go on) and the bath to waterproof at least for the bottom 1/2 inch.

2. Make a wall that rises 1/2 inch over the rim of the bath, so any spilled water, heads towards the tub and not flow over the edge.

Ok Questions.

a) I have some unibond tile on walls waterproof anti-mould grout, says it's ok for showers, is it? If not is there a tanking system i could apply to the walls, and if so whats it called?

b) can i waterproof the bottom 1/2 inch with silicon, i would do this from the plasterboard to bath rim and then again once the tiles are in-situ. Then I'd add a standard bath trim to hide the silicon If so, is there a good brand you can recommend.

c) Any ideas for the wall, am thinking of making a thin stud wall with aquapanel, tiling and maybe putting an aluminium listello rail on top and then waterproffing the inside as above. But thats just an idea, I'm open to suggestions as long as the end result can look great as well as not leak!

Any advice gratefully received

Matt

 

[HandyJon]

So do you have a roll top bath? All baths can take a shower over, but they have differing methods of stopping water splashing everywhere. A shower curtain works well for free standing baths.

You describe your bath as enclosed on three sides, yet you say that the water leaks over the edge. So does it leak down the side of the wall and under the bath because there is a gap between the bath and the wall? And I assume from your description that the gap is quite large to require a layer of aquapanel.

a) if the grout says it works for shower then it works for showers.

b) no, the tiles wouldn't stick to the wall if you did. The tiles and the grout should provide enough waterproofing unless you have 30min showers.

c) sounds ok, if you're basically making a shelf, though if it's only a small step to the shelf, aquapanel is quite an expensive route to go.