A shower stall has many advantages over a bathroom. Firstly, it takes up much less space, so it can be placed without problems even in a small room. Secondly, during its installation it is not necessary to equip a special bathroom. It will be enough to connect the shower to the sewerage system and comply with certain sanitary standards.
Easy to install, you won't have to hire qualified professionals, which will save a decent part of the family budget. Also, do not forget about the efficiency of showers. In them you can quickly wash or just freshen up with minimal energy consumption. On average, you will use about 50 liters of water per occupant per month instead of 300-700 liters when using a bath. Due to all these factors, this plumbing equipment is very popular with many people. And, as you know, high demand entails an increase in prices. Therefore, many people think about how to makedo-it-yourself shower in the apartment. Although there is nothing complicated in this, nevertheless, there are a number of features that should be considered. It is about them that will be discussed later in this article.
Financial, labor and time costs
Do-it-yourself shower in an apartment (you can see real photos in the article) can be done in completely different ways. It all depends on your construction and plumbing skills, materials used and wishes. Some projects can be implemented with a budget of only 5,000 rubles, but they do not provide for waterproofing, as a result of which not only the life of the shower cabin is significantly reduced, but there is also a risk of flooding the neighbors. Therefore, you must carefully think over and calculate everything, since savings are far from always appropriate and beneficial. As practice shows, it is quite possible to meet approximately 8-10 thousand rubles, which is not so expensive compared to the cost of factory plumbing, without making changes to the technical documentation of housing, as well as without issuing permits for redevelopment.
As for the time it will take to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands, then, working exclusively on weekends, you can handle everything in about a month and a half. If you work a little on weekdays, it will take about two weeks.
Design features and dimensions
If you decide to make a shower with your own hands in the apartment, the dimensions must be calculated first. This must be done in order toit fits perfectly in the bathroom, and did not have to redo anything. In this case, it should be taken into account what the plumbing equipment will be like - with or without a pallet. The second option is more economical and easier to implement, but the first is more practical to use, since the water will not spread around the room.
For an average family, consisting of people of average build, a cabin with a pallet measuring 80 x 80 centimeters will suffice. If the design of the shower does not provide for the presence of a bowl, then the dimensions should be increased to 110 x 110 cm. Otherwise, washing can be dangerous, since there is a high probability of slipping and getting injured. It is not recommended to make sizes smaller than indicated, as this will make it inconvenient for you to get in and out of the shower room.
Cabin design
If you finally decide to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands instead of a bath, you must first draw up a drawing. In this case, the following nuances must be taken into account:
- Closing method - door or curtain.
- Location - in the corner or near the wall.
- Design front door.
- Pallet height.
- Equipment of drain and method of connection to the communication system.
- Installation of glazing and canopy doors.
As for the materials, the do-it-yourself shower in the apartment (photos of finished projects look just amazing) can be made from almost anything, so you are not limited in anything.
Determining the wayclosing
Let's take a closer look at this. So, you have decided to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands. If you have a large family, it must be equipped with a door or a curtain. This is where a very important question arises: which is better? The second option is more economical, however, if you use a curtain, water will flow into the bathroom, so you will need to modify the bathroom. A high pallet will also help solve the problem, but if elderly people live in the apartment with you, then it may be inconvenient for them to step over it. Therefore, the best option is still the door. For its manufacture, you can use glass or plastic. Wood is not the best choice, because it deteriorates very quickly and loses its properties under conditions of high humidity. The design of the door can be straight, faceted and with a smooth contour. It is better to make it sliding, because this way it will be more practical. Especially if you are limited in free space. For installation, fittings are used, which can be purchased at any hardware store.
Also, a do-it-yourself glazed shower in the apartment will be very successful. Photos of such a cabin look very attractive and stylish. Glazing can be made from the following materials:
- silicate glass;
- acrylic glass;
- cellular polycarbonate;
- monolithic polycarbonate.
Glass is considered the best option, but you can cut it yourself at home without specializedtools will not work, and buying finished products is too expensive. Therefore, it is best to stay on polycarbonate. This is a modern polymer material, which in its characteristics is somewhat reminiscent of glass. It is relatively inexpensive, light weight, and very easy to work with. In addition, polycarbonate, unlike glass, is translucent, thanks to which a do-it-yourself shower in an apartment will turn out not only cheap, but also beautiful. You will be able to bathe safely in it without fear that someone will come into the bathroom and see you.
Shower with tray
Such plumbing equipment is the most common. The presence of the board prevents splashing of water, greatly simplifies maintenance and reduces the likelihood of injury. You can also place a drain in it, and you do not have to spend a lot of effort, time and money on installation work. However, there is one important nuance here. If you make a shower in the apartment with your own hands, the pallet must be at least 10 centimeters high. Sides that are too low are very dangerous as it is easy to trip and fall over them.
The optimal height is 13-14 cm. Such pallets are comfortable, and children, the elderly and the disabled will be able to cross them normally. If you want your shower to have a foot bath, then the sides should be from 20 to 25 cm. It makes no sense to make them higher, since even young people will find it problematic to step over them every time. Especially with wet feet.
Shower without tray
What is her speci alty? This option has one advantage over the one described above. The absence of sides simplifies the process of access to the cabin. However, this is also a disadvantage, since, according to medical statistics, it is in plumbing equipment that does not have any fences that falls most often occur. Therefore, you should think very carefully before you start making a shower in an apartment with your own hands without a pallet. If you have small children or live with elderly parents, then it is better to refuse such an idea.
Another drawback is the need for foam insulation. This material does not tolerate contact with water, and in conditions of high humidity becomes unusable in a few years. Some people replace this insulation with extruded polystyrene foam, but this is not particularly durable.
Since the design of the shower does not provide for a tray, you will need to build a waterproof threshold so that water does not flow out of the cabin during bathing. This is a rather time-consuming and problematic process, which will be almost impossible to cope with without any building knowledge. It consists of several layers and requires a certain angle of inclination.
Drainage ladder
So, what is it and what is it for? Do-it-yourself shower room in the apartment (step-by-step instructions will be given below) must be properly connected to the sewer system. If the water is bador not completely gone, this will not only create ideal conditions for the spread of mold and mildew, but also lead to deterioration of materials. Therefore, it is imperative to provide a good and thoughtful ladder for plumbing equipment. Unlike the kitchen one, it does not have a saturated solid suspension, so it will constantly become clogged with hair and other debris. To be able to clean the drain, the ladder must not be monolithic. As a rule, it is made with a built-in slotted water seal that traps any objects.
The ladder can be of various shapes, as well as with a bottom and side drain. The first option is more practical, as it provides better access to the sewer system if it needs to be cleaned. In addition, you do not have to pour the screed at an angle, which greatly simplifies the task. Given all of the above, the conclusion suggests itself. It would be much better to make a shower in the apartment with your own hands, which will have a pallet. You can buy it ready-made in a specialized store or make it yourself. Finished bowls are more aesthetic and functional, but can be quite expensive.
It's quite easy to make a pallet yourself. The base is an ordinary formwork made of a wooden beam or a reinforced profile. The free space is filled with foam, after which concrete is poured onto the frame. In addition, you can purchase special profiles designed to assemble a bowl for sanitary equipment. They are relatively inexpensive, so you get quality and budgetpallet.
Bowl trim
What do you need to know about this? As a rule, the shower cabin is tiled. This is the best option because it is easy to care for and has high strength. When choosing a material, it is better to buy one that has an anti-slip coating. The glue must be of high quality and moisture resistant, because otherwise the tile will simply begin to fall off after a short period of time. The order of work is carried out in the same way as when finishing any other work surfaces.
If you used permeable concrete to fill the screed, then experts advise adding special additives to it that increase its performance. To shower. the do-it-yourself cabin in the apartment was convenient to use; inside the bowl, it is worthwhile to provide a ledge on which the ladder is laid. For its manufacture, materials are taken, made on the basis of wood-polymer materials, which are highly resistant to moisture and are distinguished by their hygiene.
Drainage and drainage
This aspect is worth dwelling on in more detail. As mentioned earlier, making a shower with your own hands in an apartment is not too difficult step by step, but you need to take into account many nuances. As practice shows, many people make the same mistakes, which subsequently cause certain problems with the operation and maintenance of plumbing equipment. One of these is an ill-conceived drain system. Undoubtedlythis option looks very attractive, but in the care it is simply terrible. Among the most serious mistakes are the following:
- pipe bends at 90 degrees;
- no access to sharp bends;
- a large number of joints.
All this leads to the fact that the pipes become clogged faster, and it becomes much more difficult to clean them. In addition, if the drain will consist of many segments interconnected, then it is not recommended to use a metal cable and special machines to remove debris from them, as they can damage the drain. To do everything right, you should take into account some of the nuances. Firstly, all joints must be sealed with rubber cuffs, and secondly, it is advisable to additionally ask for them to be silicone-coated to improve waterproofing.
If you are making a shower with a tray, then you must use a corrugated pipe to drain the water. It has good flexibility, so it can bend at any angle. However, you should not make too sharp bends, as all the debris will accumulate in them.
Connection to the water supply system is carried out in both hidden and open ways. In this case, all constipation and valves should be at some distance from the shower. Metal-plastic pipes are considered the best option for water supply. They are low cost and durable, and are not subject to corrosion.
Conclusion
Now you know how to make a shower with your own hands inapartment of high quality and durability. In this article, the most important nuances were considered, adhering to which you can independently make a shower stall that is in no way inferior to factory options. The main thing is to think over and calculate everything in advance so that you don’t have to redo anything later.
