Shower Pan
 

Hello,

My winter project is re-doing the head on my 35 foot motorsailer. This will be a wet head and I am now faced with what to do about the shower pan. The sole in the head is currently fiberglass with a new shower drain installed. I am considering using West System to bed down some tile (small mosaic type which will curve with the hull). I would the tile down with West thickened with colloidal silica then use an epoxy grout. The other option would be just to paint it with a non skid paint and call it done. The paint would have to have a heavy texture as the pan or sole is currently not super smooth. I don't want to spend an eternity fairing it but I also don't want it to look awful so I thought a thick non skid paint would help to camouflage many imperfections in the floor surface. Please give me your thoughts on the options and what you would do in my position. The tile will look better I think and this will please my wife so I am leaning this route for her. The non skid paint appeals to my practical nature. I am somewhat concerned with how the epoxy will hold the tile over the long term.

Thanks Jarod

Re: Shower Pan
 

Pics would help. If it was me, and there is enough depth to the shower pan, i'd put in a removable teak grate, rather than tile. The expansion and contraction and temperature extremes are not friendly to tile.

Re: Shower Pan
 

I think I'd steer away from tile too, myself.. some minimal fairing and a good nonskid should do the job, but don't make it too harsh since, as a shower obviously people will be barefoot on it.

By the sounds of it the curvature may preclude the removable grid....

Re: Shower Pan
 

Small mosaic tiles, one inch tiles, set in epoxy and using an epoxy-fortified grout to resist cracking and leaking, probably would work well.

Personally I think I'd just go for white pick-up truck bed liner, which has some texture, can be applied in multiple coats, will be light and easy to clean with no grout lines at all. Can be used as anti-skid on the companionway steps, etc. as well. Not as good, but also not as hard on bare feet, as the kind that have sand or other spiky stuff in them.

Re: Shower Pan
 

Tile may be a bitch to clean as well as presenting places for the water to intrude into the "grout". Be carefull adding additional texture to the floor as it may make it perpetually look dirty after cleaning, We have a teak insert on our solid fibergalss pan whici you can remove easily and it given great traction when wet.

dave

Re: Shower Pan
 

I made a teak shower base on the curved floor in the head of our Cal 2-29 by laying down 1"x2" teak stringers fore'n aft about 6" apart and screwing these into the glass pan beneath. I then made side to side cross pieces by laminating 1/8" x 1" wide teak batten strips across the stringers, spaced roughly 1" apart (and obviously not on top of the screws holding the stringers in place on the underlying pan). The first of the cross pieces were held in place with epoxy adhesive where they crossed each of the stringers together with small (#6) flat head wood screws through the battens and into the underlying stringers. Once the epoxy cured and the first of the cross pieces were fixed in place, I laid second, then third, then forth, etc, battens on top of the previously placed battens--each held in place with epoxy and small screws until the epoxy cured, after which the screws were removed--until I had cross pieces 5/8" thick. The screws in the last of the cross pieces were pulled and the screw holes drilled to accept 1/4" plugs. Because of the curvature of each successive batten, and the epoxy adhesive between each, one could unscrew the screws holding the stringers in place without the "grate" springing flat. A little work with an Exacto knife and a "Mouse" palm sander cleaned and smoothed the battens and a couple of coats of "Amazon Brazilian Lemon Oil" that polishes up nicely, smells good, and blocks mold finished the job. That was long about 1987 and the home made grating is still going strong.

FWIW...

Re: Shower Pan
 

Sounds like a good job, hylite.. do you have a pic of the result?

Re: Shower Pan
 

Thanks for the responses

I think I will fair it out properly to ensure i get good slope to the drain I will test with water spray to ensure it doesn't pool anywhere. I will then paint it over with perfection or similar 2 part epoxy paint then put down some of that dri-deck stuff or a teak grate as suggested. I will install some tile for a decorative touch on some of the vertical surfaces to keep my wife happy. I am leaning a bit towards the dri-deck stuff because of its low maintenance qualities. My aim/shot is often wide of the target so it would be nice to have something that has no absorbency. The dri-deck could be removed quickly and easily for cleaning the substrate. I refuse to pee like a girl.....I have a wife and three young daughters and its my belief that someone (me) needs to stand to pee in my house and on the boat. I do most of the cleaning at the boat anyway.

Jarod

Re: Shower Pan
 

Let me know how this works out in a 12-15 knot breze with your wife at the helm or with 3 foot chop. Paint the walls a few times will convince you sometimes its worth sitting down like a girl.:eek::eek::D:D

Dave

Re: Shower Pan
 

Ok you have a point there will be certain circumstances where I have to sit to pee. :D no matter how emasculating it is!