Do Bath Enclosures/Cubicles Exist?

Russ on 31/07/2022 - 14:22

Firstly, seamless shower enclosures/cubicles exist - like a fiberglass box with with top and one side missing, like this one: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/203754250182

I'm looking for the equivalent of the above, but longer, with a bath.

I have a REALLY skinny bathroom (1.8m wall-to-wall), and it has a bath/shower combo. The sealing between the bath and wall has broken down, and the sliding glass doors are quite old and their plastic fittings are half-broken, so I'm looking to replace the lot.

But I'm after something with no long-term maintenance issues - I don't want to have to seal between the wall and the bathtub. I'd also like to avoid all the "cleaning mould off grout" issues of tile walls. Since seamless shower cubicles exist (see above), is there a similar thing for baths? Or can fiberglass walls be fabricated and joined to a fiberglass bathtub in a way that doesn't leave a seam?

Also, before anyone suggests it, I can't replace the shower/bath combo with a shower-only enclosure. Across the 1.8m width of the bathroom is bath (70cm), walkway (60cm) and vanity unit (50cm). A shower enclosure only 70cm wide may be fine for campervans, but would feel really cramped in a house. A larger shower enclosure would make the walkway too narrow, or require finding an unusually thin vanity unit. It would also require me to move the window, which is right beside the sliding glass doors.

The bath is 1.6m long, if it helps. That measurement can be changed, as the end of the bath is up against a skinny built-in cupboard, for storing towels. The wall between the cupboard and the bath can be moved if necessary.

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Comments

  • Russ on 31/07/2022 - 14:54

    The closest I've found so far is this: https://buildersdiscountwarehouse.com.au/product/fibreglass-…

    Although it has a "high front", it's not a bath. And the 900mm dimension is too large.

  • Benoffie on 31/07/2022 - 15:28

    Dunno if this is any good?

    https://englefield.com/shop/Products/Baths/Englefield+BathsS…

    • Russ on 31/07/2022 - 15:57

      Thanks, but that is two separate parts - bath and walls. I'm hoping for a one-part fiberglass enclosure.

      • try2bhelpful on 31/07/2022 - 16:58
        +3

        If you do find something check you will be able to get it through the bathroom door.

        • Russ on 31/07/2022 - 18:57
          +1

          Not just the bathroom door, front door as well!

          • try2bhelpful on 31/07/2022 - 21:12
            +1

            @Russ: Yeah, My brother got an integrated shower unit and it didn’t fit through the bathroom door. He had to knock a hole to get it in and rebuild the doorway.

            • Russ on 31/07/2022 - 23:51
              +1

              @try2bhelpful: I've also heard stories of people building machinery at their workplace, and then when they had to move they found it was larger than the doorways. They couldn't get it out!

              • try2bhelpful on 01/08/2022 - 00:11

                @Russ: I don’t know if it was apocryphal but there was a seen in “Hidden Figures” where the new IBM system didn’t fit in the door and the manager said “didn’t anyone measure this?”

  • 87percent on 31/07/2022 - 18:55
    +1

    I’d talk to a professional.. or even go to Reece with your plans and ask them

    • Russ on 31/07/2022 - 19:04

      What type of professional though? If it's not in their catalog of parts, they probably don't know such things exist. Which is why I'm trying to find out if they do exist.

      If I can't find one, I'm thinking of talking to a boat repairer, to see if they can fit fiberglass walls and bond them to the existing bathtub. Probably won't be as pretty as a pre-made item though.

  • Stewardo on 31/07/2022 - 19:20

    You could use laminex aquapanel. Which is a waterproof panel for bathrooms.

    • Russ on 31/07/2022 - 23:57

      Thanks, my previous house had that or a similar product. It was good, but silicone only stays mould-resistant for a few years, and then it goes mouldy. Of course, the silicone seal is where the vertical wall meets the horizontal surface of the bathtub, so it's no surprise that water accumulates there, and takes ages to evaporate.

      If only the edges of baths were slanted, to aid water runoff!

  • brendanm on 31/07/2022 - 19:44
    +1

    Quick way to lower the value of your house.

    • Russ on 31/07/2022 - 23:58

      I'm curious to know why you think so. Do you prefer a bathroom that requires regular anti-mould treatment and scrubbing?

      • brendanm on 01/08/2022 - 06:56

        I prefer tiles and waterproofing done correctly, not some ugly fibreglass one size fits all atrocity. Those things you've shown look like the bathroom for a donga.

  • dtc on 31/07/2022 - 21:04

    You can get sheets for the walls, so no tiles or grout eg: https://mrwetwall.com/ or https://spapanel.info/ (picked as first google result, no idea. look at the case studies for the second one)

    Then all you have is the join between the bath and the wall, but honestly that shouldnt really be an issue. I've never seen this break down, or if it does then its about 20 minutes work at most, even for someone incompetent like me, to replace the seal (its not grout, its a silicone bead). If this breaks down so as to cause damage its due to really really bad care by the owner.

    Anything else is (a) going to be very expensive and (b) is saving you maybe 30 minutes work over 20 years.

    • Russ on 01/08/2022 - 00:23

      Thanks, my previous house had that or a similar product. It was good, but silicone only stays mould-resistant for a few years, and then it goes mouldy. And it did, although I recall it took 8-10 years.

      If you read the "maintenance manual" for silicone, it explicitly says that its mould resistance fades within a few years, and that silicone is a "most suited substrate for the growth of mould fungi". That quote is from the maintenance manual of this mould-resistant silicone: https://aptcaust.com.au/products/sealants/mould-resistant-si…

      On the other hand, I've never seen mould growing on a fiberglass bathtub, even when mould was growing on the silicone right beside it.

      is saving you maybe 30 minutes work over 20 years

      Well right now, I'm spending 15 minutes every couple of months, removing mould as it forms. Although that would be less time if I didn't currently have a tile wall, I'd still have to treat the silicone. Part of the joys of living in humid Brisbane.

      • dtc on 01/08/2022 - 09:34

        If you get mould in your silicone then just cut it out and redo it; might take you 20 minutes.

        However, if you are getting so much mould then its not the fault of the silicone, its the fault of your bathroom. Do you have an exhaust fan or a window you can open?
        I get that you are in Brisbane but I've lived in places like Hong Kong and no mould - but lots of exhaust.

        • Russ on 01/08/2022 - 23:03

          I know what you're saying, but there are lots of times when things just won't dry. Washing hung under the house (due to sporadic rain) is often still damp after three days, and that's exceptionally well ventilated. Breezy even. The bathroom has no chance of drying out in these situations, unless I install a dehumidifier or similar.

          I'd love to put a solar panel on the roof, powering a radiant heater in the bathroom to dry the bathroom out, but that's apparently not doable without interconnecting everything with the mains, which adds a lot of complexity.

          Or, I can find a bath/shower enclosure with non-porous walls, no silicone, and drains properly. Alas, it seems like such items are a rarity.

          I must admit that I'm an engineer, and I see poorly-designed products regularly. It just seems to me that the average bathroom is poorly designed, and I'd like to fix that, at least partially, in my bathroom. At my previous house, also owned by an engineer, he had the shower rose installed at the opposite end of the bath to the taps. Which was brilliant! No risk of water running into the wall through the tap holes, and face washers left hanging on the taps had a much better chance to dry. Of course it made the pipework a little longer, but as the hot water was already coming several metres from the hot water system it wasn't noticeable. It also meant the sliding glass door had its fixed panel closest to the shower rose, which is the way it should be.

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