Cover in opening above shower door on cheap

almighty1

Hi,

The mildew in my en-suite is crazy. I have an extractor fan linked to an external vent but its not doing the job.

Basically I'm thinking about enclosing the shower by filling in the 1 1/2 foot gap between the shower door and ceiling. I could use brackets to secure it to the ceiling and I think I can get screws into the bottom of the ply through top of the shower door. The shower is a quadrant but I think I'll get away with 4 cuttings and then fill in and paint afterwards.

Has anybody else attempted something like this?
Would marine ply be good enough for this job?
Is there any easier and cheaper solution to do this?

Thanks.

patrickpc

almighty1 wrote: »

Hi,

The mildew in my en-suite is crazy. I have an extractor fan linked to an external vent but its not doing the job.

Basically I'm thinking about enclosing the shower by filling in the 1 1/2 foot gap between the shower door and ceiling. I could use brackets to secure it to the ceiling and I think I can get screws into the bottom of the ply through top of the shower door. The shower is a quadrant but I think I'll get away with 4 cuttings and then fill in and paint afterwards.

Has anybody else attempted something like this?
Would marine ply be good enough for this job?
Is there any easier and cheaper solution to do this?

Thanks.

Hi there.

I have a shower in the en suite with 3 internal tiled walls and a concertina type door. I had a gap of about 2.5 feet above the door which I decided to fill in order to enclose the shower to keep the heat in. I used two vertical brackets from an old shower above the door on each side. I put some transparent plexi glass in between. I didn't bother sealing it to the roof but the gap is only a couple of mms. It made a huge difference to the shower, kept it much warmer and stopped the rest of the room from getting fogged up. The only negative is that I get a little mildew on the roof every few months but this is easily cleaned with a few squirts of anti fungal spray. Total cost was about 20€ for the plexi glass. Much better than using plywood as it won't rot and is easier to bend for your quadrant shower.

Hope this helps

P

almighty1

patrickpc wrote: »

Hi there.

I have a shower in the en suite with 3 internal tiled walls and a concertina type door. I had a gap of about 2.5 feet above the door which I decided to fill in order to enclose the shower to keep the heat in. I used two vertical brackets from an old shower above the door on each side. I put some transparent plexi glass in between. I didn't bother sealing it to the roof but the gap is only a couple of mms. It made a huge difference to the shower, kept it much warmer and stopped the rest of the room from getting fogged up. The only negative is that I get a little mildew on the roof every few months but this is easily cleaned with a few squirts of anti fungal spray. Total cost was about 20€ for the plexi glass. Much better than using plywood as it won't rot and is easier to bend for your quadrant shower.

Hope this helps

P

Thanks Patrick. Funny you mention plexiglass as I kind of moved over to this thinking yesterday afternoon.

Did you find it hard to source plexiglass and would you think it is easy to bend?

bbam

Will the extractor be in the shower??
If not then you will have a serious, serious mould problem in the shower...

patrickpc

almighty1 wrote: »

Thanks Patrick. Funny you mention plexiglass as I kind of moved over to this thinking yesterday afternoon.

Did you find it hard to source plexiglass and would you think it is easy to bend?

I got the plexiglass in woodies. I didn't need a full sheet so haggled with the manager on a smaller one which had a small crack.
As regards bending it, this may be a bit tricky. I am thinking of doing the same on my offset quadrant shower. Ideally you would need a horizontal support on top as well as ones onthe vertical sides. I was thinking of maybe using a flexible curtain rail as I used one of these to put up a curtain in a bay window before and it worked well. It was low profile, about 1 cm deep and easy to bend through 90 degrees. Just pin it to the roof and screw or stick the flexiglass to it. Should work. I think the curtain rail cost about €30 but was much longer than what you would need.

Just to say I saw an ad recently for a pre- cast plastic dome for above quadrant showers but I think they were pricey and you wouldn't have any fun making your own solution!

Hope this helps.

P

patrickpc

bbam wrote: »

Will the extractor be in the shower??
If not then you will have a serious, serious mould problem in the shower...

I don't have an extractor fan and don't have a serious mould problem either. Anti fungal paint on roof does a great job. The mildew only appears every 3-4 months and is easily dealt with, a few squirts if spray and its gone in a few minutes. Enclosing the shower is defo worth this inconvenience as the shower is much warmer and no more fog on bathroom mirror when shaving.

P

almighty1

Yep I have an extractor fan in mine. Will drop down to local hardware to see what bending plastics are available.

Thanks for your help.

patrickpc

almighty1 wrote: »

Yep I have an extractor fan in mine. Will drop down to local hardware to see what bending plastics are available.

Thanks for your help.

Let us know how you get on as I plan to do a similar job in the near future. Maybe post a few pics whenever you get sorted. One piece of advice. If you can't get the plexiglass to bend through 90 degrees you might consider splitting it and using 2 or even 3 pieces. The gap between the pieces doesn't have to be airtight but you could always overlap or get some transparent flexible trim strips used to seal shower doors.

Good luck !

almighty1

patrickpc wrote: »

Let us know how you get on as I plan to do a similar job in the near future. Maybe post a few pics whenever you get sorted. One piece of advice. If you can't get the plexiglass to bend through 90 degrees you might consider splitting it and using 2 or even 3 pieces. The gap between the pieces doesn't have to be airtight but you could always overlap or get some transparent flexible trim strips used to seal shower doors.

Good luck !

Hi Patrick,

Well I bought a sheet of plexiglass (3ft x 6ft) from Woodies last night for 30euro. It looks like it will bend naturally if I have the rails fixed and the width measured exactly.

My only problem really is what to use as a rail between the top of the shower and the ceiling and I really dont want to drill into my tiles in case this all doesn't work out.

So I'm going to get a thin piece of wood 1/2" square and wedge that tightly between top of shower frame and ceiling. I'll cut a very thin trench in this wood to allow the plexiglass to slot into it.

Luckily I have a kind of grove along the top the shower frame that I hope the plexiglass will sit nicely into. I'll post some pics of my progression over the next few days as I only have 30mins a day to work on it.

irelandspurs

Is the mildew on your ceiling and walls or just ceiling?

almighty1

irelandspurs wrote: »

Is the mildew on your ceiling and walls or just ceiling?

Just have mildew on the walls, the ceiling is fine. Now I must admit that the paint in my en-suite isn't "bathroom" paint and probably bog standard bedroom paint.

patrickpc

almighty1 wrote: »

Hi Patrick,

Well I bought a sheet of plexiglass (3ft x 6ft) from Woodies last night for 30euro. It looks like it will bend naturally if I have the rails fixed and the width measured exactly.

My only problem really is what to use as a rail between the top of the shower and the ceiling and I really dont want to drill into my tiles in case this all doesn't work out.

So I'm going to get a thin piece of wood 1/2" square and wedge that tightly between top of shower frame and ceiling. I'll cut a very thin trench in this wood to allow the plexiglass to slot into it.

Luckily I have a kind of grove along the top the shower frame that I hope the plexiglass will sit nicely into. I'll post some pics of my progression over the next few days as I only have 30mins a day to work on it.

Sounds good. Just be extra careful cutting the plexiglass as it can crack if forced too much. It is also best if you put the bottom of the plexiglass on the inside of the shower so any condensation will drip into the tray rather than on your floor. It sounds like that is what you are planning to do already. You could also apply a line of electrical tape along the side of the plexiglass touching the shower frame to prevent it from scratching, white tape would probably be best.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

P

irelandspurs

almighty1 wrote: »

Just have mildew on the walls, the ceiling is fine. Now I must admit that the paint in my en-suite isn't "bathroom" paint and probably bog standard bedroom paint.

is the wall an outer wall?

almighty1

Outer wall man.

I think I'll screw the back of the plexiglass to the back the wood struts (they are sufficiently wedged to support it). You'll see in pic 3 the groove at the top of the door.

Next is the actual cutting of the plexiglass, I'll tackle that on Saturday.

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irelandspurs

Only way you'll have a chance at stopping it is getting cavity wall insulation unless it is already done.The warmth from the shower against the cold outer wall is causing the problem.

patrickpc

almighty1 wrote: »

Outer wall man.

I think I'll screw the back of the plexiglass to the back the wood struts (they are sufficiently wedged to support it). You'll see in pic 3 the groove at the top of the door.

Next is the actual cutting of the plexiglass, I'll tackle that on Saturday.

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Hey,

Photos look good. Will be a neat job if the plexiglass bends ok. Looking forward to seeing the final product. I know you are mainly trying to eliminate the mildew problem but you won't believe the difference it makes to the showering experience! Well worth the effort.

P

Joey the lips

It wont work. You need to figure why the mold is there. Its either because

1. The fan is not working correctly.

2. You dont use the fan enough.

It would be cheaper to go down this route rather than plexiglass.

Also you will need to seal the mold before painting or it will just come back

almighty1

Joey the lips wrote: »

It wont work. You need to figure why the mold is there. Its either because

1. The fan is not working correctly.

2. You dont use the fan enough.

It would be cheaper to go down this route rather than plexiglass.

Also you will need to seal the mold before painting or it will just come back

In fairness it would take a serious fan to extract all of the steam coming from the shower. I had it on for a few years but it wasnt worth a stocking of s**te. So 2 years ago I blocked up the extractor fan and turned it off as the draught coming in through it (especially with the bad winters) was crazy and the ensuite was freezing.

Once I fit the plexiglass I will unblock the fan and turn it back on (it is linked to the light in the bathroom).

IMO I cannot see how it wont resolve the mildew/mold problem (or at least contain it to the ceiling of the shower area) if I contain the steam and heat coming from the shower.

patrickpc

almighty1 wrote: »

In fairness it would take a serious fan to extract all of the steam coming from the shower. I had it on for a few years but it wasnt worth a stocking of s**te. So 2 years ago I blocked up the extractor fan and turned it off as the draught coming in through it (especially with the bad winters) was crazy and the ensuite was freezing.

Once I fit the plexiglass I will unblock the fan and turn it back on (it is linked to the light in the bathroom).

IMO I cannot see how it wont resolve the mildew/mold problem (or at least contain it to the ceiling of the shower area) if I contain the steam and heat coming from the shower.

Hey Almighty1,

It will work. I installed mine about 3 years ago and it works just as I said. I do get a small amount of mildew every few months but it is contained to the ceiling above the shower and is easily dealt with.

If you unblock the vent (recommended) you should buy an in-line one way flap for the flexible tube running from the vent to the wall outlet. These cost about 5-10€ and come in either circular or flat formats dependent on the tube. Just cut the tube somewhere between the vent and the wall, install the flap and tape it back up with duck tape(5 minute job). This will prevent air blowing back into the room from the outside. I have one and it works perfectly.

Ignore anyone who hasn't tried this and doesn't believe it will work, they are just jealous they didn't think of it first

P

almighty1

Just finished it. Worked out very well if I say so myself . The cutting of the plexiglass was a bit awkward.....i ended up doing it off the the kitchen table (as I needed a big flat surface) .....the missus wasnt happy

As you can see it bent fine although Im glad I didnt have to bend much further as it was at maximum. I didnt have to secure the plexiglass to the word struts as the natural force from the wall maintains the bend.

I might do a bit of masticking and painting of the struts but thats really it.

Last pic is of the containment of steam....Ive already turned back on the fan and removed blockage.

patrickpc

almighty1 wrote: »

Just finished it. Worked out very well if I say so myself . The cutting of the plexiglass was a bit awkward.....i ended up doing it off the the kitchen table (as I needed a big flat surface) .....the missus wasnt happy

As you can see it bent fine although Im glad I didnt have to bend much further as it was at maximum. I didnt have to secure the plexiglass to the word struts as the natural force from the wall maintains the bend.

I might do a bit of masticking and painting of the struts but thats really it.

Last pic is of the containment of steam....Ive already turned back on the fan and removed blockage.

Nice work. Looks really neat and will do the job well. Your missus will be thanking you when she tries it out!

Good job.

P

Joey the lips

This is not something i would have done. If your getting mildew this is going to make it worse.

vicwatson

Great thread OP and to contributors, it's something I'm gonna look at.

This is not something i would have done. If your getting mildew this is going to make it worse.

Would tiling the ceiling help with the mildew issue, effectively knocking all the moisture back into the shower cordon?

Using shower specific adhesive and grout?

almighty1

Joey the lips wrote: »

This is not something i would have done. If your getting mildew this is going to make it worse.

The shower walls are not on an external wall. I am not getting mildew inside the shower just on the external walls across the room near the window.

I cant see how it will make mildew worse within the room and realistically will just contain it to the shower (and shower ceiling as the shower is tiled up to the ceiling)

Joey the lips

almighty1 wrote: »

The shower walls are not on an external wall. I am not getting mildew inside the shower just on the external walls across the room near the window.

I cant see how it will make mildew worse within the room and realistically will just contain it to the shower (and shower ceiling as the shower is tiled up to the ceiling)

I am simply trying to point out that your solution is not a problem solver its a cover up and enclosing a shower when its not a steam room will make the problem worse..

BostonB

I upgraded the fan in mine to something more powerful and wider and it made a big difference.

They shouldn't really put showers in where there isn't extraction to the outside though. Thats the core of the problem.

I don't know why they don't have plastic hood for these kinda shower, so the steam is captured and then returned back down into the shower .

BostonB

almighty1 wrote: »

....So 2 years ago I blocked up the extractor fan and turned it off as the draught coming in through it (especially with the bad winters) was crazy and the ensuite was freezing.....

All it needed was a one way flap on it.

almighty1

Joey the lips wrote: »

I am simply trying to point out that your solution is not a problem solver its a cover up and enclosing a shower when its not a steam room will make the problem worse..

No I appreciate your input but I genuinely would like to know how and where (from a mildew perspective) would it make the problem worse?