Studs in the Bathroom

 March 2105

Just to re-cap, this is how the builder & plumber left the bathroom corner.

Before starting

A shower is going to the left of the basin. To get a nice finish with minimal pipes on show, I need to build a stud wall and the plumber will need to come and go for several part-fixes as we go along.

I followed an old B&Q guide for building the shower enclosure plus this guide from DIY Wiki for building stud walls. I particularly like that the cross bits are called "noggings"!

Shower stud wall and plumbing first fix

Putting up a full height stud wall is really a 2-person job unless you're a professional who does it all the time. You have to fix the footer/base-rail to the floor and then (& this is the 2-person bit) fix the top-rail, propping it up with the uprights (studs) which need to be cut to fit. It all needs nailing, drilling holes first so you don't split the wood. The nogging is done staggered so that you can nail it straight. Basically, you keep nailing it until it's as rigid as possible. I didn't do it on my own - Paul was here that day and took charge (of course).

Once the studs were in, Nick the plumber came to put in the hot and cold water feeds. You need to have your shower head before doing this because the water feeds need to be in the right place. We got Cooke & Lewis Purity Chrome Thermostatic Mixer Shower from B&Q. It has a fixed, over-head shower head but not one of those extra heads - can't see us using one of those and it's one less complication.

Going back to the photo above - you can see some white ends on the pipes. They actually stop the water. There is a bit of a drip but, considering the cold one is at mains pressure, it's quite impressive.

Shower tray installed

Here's the next stage. The shower tray can't be fitted until the boarding is there. The boarding is exterior/marine grade ply for inside the shower enclosure. Although the tiling/grouting/sealant should provide a water-tight seal, it makes sense to use this superior grade. Some websites will tell you that you have to "tank" the whole enclosure before tiling. Our builder and plumber thought that would be an over-kill. If it all falls apart then I'll know it was a mistake!

My favourite bit is the inset shelf in the shower wall. Created between the studs this will be tiled and will remove the need for those stainless steel wire shelf units that are a pain to clean and get in the way. There's a minor outward slope on the base of it to help with drainage.

The shower tray is sealed to both walls with Aquastrap - a black moulded tape with double-sided adhesive. Nick's left it free on the front for when I add the half-walls. He makes it clear that, once stuck, it won't come off so to be careful. A sealant will be needed on top, after tiling, but this is the trade-recommended stuff (at the moment).

The shower waste is connected so that dripping pipe is no longer a concern. I leave the blue protector on because the next jobs are messy!

The next post will be building the half-walls, tiling & grouting for the shower. Do sign up for email notifications if you want...