Has anyone attempted anything like this? Any other issues? Caveats?
[This message has been edited by NeoLuddite (edited April 16, 2003).]
Has anyone attempted anything like this? Any other issues? Caveats?
[This message has been edited by NeoLuddite (edited April 16, 2003).]
The building is a commercial loft building, it's not being built on a loft.
Joists are 3" x 12"s 16"oc. running from an adjacent, outside brick wall to a steel I beam around 16 feet away. We may put in some steel between the two outside brick walls in the corner into which this tub will be placed.
However, waterproofing vis a vis the rebar and structure of the concrete in the tub are my main concerns at this point.
Rebar works to reinforce concrete by becomming a part of the stones and cement "fabric". The rebar does not provide a foundation for the concrete, but becomes and intergral part of the concrete: that is why it needs to be in the middle of the concrete, surrounded by concrete, not at the bottom or on one side of the concrete. Moreover, if you isolate the rebar support from the interior water in the tub, then that will only make the inside of the tub that much more susecptible to cracking and failing. With a plastic liner, the interior concrete will shift off the plastic and fall off as the concrete fails (because it lacks support of the rebar to keep it together).
Instead of putting the water barrier INSIDE the concrete, you want the barrirer to be on the SURFACE of the concrete. Your solution is to, first, trowel the heck out of the interior of the tub so as to milk the finer sediments to the surface and create a smoother surface. Second, you can waterproof the surface with either a sealant or waterproof paint, depending on how you wnat the surface to look.
There are non-glossy sealant product out there to provide somewhat of an "invisible" seal.
[This message has been edited by Lawrence (edited April 17, 2003).]
I would like to talk to you about your concrete tub. I build concrete counters and do decorative concrete overlays and have always thought about doing a tub, but hadn't decided the best way to build it.. Are you doing it with a gunnite and rebar? Curved? Straight edges? Email me
I used a special concrete including several additives to give a strong, dense, waterproof mix, even without surface or penetrating sealers.
The tub will be a dark graphite color and the floor a natural concrete. Both will be polished to a high gloss.
I'll let you know how well it holds water.
It holds around 80 gallons to the bottom of the overflow. It looks great.
You can see some pictures of the construction and finished tub here:
http://members.aol.com/jpg10001/ConcreteBathTub_Web/
Edited to fix URL.
[This message has been edited by NeoLuddite (edited July 25, 2003).]
How do you stopper a 2" shower pan drain?
Any ideas on mastic to use to glue membrane to tub walls?
What drain, stoppers & overflow hardware can be used to sandwich the membrane thru the 3/4 to 1" of floated mortar?