concrete shower walls?

Would like to create a concrete look on the walls of our walk in shower. (a total bathroom remodel)  We saw it once where they just smeared some kind of concrete right over the hardy backer (but it looked kind-of crappy).  We would like to end up with a more polished concrete look - maybe with faux seams or some kind of supper simple design.

 

Our goal is to achieve a clean modern looking shower but at a less expensive alternative than nice tile.  Probably will use a nice tile for the entire bath room floor including the floor level walk in shower.

 

Would love suggestion on material, application methods or thought on something better.

 

 

Thanks

::Chris

I did some concrete research, although for our kitchen/dining room floors.

These guys do some great work -- and they are fairly expensive in the SF bay area, but have been covered in Sunset Magazine.

http://www.bayareaconcretes.com/bac_projects.asp?CID=11&PID=6

This guy is pretty popular in the area. He does gypcrete with 1/8-1/4" concrete on the top layer. Again, this is flooring, but it might inspire you.       http://www.theconcretecolorist.com/

and if you go to their links area, this might help you

http://colormakerfloors.com

Most of the "good" concrete work I have see (good being concrete that is finish quality as opposed to driveway concrete) costs as much if not more than an Ann Sacks tile. Although I have never see it used on a shower wall, the finish grade concrete for countertops or walkways, patios, etc. are $10.00 per foot +.

 

Considering Ann Sacks or Apavisa make a great porcelian tile for $6.00 to $8.00 a foot plus you have a great selection of field sizes and color to choose from, I would go that route.

 

 

I second this. Of the two contractors that I linked to above, the top one comes in at $30 per sq foot, and the other at $12 (although this price only includes the thin layer of concrete he puts over prepped gypcrete)

There's a fabulous concrete tile maker in Vancouver. Their tiles run $50 per sq foot and up.

Sonoma Cast Stone's prices are likely similar  www.sonomastone.com but gorgeous stuff in cement

We have an Ann Sachs studio in SF. Their tiles out this way are expensive as well.

You might consider using stone tiles in a larger format.

www.eurostoneinc.com

http://www.pietrafina.com/

http://www.aastone.com/

You could consider cement board. I used Minerit Lightweight on my showers, and I like the way it came out. It is a cement gray with a very pretty flecking of gold. I left about an 1/8" of an inch between the panels, and I "grouted" the gaps with black caulk. Prior to installing the panels, I sealed them with masonry sealer, and they were installed over hardibacker, over 6 mil poly. Minerit Lightweight goes for about $65 per 4' x 8' panel. This is a VERY cost effective solution for a non-tile installation. The great thing is, besides the way it looks, is after a shower you just squeegee the whole shower, glass, walls, everything - and you are done. NO grout lines to clean or get moldy, very few joints to worry about water penetration. Installation was tricky, but not impossible, and any installer of paneled shower type enclosures (Swanstone, et al) will know how to do it. If you are handy, you could do it yourself. This pic shows the cement board in our (mostly) finished guest bath.

Thanks everyone for the input.   We will check out our tile options and cost.

 

richierod

  - Your shower looks great. Do you know what the walls ended up costing you per sq ft (or project total)?  Where did you buy the cement board?  The sheets I have seen at HomeDepot have text on them.

 

Thanks

::Chris

Hi Chris - You can do a search for Minerit Lightweight on google. You can also do a search for cement board here on LiveModern. Lots of good conversations about it. Two places to buy it are CBF in Kentucky ( I think) or Foundry Services in Santa Fe Springs (L.A.). As I said, it's around $65 per 4x8 sheet. Since I did all the work myself, it's hard to tell you what the cost would be retail. And I'm not sure if you are asking about the total cost from studs out, or just the finish surface. But as far as man-hours are concerned, I have found that when you use unusual materials in place of the more usual, the cost difference for using a "different" finish doesn't always result in a corresponding savings in the end because of the unfamiliarity to the contractor of working with the "new" material. That's why I mention finding a contractor familiar with installing panel-type shower enclosures, which have a lot of similarities to how you install this stuff. So if you find a guy like that, the installation costs should be cheaper than any other system because you are covering 32 sq ft for a materials cost of $65; that's less than $2 a square foot. I would estimate that an installation of a standard shower like this would take about a day and a half: finish only, not counting wall prep from the bare studs, and not counting the time and costs of coating the cement board with a masonry sealer to make it waterproof. (If you are interested in saving money, I would recommend sealing the cement board yourself.) Hope this helps! -R.

Previously richierod wrote:

You could consider cement board. I used Minerit Lightweight on my showers, and I like the way it came out. It is a cement gray with a very pretty flecking of gold. I left about an 1/8" of an inch between the panels, and I "grouted" the gaps with black caulk. Prior to installing the panels, I sealed them with masonry sealer, and they were installed over hardibacker, over 6 mil poly. Minerit Lightweight goes for about $65 per 4' x 8' panel. This is a VERY cost effective solution for a non-tile installation. The great thing is, besides the way it looks, is after a shower you just squeegee the whole shower, glass, walls, everything - and you are done. NO grout lines to clean or get moldy, very few joints to worry about water penetration. Installation was tricky, but not impossible, and any installer of paneled shower type enclosures (Swanstone, et al) will know how to do it. If you are handy, you could do it yourself. This pic shows the cement board in our (mostly) finished guest bath.

Did you screw thw panels in place?

Nope, I put them up with construction adhesive, bottom to top, cross-bracing opposing panels with 1x6's to create a good bond with the adhesive. As I mentioned above, installers with experience installing panel-type shower enclosures would know how to do this. If you want detailed instructions, you can go to Swanstone's website and download their pdf on installing their panel shower system. I think that is how I got my info...or perhaps on the John Bridge tile website, wich is also a great resource for these questions. (I considered screws, but that means more penetrations for the water to find and I was trying to minimize that.) -R.

Thought I would update everyone as to another concrete product I found.  Some of you might have had experience with his mixes.?.

 

http://www.buddyrhodes.com/you.html

 

I emailed him about using concrete for a shower walls and here is his reply.

 

Hi Chris,
Toweling one half inch (+-) of mix over concrete board is a good idea. Make sure to tape the seams of the backer board so the seam doesn’t transfer to the surface. Wet the backer board first so it doesn’t pull all the moisture out of the crete.

The cost of a 70lb bag is about $40. It holds about 1/2 a cubic foot of material and at a half inch thick you should get about 13.5 sf per bag. That’s about $3 psf of the BRS white concrete mix.

Thanks
Buddy

 

Previously kurt bonk wrote:

Previously richierod wrote:

You could consider cement board. I used Minerit Lightweight on my showers, and I like the way it came out. It is a cement gray with a very pretty flecking of gold. I left about an 1/8" of an inch between the panels, and I "grouted" the gaps with black caulk. Prior to installing the panels, I sealed them with masonry sealer, and they were installed over hardibacker, over 6 mil poly. Minerit Lightweight goes for about $65 per 4' x 8' panel. This is a VERY cost effective solution for a non-tile installation. The great thing is, besides the way it looks, is after a shower you just squeegee the whole shower, glass, walls, everything - and you are done. NO grout lines to clean or get moldy, very few joints to worry about water penetration. Installation was tricky, but not impossible, and any installer of paneled shower type enclosures (Swanstone, et al) will know how to do it. If you are handy, you could do it yourself. This pic shows the cement board in our (mostly) finished guest bath.

Did you screw thw panels in place?

why is it necessary to squeegee after use?

 

Hi - 

The panels were glued in place with a high quality construction adhesive.

It's not necessary to squeegee, but we squeegee after each shower rather than having to do a major cleaning of accumulated soap scum, etc.

 

 

 

    -R.

 

I have been researching water-proof concrete recently. There is hycrete and everdure caltite. Has anybody used these concrete additives to have a non-finish concrete roof?

That is how we would use it if it is feasible. Leave the roof plain ol' concrete.

I would guess it would be good for a concrete shower, too.

Somebody MUST use this stuff. I have seen pics of contemporary homes that are bare concrete, that cannot just be regular concrete, can it??

So, did you install the Mineret using a thinset just like tile or did you use fasteners?  BTW, very cool.

 

Doh!  Sorry, still new to this forum.....didn't see the previous responses!

The Minerit option intrigues me.  I think I can see it in my next shower allready...12-18" strips horizontally with the only vert seems being in the corners.

 

What's the texture/feel of the product like for interior use?

It's smooth. Not like glass smooth, but rolled on paint on a wall smooth.

 

Previously Chris wrote:

Would like to create a concrete look on the walls of our walk in shower. (a total bathroom remodel)  We saw it once where they just smeared some kind of concrete right over the hardy backer (but it looked kind-of crappy).  We would like to end up with a more polished concrete look - maybe with faux seams or some kind of supper simple design.

 

Our goal is to achieve a clean modern looking shower but at a less expensive alternative than nice tile.  Probably will use a nice tile for the entire bath room floor including the floor level walk in shower.

 

Would love suggestion on material, application methods or thought on something better.

 

 

Thanks

::Chris

http://livemodern.com/forums/materialsmethods/ploneboardconversation.2006-11-21.1714801590 

 

Chris,

 

I retail/use a product called Deco-Poz in existing or new shower stalls.  It is very easy to trowell on and polish to 400 or so the next day.  Check out some photos in website to see finished product www.ecosimplista.com.  Just like any other concrete it can be stained or left natural.  Usually I seal it with Dura Zero and then apply a topical wax to enhance shine.  Good luck.

 

*Update June 22, 2010

We have had a tremendous amount of phone calls over the past 2 months from you guys who have been trying our products.  Thank you to all of our supporters.  We have listed a 10 step "simplified" process of how to achieve a smooth shiny polished concrete shower stall, on both new and/or existing showers.  The link below should take you to our tutorial. 

http://www.ecosimplista.com/blog/2010/04/design-idea-1/ 

 The process we described is the basic version.  If you are interested and in South Florida we do teach classes on this process which can also be used for concrete floors, walls, counters, etc.  Concrete is a beautiful medium and takes years of trial and error to achieve the exact finish you desire..and then sometimes that doesnt even work out.  Our best tip is to hire a professional if you want  a PERFECT finish, if not, with a little practice you too can create a masterpiece.

 

 

 

 

 

richie you shower looks great. it looks simple and clean yet expensive. do you have a blog or pics for the rest of the house?

@chad: check this post here:

http://livemodern.com/forums/building/913022728

 

 

The house has been performing well over these last 4 years and is "almost" 100% done!

 

 

-R.

BTW, there is a picture of how I installed the panels here:

 

http://livemodern.com/forums/materialsmethods/97901912?b_start=0#107847053

 

 

-R.

If you have a small shower, or you would like to make your walk in shower look more spacious, it might be a good idea to use white tiles that are slightly on the glossy side. They would make the place appear more spacious than it actually is. The only downside for using tiles is that there might be a chance that gout or mold might grow in between the tiles.

Mark - http://www.canadarestorationservices.com