Met with the archy that’s designing the condo for my client/his sister. I am surprised at how much freedom she has given him to design it to his tastes. Oh well.
Anyway, for the master shower, which will be quite large with no door, he has this odd idea for the floor. There will be an area in the floor, the “target” area for the falling water, where the flooring will be a slab of soapstone. Ever see a picture of one of those bathroom sinks where there is no bowl? The water spalshes onto a piece of stone and then runs over the edge and to the drain. Well he wants the same thing in the shower.
I’m sure that I can work out the details (hey – if he can draw it, I can build it. Right?). But I’m wondering how thick the soapstone will have to be, and what kind of support it will need. Never worked with soapstone. Would a 1″ thick slab be strong enough? It will need to be about 3 ft square.
“When asked if you can do something, tell’em “Why certainly I can”, then get busy and find a way to do it.” T. Roosevelt
Replies
Sounds very interesting, but I wonder how slope will be achieved?
Anyway, you might try the Vermont Soapstone people. They are very knowledgeable about what can be done with soapstone. They build custom sinks with it.
http://www.vermontsoapstone.com/about.asp
Load that slab on a CNC machine and mill out the slope. Cut the drain hole while your at it.
Is this a raised "target" with a drain underneath, or a slabe with a gutter that leads to a drain?
I've seen both, never had to live with either, though.
The one's I've seen have a fairly standard mud pan and drain, with support blocks for the finished work set in some sort of grid pattern (usually a diamond to the waterflow direction). Then the finish work is landed on those supports using gravity and some judicial use of mortar.
It can be a very slick install--the water just seems to vanish either between the joints, or just under the "target" block. I jsut don't know how much fun it might be to clean scale or soap scum, or what have you in such a "pretty" install. No grout joints visible in the floor--so that gets my vote every time <g> (Yes, the only thing I hate more than grouting is cleaning grout <grr, grr>)
I think you've got the concept. My concern is what happens when someone drops a wdding ring, and it falls through the crack? Am I going to get a call to come pick up a 200# slab?
I had suggested using large cement tiles with open joints. but the archy wants one large stone with a perimeter slot.
I'm assuming that the shower floor will be flat, and the subfloor will slope toward the hidden drain.
This one will justify progress photos, if it happens.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
My concern is what happens when someone drops a wdding ring, and it falls through the crack? Am I going to get a call to come pick up a 200# slab?
Well, that's good work if you can get it <g> (ask the plumbers).
Make the gaps right small, and that will help. Using less enormous slabs is another way (at least with soapstone you ought to be able to get a glass cup on it, unlike the marble or granite I usually see specified).
I'd be very inclined towards a nice coarse (1/8") nylon mesh between the "floor" slabs and the supports.
I'm still trying to dig up the photos (from back in the pre-digital days, <sigh>). I lit a shower like this with a cove. The walls were local rock in some spectacular slabs, and a matching one for the "floor." The floor slab had the tiniest "cheat" of a slope to it, and was raised up over the drain bed which was set with about nine grades of water-washed stone. Looked like the slab "landed" on a stony stream bank. The stone wall slabs went up, and formed the edge of the lighting cove, too. All ruined with about 400w of way-too-bright and gaudy "white" neon in the cove, and the most expensive ugliest shower valve & head set I think I've ever seen. Oh well, the non-bouncing check customer is always right . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
You will still have to slope the final elevation at least a quarter inch per foot, and have a membrane under that soapstone, attached to a two part shower clamping drain, over a preslope. Unless the "target area" is quite large, the membrane will have to extend far beyond the soapstone slab, because water will splash outside this area, and the substrate and framing will have to be protected.The membrane will also have to be extended to the walls of the shower and go up the walls about a foot or two. My experience with creative architects, homeowners, and showers has not been good. The architect should buy and read the Tile Council of America manual for ANSI details (they have architectural specs) for this, or any, shower. Any design which vastly departs from the TCA guidelines will probably fail, and your sister will damage the condo structure and will be ultimately responsible for any structural damage.Regards, Scooter"I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow." WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Was ther a problem with soap scum on the rocks? or maybe the check cleared and you never went back to find out.
Did you have to step over the rocks to get to the slab?
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Here's the way they had it rigged up. It was irregular (if trimmed that way) large slabs fitted upto seem to "float" off all of the bearing surfaces. The image does not properly show the aggregate in the bedding coved up behind the wall slabs.
All of the slabs were granite from around the Colorado--not smooth, but not porous, either. I can't imagine what it's like to keep clean, what with having a qadrazillion different surfaces in a wet environment.
There were almost no straight lines for edges--I did it that way to make the sketch faster. So, the fit was very "loose" at the walls, and "snug" on the internal joints. The gap at the entry was 4-7" from the "sill" of the shower to the floor slab. and only about 2" up. Not barrier-free, but not toe-stubbing, either. Interior dimensions about 4' x 7' to the slabs, about 5' x 10' for framing.
Pain in the butt for lighting, entire enclosure was buttoned up in cementitious board before the mud bed went in, then the masons were in and out all of the time. Couldn't work while they were inside, couldn't work when they weren't either (letting things "set" donchya know). I had to build some cribbing to span across the floor slabs, upon which none of the ladders were quite "right" to get that cove lighting in. So my stuff looked like atrash pile of milk crates, 2x & such all cribbed together and labeled "Not Trash, Do Not Throw Out (yet)"
Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Here's where I bought my slabs for my counter top.
http://www.soapstones.com/
1. Get large sample piece of soapstone from local countertop installer.
2. Rub soap and shampoo on soapstone.
3. Apply water.
4. Have sister take off shoes and socks.
5. Have sister put on helmet.
6. Ask sister to stand on soapstone.
carpenter in transition
Yeah, I was wondering about the coefficient of friction too...
You missed "Step 5A- Have EMT's on standby"......lol.
Bob
I thought that soapstone has a high coefficient of friction when wet? Still, it would make sense to use stone with a flamed or pebbled surface if it is in large pieces without grout lines to use as toe grips.
Billy