OK, I think I have a new interesting building project, but I'd like to hear some of your thoughts on it.
Maybe the thing that has bothered me most is the lack of ecoblahblah alternatives for the bathroom, specifically the shower portion of it. I'm not a fan of tiles because it takes huge amounts of energy to create them and once they're stuck to something, they can't be re-used. And it has to be done right, with special sheets behind them to prevent unseen damage because of leaks (pretty important in a wooden house). One thing I really hate, is that all corners need to be sealed with silicone. It never holds for very long, gets mildew on it, and is a PITA to replace. And to replace it you need to buy a tube of which you'll only use one quarter. In other words: completely unsustainable stuff.
So no tiles, and no silicone, that's the goal. I have to say I've been driving myself insane with this one, for months on end, racking my poor little brain and searching for alternatives. I thought about buying a used stainless steel tank, make holes in it, and use that as a shower cabin. But it's very difficult to find one in the right size, for the right price, I don't know how to get it in the house (heavy!) and I don't have the tools to make holes and entrance.
Another alternative would be to buy a used plastic of fiberglass tank. There are some on offer because Austria contains a couple of wine regions, but they're not so cheap, they often look dirty (from wine residue or mold), difficult to get the right size, and fiberglass isn't such a
healthy material to work with.
I did find a plan B, which consists of a simple
Komplettdusche, a complete shower cabin, without tiles or silicone:
It's not so cheap, it comes with all kinds of extra water wasting nonsense like big shower heads, massage jets, and I'm not sure about cleaning it and its longevity, but it's a plan B.
Still, I want to come up with something better! I thought about using some kind of plaster, or making a cabin out of ferro-cement, but I fear it won't be waterproof. Maybe use special boards, but you still have to seal the corners.
This morning, under the shower, I finally came up with something that might work, that's non-expensive, pretty ecologically and energetically sound, and I have some experience with. Earlier in this thread I
posted about the green roof we built back in November, using an EPDM sheet to seal the roof. I was very impressed by this material. It's flexible and supposed to be super-strong. Apparently it can remain functional for 50 years, just lying bare on a roof.
So my Eureka-moment today involved building a U-shaped cabin out of OSB, line the bottom and ceiling with EPDM, with the sheet turned up on the sides, overlapped by an EPDM sheet that runs around the three walls. The sheets are glued to the walls and each other with glue or primer. For intrusions like water pipes I can use special EPDM sleeves that I already use for cables through walls and roof to make them airtight.
Cons: Can it be cleaned easily? How dirty can it get (calcification)? My wife isn't thrilled about a black shower.
Pros: Cheap (should be doable under € 200), relatively easy to build, custom-made, relatively sustainable materials, very sturdy, fun project!
I'd make it in a such way that it's easy to replace when not working. But let me re-iterate how annoyed I am that so far I haven't been able to find any eco-alternatives for bathroom stuff! Maybe I haven't looked hard enough.
OK, I'm going to spend some time looking at the cons of this EPDM shower cabin today. Any ideas would be very welcome. But, of course, I'm going to do it.