Thread: wooden shower mat - which timber? etc

Originally Posted by beer is good

I was thinking about making wooden shower mats a few years ago and the timber supplier said teak was the best wood. I know that teak is preferred for boats. I think teak has a lot of oil in it and you may find a cheaper local timber with the right oil.

Do you mean the good oil or oils ain't oils ? For me this sort of stuff is like bread, milk and sandpaper. When I'm out I get more.

I use red cedar either natural not oiled or I apply Orange Oil. Glued with Titebond 3 and 25mm brads. Sold heaps, people love em.

Hi All,
Please excuse my Ignorance, but why would you want to stand on a Wooden Shower Mat.
We have no trouble with our Smoothed Cement Base.
We are both getting on a bit, & have never slipped over.
Then you have to find a spot to put the Wooden Mat, so it can dry out.
Someone remarked, that it could slip anyway, but of course that is easily fixed, either with Silicone or Rubber Dots on the bottom.
I'm usually last to Shower. & I have a Squeegee that hangs between the 2 Taps, & I clean all the water off the sides & bottom of the shower, & it is virtually drier than me, by the time I've finished.
Works well for us.

issatree,

I can only speak for myself - but basically the tiles the previous owner(or the one before) installed in the floor of the shower are dangerously slippery - even when dry they are questionable, but once wet they are downright lethal. We've used those stick down "pebble mats" but they will also slide on the tiles. I see I only have a few options, one it to install different tiles, the other is a form of coating, and the last is a better mat.
I've neither the time, or confidence to start retiling when I'm working my current roster (away from home all week days, home only Sat and Sun), and I've considerably more confidence in the wooden mat option compared to etching tiles to install a coating.

The mat will dry out standing on it's edge in the showere recess, but after loking at the pricing and the pine shower caddy, maybe I should just leave the cedar mat in there until it fails, and then replace it... I will try and look after what I make, but at $6 pLm for WRC in 160x19mm at bunnings, I can afford to replace it in a decade or so.

I'll be buying the WRC this Sat morning, and hopefully showering on it that night... so goes the plans of mice and men...

Thanks all for the advice - I'll try and take some build and finished product photos
Des

Made it!!!!

long story short (second attempt at this posting - HOW do you stop "tokens expiring" when inserting images?..

bunnings botched up on the wood - the 160x19 WRC turned out to be weatherboard (bevel shaped) so I had to change plans. bought "Merbau" based on it's "oiliness" and suposed weather resistance.

Split each board lengthwise, then routed a radius on the top edges (so water couldn't pool)
Cut to lengths (1250 for length, 900 for width) and screwed with brass screws.
trimed for length then radiused the ends. Sand and several coats of Cabots aquadeck oil.

Works well, and looks fine (see pictures below)

under construction:

original lethal shower:

Mat installed:

and mat drying:

thanks all once again,
Des

Des, Im not sure what height the cleats are, but if they exceed the height of the flashing behind the tiles you may end up with a damp problem. If small rubber feet were fixed to the cleats to raise them off the floor enough to allow the water to get away without build up. This would also prevent soap scum build up.

Des,

Looks great and given you can stand it up after use i should last for a long time. May need a touch up every year or so to keep it looking as good as it does now. I'm relieved the 160 x 19 mm WRC at $6.00 per l/m at Bunnings was not value as it seemed too cheap to be true. My 150 x 25 mm Paulownia is around $9.00 per l/m.

Whitewood

That's the joys of working away from home - have to plan everything during my lunch breakbased on phone calls to places like bunnings, then fly in Late friday night, race around early Sat morning to collect parts and then into the workshop. Sometimes I can order over the phone and arrange for the better half to collect, but sometimes it pays to look at it yourself before handing over the cash.

My wife informed me last night that after her shower she lifted the mat and found evidence of staining on the grout - will be keeping an eye on this.

Originally Posted by desbromilow

long story short (second attempt at this posting - HOW do you stop "tokens expiring" when inserting images?..

You generally get this when the file size of the image is large, try resizing your images to 800x600 before uploading.