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OT - Shower repair idea, worth trying or too stupid for words?

AndyF

Stainless
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Location
Phelps, NY, USA
I have a plastic shower stall that is ~6' tall and the drywall joint to the shower stall is deteriorating due to excess moisture. I'd like to retain the appearance of drywall above the shower stall, but need to find something that is moisture resistant and can hold up in a damp environment. Painted regular joint compound doesn't hold up in a steamy moist environment.

I've looked for a building product to use in place of joint compound that is more water/moisture resistant, but haven't found anything. So, the next idea, and I won't be disappointed or offended if someone tells me this is a stupid idea, was Bondo. Is there any reason why the Bondo wouldn't work? Or is there a better product?
 
Well, it's worth a try to use Bondo. What's the worst that could happen? But your problem source, as you already know, is excess moisture. If the drywall is just regular old drywall and you have joints opening and deteriorating, you might also have the beginnings of mold problems.

The obvious solution is better venting of the bathroom.

Brian :)
 
You will have to sand Bondo probably,to get it smoothed out. That would be a disaster for the drywall around the joints. Best find a proper joint filler that is water proof. There is a "water putty" whose name escapes me right now. It is a powder that comes in a tall red can. It has even been used for quick repairs on commercial fishing boat's hulls. Apply it and DO SAND it BEFORE it gets fully hard. When fully hard,it would be a BEAR to smooth out next to dry wall. It has even been used to coat the insides of rocket engine nozzles by amateur rocketters.
 
not saying it is the perfect cure for your current problem; but the correct products to use in a bathroom are waterproof drywall, and durobond that comes in sacks and you mix yourself. It sets like plaster, rather than "dries" like drywall mud in buckets. The number on the durobond bags is how long in minutes it takes to set. 30 takes 30 minutes, 90 takes an hour and a half, etc. All your equipment needs to be cleaned and all the product applied within or before that time from when you start mixing.

I use durobond on even regular block and fill drywall jobs because you don't have to wait for it to dry (& shrink like mud does). Just keep mixing and applying, and it skims better. It is harder to sand, so don't over fill. Get good with the trowel, lol.

All that said, even plaster will floresce and swell like rust in some area if permanently damp.

Maybe bondo would be a worthy experiment. Please report back. :)

smt
 
I agree... your issue is with poor ventilation. One of the many things house (not 'home') designers do shitty is poor airflow in bathrooms.

If I ever build my own house, the bathroom will have an awesome ventilation system....there won't be time for mold to grow or even the mirrors to fog up.
 
When o built my house, my contractor specified green sheet rock which is moisture resistant and used a specific water resistant compound , then caulked the seems then painted, has held up for 11 years no problem
 
Not Bondo. When i was a kid, my Dad too a side job to fix a house where the homeowner was a body and fender man who had tried to use Bondo to fix ceiling cracks. The bondo was so hard to sand that he ended up gouging the drywall adjacent to his patch. What a mess. We ended up recovering the whole ceiling with 3/8" drywall to straighten it out.

+1 on Durabond, which is also used on exterior gypsum board installations such as under canopies and the like. If you are not comfortable with mixing small batches and working fast, buy a bag of Durabond 120, which has a nominal two hour set time (but will stiffen up sooner) and just do one coat per day.

Dennis
 
tile grout. get the polymerized variety that deoesn't crack . it will stick to your drywall and just about anything else.
comes in colors and takes paint well. water won't bother it. the kind for floor tile is more coarse (mortar) the one for porcelain
tile is much finer.
 
I think this comparison chart may be helpful: Marine Adhesives Strength and Usage Comparison Chart

Seems like you'd want something towards the bottom half of the chart--a waterproof yet flexible sealant. Products at the top, like 5200, have more adhesive qualities, which may actually damage the drywall if the plastic flexes more.

In seafood-processing shops, which are wet and washed down frequently, seams are sealed with silicone caulk, waterproof and resists mold and mildew (sort of).

But as others have pointed out, your real problem is that somebody used the wrong kind of drywall. I have the same problem.
 
Gunite or Shotcrete....the whole room...:D

I like the way you think! :)

I was thinking, stainless floor pan, welded corner seams, with a nice drain in the middle.

Maybe a fire sprinkler onna timer for cleaning? :)

On a more serious note, yep, I figure you are delaying the inevitable if you are patching it up.

Should be all water resistant materials around the shower/bathroom area.

The smart money (and the dirtiest, most work job) is to do right by what was cheated on by the last guy.

Blueboard or cement board, after the old stuff has been peeled back and any moisture related stuff (mold, rot) has been dealt with.

I hate renos. Too many times, pull away a simple thing to fix, and find three days work hiding behind it!
The only thing worse than doing the work, is RE-doing the work!

Cheers
Trev
 
You don't say what the wall is finished with above the shower. Paint? Wall paper? Masonite? ??

I have had the same problem with baths that had wall paper on the adjacent wall surfaces. So only the joint between the wall paper and the bath/shower tiles had to be sealed, I repaired them with regular plaster, which was probably water soluble, and then put two or three coats of clear sealer over it using a small brush or Q-tip.

I made the sealer by mixing Elmer's glue with water until it was thin enough to paint on. It was almost totally invisible after it dried. I imagine that a clear, polyurethane varnish would also work. I overlapped the tile and the wall paper by a small amount. It lasted until I sold the house, years later.

Clear or white silicone caulk would also work. I have done that in my present house.
 
You don't say what the wall is finished with above the shower. Paint? Wall paper? Masonite? ??

The wall is painted greenboard. The only problem is the joint compound which was used to finish the joint between the shower and wall. If my kids and wife had been religious about using the exhaust fan and I was a little shorter we probably would have never had an issue, but between getting the bathroom steamy too often and some splashing on top of the shower I ended up with bubbling and softening of the joint compound. I'll try some of the Durobond and see how that holds up. The shower is used a lot less now that two of the kids are out of the house, so the repair might hold up until it's time to move on.
 
Greenboard is only water resistant, but should be fine for the area above the direct water spray. It should have been taped with Durabond, and that is likely the problem.

I assume the shower enclosure is plastic or fiberglass? you need to pull the caulking off the top edge, scrape off the funky taping compound, re-tape with Durabond, maybe giving the whole wall above the shower a skim coat, then, when dry and painted, re-caulk the enclosure. If you can find some moisture resistant primer, that would be good too, but I don't have anything to recommend.

Dennis
 
Once you do get the walls repaired with moisture resistant sheetrock and joint compound. Buy a dehumidifier and run it when you take a shower, and let it run for a couple of hours after using the shower. I run mine all the time during the summer, it keeps the walk out basement and bathroom nice and dry, and even the towels and washcloths are dry in a couple of hours after use.
 
The name of the water putty is "Rock Hard Water Putty". Finally popped into my head. I have a lot of respect for that stuff. Once dry,it is totally impervious to water.
 








 
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