pine in a shower?

[Rick Lucrezi]

This might be a "project finishing" thread but what do I know? We are getting close to wrapping up the master shower tile. We went with California Gold slate with sand stone in the band. The ceiling was planed to be painted, but my wife brought in a piece of blued pine with minwax fruitwood stain and it looked awesome next to the slate. So last minute decision is put it up. I know pine and moisture are a bad combo, but sealed properly it should work shouldnt it? The shower is 4'x6' and there is a skylight in the middle. light in the shower comes from the skylight from 4- 75 watt bulbs in the skylight with a diffuser glass in the skylight. I could put a fan in the skylight to help with the moisture issue but then the light issue changes. I Dont want to see the light fixtures. Any thoughts?

[Bill Orbine]

People put up sheetrock on the ceilings of the shower/bath and it always held up well so I can't see why not pine! I think a proctective coating all around the pine should do it using exterior finish.

I once did a shower enclosure entirely of cypress board and batten style, including the walls and coated the wood with Sikkens 2-3 and using clear caulking (not silicone) in the joints. The caulking I can't remember which, applied white and cures clear. It's holding up very well after three years, though I suspect a periodic maintenence is required but not yet. I doubt Sikkens would be your preferred choice since the clear, called "natural", has to much color.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Rick, did you see that artical in the new Fine Woodworking mag on weatherproof finishes? That Epifane (sp?) looks good, and it sure might be a place to use it. Pine stains easily from moisture, and you'd sure want to avoid that.

[Josiah Bartlett]

You will want to finish all 6 sides of each board if you are doing that. Expect to have to refinish it often. You could always paint it later, I guess. It may get ugly.

[John Keeton]

FWIW, I used some "Michigan white cedar" to build a shower enclosure several years ago. I'm not even sure such an animal exists, but that is what it was called when I bought it. I put no finish on it, but sealed it every 3-4 years with Thompson's water seal, and it did fantastic with 3 boys taking Lord knows how many showers in it.

[Lee Schierer]

You will want to finish all 6 sides of each board if you are doing that. Expect to have to refinish it often. You could always paint it later, I guess. It may get ugly.

That might help. My parent's house is bult like a cottage and teh trim is all pine. Their shower had pine trim around the window. It has been replaced at least twice that I know of. About once every 10 years due to rot. Moisture getsin the seams and stays there. Finishing all teh sides might help.

[Dave Anthony]

My neighbor asked me today about the feasibility of using cedar as a shower enclosure. The shower is in a guest bathroom and is not frequently used. Is this practical, and is so, how would you finish it?

[Larry Edgerton]

Rick

I have a bath in my own house with pine I bought from Michigan Prestain, T&G with two coats on the face and one on the back, with pine crown, and it is over the shower as well, and is fine after five years of my wifes and daughters 30 minute showers.

Now if I could just get them to speed things up.......

[Rick Lucrezi]

Of course, after I cut and stain, my wood guy stoped by and said he has a bunch of Port Orford cut into 1x4 v groove. Too late for me. I went ahead and made it from the blued pine. I stained it with fruitwood and bought some Helmsman Spar Urethane. Still looking into a better product as I have to wait till the morning to use it. I wanted to spray the finnish. I called minwax and they told me they do no spray testing so they could not give advice one way or another.

I spent three years in Belize in my 20s and we had a shower made from Mahogany that had no sealer on it at all. It was an outdoor shower so it was heavily abused and it got black mold from time to time which we cleaned with vinegar.
I cut and prefit the whole lid and plan to put on 3 coats on all sides so the wood is "gloved". Then I will put on 2 more coats after its in and the tile is sealed. It should look pretty good. I will keep a squegee in the shower to knock the water off the ceiling. Had I thought about it more I would have put the ceiling on a angle so the drops would run off.

[Peter Quinn]

I built an out door shower from Port Orford cedar, has lasted very well, might be nice choice for a shower ceiling. I doubt you will have a problem using pine as a ceiling as long as you allow for expansion and drainage. Design so you don't capture condensation above the ceiling system, let things drain out, finish all six sides. Perhaps a slight radius to the sleepers or the back of the boards might help, might look cool done like a coopered effect. I had plans to do a barrel ceiling in my shower with either teak or mahogany that both looked great against a blue green slate looking porcelain tile my wife picked out but ran out of time and wound up tiling the ceiling. I still kick my self for not having rendered the vision that now remains trapped in my head.

I have used a product from Jamestown Hardware called CPES (clear penetrating epoxy sealer) that was later featured in FWW as a good weather proof sealer as a primer of sorts for spar varnish or other alkyd top coats. If the opportunity has not passed time wise it is one tough system that really seals the wood AND keys in the top coat very well. Nasty stuff to work with but very effective.

[Mike Cutler]

Rick

Everything depends on proper ventilation. Pine wouldn't have been my first choice, but I don't see why it isn't doable. Seal it well, make sure all of the seams are sealed so that moisture can't get underneath, and make sure you have really good ventilation.
Mold in bathrooms isn't really caused by moisture, it's caused by lack of adequate ventilation( Believe me I learned this the hard way).
Have shower vent timers on the fan and let 'em run for a period after the shower is off.