You've probably thought about whether you want to put a Corner Shower Bench or seat or something of that nature in your shower for multiple uses for remodeling of your bathroom or your wet area. You can use it for storage, sitting down to shave your legs, if you're a female. So if you're thinking of remodeling your bathroom or wet area, you're probably thinking about "Do I want to put a seat in my bathroom?"
- What Is A Corner Shower Bench?
It is a bench that is essentially installed into an interior edge in your shower. These benches are installed for you to tile right on top of and to sit on while you're showering. They can also be used to set your soaps and shampoos, razors, things of that nature on.
- What Size Do They Come In?
They come in mainly rectangular shapes because they're made to fit directly into the edge. While there are other different types of TruBenches available, the corner bench is one of the most popular. It gives you the same effect without taking up as much space in your showering area. These are perfect for smaller wet areas, things of that nature. So if you don't have a lot of space to work with, you can put it in there and still have a seated area but it doesn't take up so much of your showering area that you're left with no area to really stand around and bath. TruBenches come in a variation of sizes, the most popular size being a 16x16x20. They do come in multiple other sizes. To name a few, they come in a 15x15x18. You can get it in a 70x70x24, or even a 21x18x15 - all relatively close in size. Some are a little taller than others. Maybe the seat's a little wider, but they're all relatively close in the same size
Different Materials And Builds
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It can be made of several different materials. The TruBench is made of a high-density, compressed polystyrene material. There are other seats that are made of other materials that have a high-density polystyrene center and a cement mortar-based exterior wrap around that high-density polystyrene. Those do not come in solid block pieces and are oftentimes put together and assembled on the job site. TruBench can come pre-assembled, pre-formed, ready for installation or they can come in a box and can be assembled on the job site. It can also be built and formed right on the job site without having to order the materials from another company. If you have an experienced contractor or woodworker installer that is doing your bathroom or if you yourself are experienced in woodwork and things of that nature, you could very well build your own seat on the edge right there at your own home, just using a couple of pieces of wood from your local hardware store. If you want to go for a more customized look to building, obviously building your own gives you the availability to make it as high as you want, make the seat as you want, to really customize what you're looking for. When you order a seat that comes pre-formed you are limited to the sizes that you can order from the companies, especially when you are ordering from a company who sells a bench in one solid piece versus in a kit that you put together on site.
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There are many benefits obviously to having a seat in your wet area. If you are a person that you know, is not able to stand for long periods of time - having a seat in your wet area definitely makes showering by yourself a little bit easier, gives you that peace of mind that you have somewhere to sit down and take a rest and things of that nature. If you're a parent, it makes giving your children sometimes a bath easier. If you only have showers in your home and you don't have tubs, having a seat in the edge of will definitely make it easier for you to bathe your children and things of that nature in the showering area. Your animals... you can sit down so that you're not having to constantly bend over and try to bathe them or stand up in there with them while you're trying to bathe them. So many different benefits to seat in your showering area. The TruBenches
All Benches for Your Shower again come ready for tile and waterproofing. When you're installing the TruBench, it is simply installed using a modified thinset mortar. You would put the modified thinset mortar down onto your existing subfloor and then onto the sides of the TruBench as well and push it into the edge firmly when installing it. When you're installing the TruBench and you want to install a TruGard vapor barrier over the top of it, you would use the same mechanism as you would for installing the TruGard vapor barrier anywhere else in your bathroom. You would use a modified thinset mortar, you would apply the mortar and you would thoroughly wrap the seat in the waterproofing membrane, squeezing out all of the extra mortar along the way; making sure that there are no air pockets, bubbles or anything of that nature. You would then be able to tile directly on top of your TruBench.
- How Much Weight Will It Hold
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People often ask what the weight capacity is on these seats and things of that nature and while I cannot speak in this article for other companies and their weight capacities to a T, most of these seats the weight capacity is larger than you know, what most people would have to worry about. The pounds per compression ratio is typically pretty high. When it comes to TruBench that are being put into showering areas they know that people are going to be needing to sit down on them for extended periods of time, as well as the weight of your tile and the mortar and everything that is on top of it. Those things have to be accounted for as well. So the pounds per compression ratio on these seats is pretty high. It's not something that people typically have to worry about when they are putting a seat.
People often you know, want to compare getting a corner bench versus getting a rectangular bench that goes across the wall or something of that nature, and again just speaking on the fact that corner benches take up less space in your bathroom. You could have three, four edge seats in your wet area! You could have on every interior or edge of your bathroom. A place to sit, a place to put your storage...so no matter where you are in your bathroom you have somewhere that you could sit down or additional storage space. Whereas if you put an entire block or seat along an entire wall, it takes up much more of the central area of your bathroom. So if you don't have a very large space to work with to begin with, you're definitely minimizing the actual shower standing space that you have while having these seats in there can give you the area to sit. They also allow you to keep most of the standing space in your wet area.
- Ensuring The Top Is Sloped
By not properly making sure that the tops of your TruBench is sloped, you could run into problems with mold, mildew buildup, then resulting in the breakdown of your tile and grout on top of it. While even though your TruBench is protected underneath with the vapor shield membrane and it's not going to harm any of your existing wood structure, substrates and things of that nature, it will eventually start to break down the tile and the grout on top of your seat if the water is continually left sitting there making a kind of perfect environment for mildew and mold to grow right there directly on top of the grout into the grout itself. Even sealed grout is porous over times when water is left sitting on top of it. So making sure that the top of your TruBench is perfectly sloped so that no water pools there is a very important process when installing. It is also something that you want to look for when you are determining who you purchase your product from. You want to look at the product specifications and determine whether the it comes with a top already pre-sloped, or once it's installed the bottom has some type of slope on it so that it makes the install not directly in, it makes it slightly sloped so that the water comes off. If the company that you're buying from doesn't have a top that is already pre-sloped so that the water runs directly off of it, you will want to make those modifications with a thinset mortar and your tiles to achieve that perfect slop so that the water does not pool on there.
- They Are Being Used Everywhere
By far, using seats in your showering area is becoming a more and more popular trend. Over the years you see them in hotel bathrooms and gym bathroom and things of the nature. They're popping out all over the world. Now a more popular trend is that you have people who are putting these seats in their homes that are fold-down corner benches, which are also available. If you don't want an entire center area and you want to have a seat on the edge, you could have seats that fold up and down in your shower. You can clean underneath it, clean the tile underneath it. So those are options as well. Many different options when it comes to these products. Many different options when it comes to placing the tile, tile sizes and things like that on top of the seats. Keep in mind that another concept to look into while researching this topic is how the floor plan will be laid out. Do you have a walk-in shower? Also, where is the drain placed?
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So it really just comes down to doing your research, knowing what you want, knowing what company you want to buy from, what type of warranty comes with the product that you're buying. If you're building it yourself, you're wanting to make sure that you have the proper measurements for your showering area that you're installing into, the proper measurements for your slope that you're going to be creating, or making the proper accommodations to adjust the mortar height on the back side of the seat so that the water slopes off. Thansk for reading our articel. We hope you enjoyed it.
