Teak shower grate

[Walkers]

Some years ago my dad had his shower redone. The idiot tile guy that cast the new floor made it slope too much too close to the drain (think tornado funnel). My dad is now 82. Yesterday he slipped in the shower and ended up in the hospital. (Not worried about my mom, BTW, she refuses to use that shower). So I had the thought that I would make a grate out of teak like a boat swim platform, or cockpit grate. Has anyone here built one and could offer any help on design and construction?


THANKS,

 

[denis4x4]

Finding decent teak won't be easy or cheap. I did a cockpit grate for a 30' sail boat using 1" material. Lots of dato work. Hardest part was the frame that was 1-1/2" to allow the water to flow under the grate. You can find some pre made sections on line. Start with West Marine. H&L is also a good source.

 

[gba2331]

The easiest solution would be a rubber or plastic drain mat (used in restaurants, etc.) though it won’t look as nice.

Maybe consider Ipe or some other tropical hardwood used for decking. I really like our Ipe deck, it has held up well over the years.

 

[mike93lx]

Use stainless fasteners and predrill all your holes. I'd probably build the mat to size and then shim it to level with small blocks under the runners so there is lots of room for water to move through

There are companies that offer pre-made and custom sizes that would save you a lot of time and effort prepping and sourcing material. Then you would just need to get it level

 

[LeonardY]

They sell teak shower floor or tiles.

Or you could use composite decking to make it.

 

[PoorUB]

Check this out!
teak shower mats

google teak shower mats. There are many out there, possibly you might find ready made one that will work. The one thing I would be concerned about it high thick they are, many seem to be a very thin mat where you need a grate. something to give support over the drain.

 

[jrsavoie]

They sell teak shower floor or tiles.

Or you could use composite decking to make it.

A lot of composite decking is not submersible. And a lot of composite decking is very slippery

 

[Walkers]

Check this out!
teak shower mats

google teak shower mats. There are many out there, possibly you might find ready made one that will work. The one thing I would be concerned about it high thick they are, many seem to be a very thin mat where you need a grate. something to give support over the drain.

Alright, winner, winner, chicken dinner. I roughly guesstimated 24”x48” and it comes up to $370. Kim pretty sure I can’t even buy the milled lumber for that. I will go get some measurements in the next few days and order it.

thanks!!

 

[PoorUB]

Alright, winner, winner, chicken dinner. I roughly guesstimated 24”x48” and it comes up to $370. Kim pretty sure I can’t even buy the milled lumber for that. I will go get some measurements in the next few days and order it.

thanks!!

Again, my concern is it is strong enough to span the drain "funnel". Although a piece of stainless sheet metal could be set where the trouble spot is, and toss the mat over it.

 

[Voi]

Alright, winner, winner, chicken dinner. I roughly guesstimated 24”x48” and it comes up to $370. Kim pretty sure I can’t even buy the milled lumber for that. I will go get some measurements in the next few days and order it.

thanks!!

Back when I used to be more involved with woodworking this was supposedly true. There were tariffs on some imported lumber but not on the goods made from them.

So back then woodworkers would often buy tables & things & cut them up for lumber.

As I recall a picnic table from Sam's or Costco was said to be a particularly good deal. Pretty sure it was teak.

I never did this myself so only reporting what I read.

 

[PoorUB]

Wow! They say a 6 month wait to receive your order!

There are many on Amazon too, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008YXF9ZQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Various sizes too.

 

[HoosierMark]

Certain Class B rvs have teak shower floor inserts in them. If I remember correctly, people talked about IKEA as a supplier. You might try Hymer Aktiv owners and wannabees, that is the site I saw it on. Good luck

 

[velocipede]

Equally important is to make sure there are plenty of grab bars in the shower.

 

[alfazer]

Iroko is a good teak alternative, or often sold as teak.

 

[blazemaster83]

I work on big yachts and see teak grates like you describe just about everyday. If you go that route make sure you get tight grained teak and sand it really well, I have gotten some nasty splinters in my feet in the summer while washing boats. Also don't make it too tight of a fit for where its going, it will expand when it gets wet

 

[FredWanaker]

or time to update the bathroom to ada standards, maybe put in a shower seat where he can sit down. I can tell you that it is not going to be an easy time. I remember on vacation from the West Coast we were visiting my dad in Raleigh when they were in Independent living. We got a call about 2am where he had cut his arm falling on the way to the bathroom. Awful cut that required taking him to the hospital. Probably still blood in the car and that was in 2010 months before he passed away. Looking back, one year he was jogging 15 miles a day mind sharp as could be at age 85 and the next year he was using a walker and had massive dementia. So good luck with your dad but I am not sure that a teak floor will solve the issue, it may be more that just slipping on the shower floor that has happened. Good Luck.

 

[capm]

While thinking about a teak shower grate I made a "temporary" one out of cedar strips 10+ years ago.
It's still going strong, no splinters or other issues, so I never got around to replacing it.
I took cedar fencing from the big box, planed it to 1/2"(?), ripped it into 1-1/2"-2" wide strips, and rounded the edges.
I probably had 25%-30% waste getting clear strips, but it was still dirt cheap.

The strips are spaced with about 3/8" gaps on tapered sleepers ripped from a piece of 5/4 cedar.
They're epoxied to the sleepers with an end strip left loose for drain access and easy removal of the whole grate.

Probably $25 in material then, double that now.