Hello,
Crazy question? I am looking into the possibility of building a glass brick bath tub. Most likely a deeper Japanese bath style tub. Right out of the gate I am thinking of welding up a steel T channel lattice frame work around the exterior to hold the bricks in place.
Does anyone have any experience, thoughts, suggestions or advice on techniques or materials?
I am also looking into ways to light from the interior through the glass.
This is my first time posting. I hope this is challenging enough.
Thanks in advance,
Patrick
Replies
"Does anyone have any experience, thoughts, suggestions or advice on techniques or materials?"
Build it in the basement, near a floor drain ???
(Sorry - Couldn't resist)
I watched the Indy 500, and I was thinking that if they left earlier they wouldn't have to go so fast.
Do you need it to be really waterproof, or could you build it on some sort of drain pan and not worry about it leaking a couple gallons an hour?
Is block the main point of the design, or is it glass? I know people build some pretty good size aquariums with plate glass, mitered corners, and silicone. It would be a lot easier to waterproof that construction than a pile of block, many, many lineal feet of joints to seal.
I think reinforcing wire laid in the horizontal would be adequate to keep the water pressure from bulging the sides. But if you think you'd like the look of the stainless steel frame, there's no reason not to build one. Except money.
Thanks, it is being built in the middle of a large bathroom with a separate floor drain so a little leakage is not a big worry.
What kind of reinforcing wire are you speaking of? Don't some glass blocks "key" together a bit?
As for adhesives, how about butyl? Or silicone.
As for the steel frame, I was thinking of doing an artistic finish and sealing the welded (plain) steel.
Anyone else?
-Patrick
>> What kind of reinforcing wire are you speaking of?
Something like the stuff pictured at this site.
http://www.wirebond.com/products/truss/ind-truss.htm
First of all, I wouldn't use mortar as the bonding agent for the reason stated above, it will wick water terribly. I have built a number of glass block showers and have always used silicone to adhere them together. My method for reinforcing the walls is to rip a strip of 1/4" plexiglass a little bit narrower than the inside area of the glass block and then lay those strips between each row- bedding them in with silicone. This works great for a nice solid wall in a seven foot high shower. I don't know if it would be strong enough to withstand the pressure of a bathtub but I think I would be bold enough to try it.
No ideas for installing lights that I would be comfortable with considering you will be chin deep in water and " what if"?. Something about electricity and bathtubs just gives me the willies.
What about getting some stainless steel frames welded up, of 1/8" thk x 1" wide flat stock to lay in between the block courses. Similar idea to the plexiglass strips, but if they were welded into a unit wouldn't they act as a tension ring? One at the top under the frosted glass ledge, one 1/3 down and one 2/3 down, then the floor. It's only going to beabout 3 ft high, so really that works out to about a a tension ring every other course.
Lighting will be a problem if I understand the desire. I think he wants to have the insode of the blocks glow. If you place lights in the floor pointed up into the blocks, only the first course will light...the "mortar" will effectively block the light from reaching the higer courses. If the tub walls were doublr wide, you could put lights between the walls, but changing the bulbs could be tough. But why not build in a swimming pool light or two into one wall?
I think that you would want aluminum or stainless for the frame as mild steel will be a job and a half to keep the rust and rust stains cleaned up. As for lighting use fiber optics and a halagen lamp.
Don't listen to the nay sayers ,Build the tub if it does work ,cool . If it don't so what ,you could have blown the money at the casino and never learned a thing.
I'm agreeing with Don's attitude here; "Just build it!" My thoughts are if you put some planning and ingenuity into it, whatever you wind up doing will most likely work great. I also liked the fiber optics suggestion, you ought to be able to run a strand through each course.
Don't forget to design in a spot to set those two wine glasses!
"No ideas for installing lights that I would be comfortable with considering you will be chin deep in water and " what if"?. Somethingabout electricity and bathtubs just gives me the willies."
No, he wants it lighted, that does not necessarily mean electric lamps. He could use a candle <G>.
Acutally this is a perfect place for fiber optic lighting. Nothing, but some glass fibers.
It will leak. The cement mortar holding it together will wick water like a seive. My advice is to build a regular tub out of whatever, and use the glass block on the exterior as a design element.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927
We did a glass block skylight last year and the d_mn thing has not leaked yet. They make an aluminum frame for the GB. You just have to spec a size. We used one that was ready made. I guess you could get whatever size you wanted as long as it fits the GB module. The aluminum frame will give the walls the primary lateral strength required. The one we used allowed one to walk on it. I have seen pedestrian bridge decks made of them.
The silicone's adhesion, though it must stand the water pressure and lots of it, will secondary. There is a special caulk to use to seal it. The name escapes me now but I do know it's a GE product. If you go to http://www.ge.com and click on their silicones site it will take you to an area which define the uses for various types.
AHHA! I believe we used one called GE2000, no, no. It was GE2002. I think different numbers are for dif uses AND have dif colors available.
It may be best to build the wall laying down (the wall, not you) and then tilt it into place. Use lots of masking to insure the silicone does not get all over the place. It is definitely a TLC job.
Wha material do you think you will use for the top of the tub? More glass - 3/4" thick with eased edges - etched to hide the GB thickness, which is not pretty?
Will the floor also be block? What material(s) are you concidering? It might look too cool to have the floor also made of GB with lights below(whose color could be changed easily). Think night time, candles on the tub edge, and soft light coming from below...... Oh this is turning into one of those "chat rooms". Or so I've heard.
Good Luck!
Was at my storage space today and saw a few remaining silicone cartridges. It was GE's 1200 series silicone that we used. Great stuff.
I just keep thinking that you must have some terrific looking wife.
; )
Quittin' Time
Clockin in late on this one. If you've figured it out fine, if not Family Hanyman Magazine did a three page artice on glass block walls. The anchored stips to the wall and ran them along each row when they set the cement. The same prinicipal should hold for a tub reinforcing each layer individually. I would think extra strength at the corners. We do a similar thing each year to build a trout pond for the kids to fish in at our local festival. If 2 by 6 and metal braces hold/ why not reinforced block. Just a thought how about a clear pond liner on the inside or between to layers of glass block. good luck if you want the article give me a shout. Sound like fun.
I just had a thought.
Much of the worry seems to be in creating a strong enough bond within a circle shape to resist large amounts of water (a soaking tub is usually about 4' deep, right? That's a lot of water pressure trying to blow out the circle)
What if you use the physics of dam building to your advantage and flip the four "sides" of the circle inside out, with four pillars of a stonger material at the joints (concrete?), say 24" wide at least, so that corner space is still usable.
This will use more material to achieve the same amount of soaking space, but besides being stronger, it's a more interesting shape and might lend itself to a more dramatic presentation (lighting, etc.).
Just a thought.
Great idea!
Cook - call an aquarium shop/ store and have them give you the formula for the water pressure created at a depth of 3 and 4 feet. I recall trying to build a 6" thick wall of water (2 clear glass panels creating a tall wall/ aquarium) and the glass thickness I needed would have been like 1 1/2" thick for an 8' high wall. Blew my mind!
Incredible pressures at work. Along with building stong walls/ sides they will have to be tied together incredibaly well.
Let us know what you decide, how construction goes and what happens the first time you fill it!
Hey Patrick,
Go for it. A friend of mine in Finland built the same sort of spa in their basement bath. It was a spa and the tile floor did have a drain. The thing was cool. The effect was to limit the sheer visual mass of a 4 foot wall in the bath. They only used the glass block for in-fill, though. I wish I had specs (or a memory that wasn't so fogged by their darn good vodka) but I believe they had a masonry "frame" built with a sort of stone lintel across the top. The glass block was enclosed in this structure. For the life of me I cannot recall if they used a mortar or some form of silicone adhesive for the block. I echo the personal discomfort with any voltage below the water line.