I am renovating a bathroom and need some information on ceiling slopes to accommodate a steam shower. Shower area is approximately 42†wide by 70†long. I realize the ceiling needs to slope to prevent drips, but I don’t know by how much. I was thinking about 1/8 inch per foot. Is this enough? If not, how much should it be? I only need to slope about 48″ of the ceiling as the remainder is under the stairway and will follow the slope of the stairs.
Thanks.
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Replies
We did not slope the ceiling in our steam shower, and the only problem we have with drips from the ceiling is from the fantech vent inlet.
We do however have a lot of water dripping off a section of ledge that we installed to separate the upper and lower tile colors. It is not a problem, unless both my wife and myself are sitting together on the shelf.
From my experience, you probably won't have a lot of trouble even with a level ceiling.
jose
I've designed several and have usually 'tented' the ceiling with 1/4" Corian panels at 30 degrees from the horizontal, which is a lot more than 1/8" per foot.
You might also want to read this article - http://www.stewart.cs.sdsu.edu/0mystuff/gstewart/210143086_GS_Steamshower.pdf by someone ... well, that we all *know* ;o)
Jeff
I've done about 20 residential steamers, but I only do the piping & equipment, but I noticed that most were pitched 1/4" to the foot & some a bit greater.
the TCNA handbook specs. 2" per foot which is why I and my customer chose to go level on the one I did recently. They wanted a decorative tile layout and the slope interfered. It takes a while to start dripping and they haven't been unhappy with it. My research on the subject seemed to suggest that this is a much bigger issue in units that are on for hours at a time.
That may be why we don't have any problems with ours - we normally don't run it for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a stretch
jose
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"Though I don't think" added Deep Thought "that you're going to like it."
Thanks for all the input. Since the bench is under the stairs and the ceiling there is quite steep, I'll think I'll leave it. I can't see 2 inches per foot looking good with the stone tiles we have chosen and if we are going to be in the shower steaming for more than the 20-30 minutes it takes to start dripping then I'll be on the seat under the stairs and the water won't be dripping on me anyway.
Thanks again for the help. This forum and all the people who contribute are a FANTASTIC asset for ambitious DIYs like me.
Kurt
It's worth getting the tile council book anyways - steam showers have very specific needs, in terms of vapor-barrier as well.
You might take into consideration any metal in the ceiling also. I've noticed around regular bath ceilings that steam condenses around corner bead and them rusts.
The metal is cold.
I've only done one. I was told the proper way is a rounded ceiling with significant slope to one end. If were to guess I'd say 3/4 per foot. Keep in mind that this was at th HO's request and I had never heard of a steam shower before this one.
Dave