Crack in acrylic shower tray

LyndsM

When we moved into our (previously rented) house, the shower tray had what appeared to be 'stab holes' in it (:eek: I know!!).

We fixed them with good old Araldite and because it's slightly flexible when set it worked. 7 months on and no leaks. :j
Shower tray doesn't even look too bad because you can't really see the glue. (I orginally considered superglue but thought it might be too brittle)

Now all we have to fix is the wiring hanging out of the shower unit!!:rotfl: (really well maintained house..)

Cheers
Lynds

Moneymaker

If it was mine - and I was faced with the choice of fixing it or throwing it away and buying new - I would try to fix it first.

As lack of support seems to be the original culprit, I would drill a suitable size hole and stick one of those brown foam generators in it. They look like a silicone sealant applicator but they push out a foam chemical which goes rigid. (Before doing this, mask off the entire tray with newspaper or a plastic bin liner. The foam is messy stuff).

Once the foam is hard, I would scrape the crack to make it into a groove and spread epoxy resin into it.

sofabed

I have the same problem with a 6 year old acrylic shower tray. Anyone solved this? Means re tiling whole bathroom if tray has to be replaced!!!

Avoriaz

redrooster666 wrote:

if its acrylic, what about superglue? i worked on a college project and we used superglue to great effect on acrylic plastics?

This is an old thread that has been boosted.

I think superglue breaks down when exposed to water so will probably be useless for repairing a shower tray.

Avoriaz

sofabed wrote:

I have the same problem with a 6 year old acrylic shower tray. Anyone solved this? Means re tiling whole bathroom if tray has to be replaced!!!

I assume that is because you will have to break tiles off to remove and refit the shower tray. You might be able to get them off without too much damage if you are very careful. Start with a tile in the least visible place and work from there.

Are you able to buy a few matching or close matching tiles?

Maybe you could just replace the bottom row of tiles above the tray with contrasting tiles and pretend you planned it that way. It might actually look ok.

Whenever we have had any tiling done we have always over ordered on tiles and kept plenty of spares just in case we ever need them.

Ditto wallpaper etc.

I realise this is no good to you now but might be in the future.

moonrakerz

sofabed wrote:

I have the same problem with a 6 year old acrylic shower tray. Anyone solved this? Means re tiling whole bathroom if tray has to be replaced!!!

Put in a new stone base, then put a couple of courses of tiles around the shower which brings together the colours in the existing tiles and the new shower tray. I did that and it actually looks better than the original. It's also a good way of inserting metric tiles into an imperial tiled area too.

kittiwoz

Avoriaz wrote:

I think superglue breaks down when exposed to water so will probably be useless for repairing a shower tray.

I guess you're thinking that because it is used in field surgery and breaks down and is absorbed inside the body. I don't think it is the water that does it though. Superglue needs water to make it set unlike most glues that need to be dry, another reason it is used in field surgery. It is very brittle though so would be no good for the task in hand.

Epoxy, eg. Araldite, is pretty rigid too but better than superglue and would be what I would try if I wanted to do a cheap temporary repair. If you do do that make sure the area is clean and dry before you start. Don't buy the rapid set stuff and don't use the shower for 24 hours after.

Replacing the shower tray and putting in a line of contrasting tiles will obviously give a better result though.