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Build an Outdoor Shower Rock Solid goes alfresco with a decorative outdoor shower. From "Rock Solid" episode DROC-204

Outdoor showers are an increasingly popular way to add style to a home and backyard. For this Rock Solid project, expert stone masons Derek Stearns and Dean Marsico travel to Cape Cod to create a distinctive outdoor shower with some help from guest expert Joe DiMare.

For the main materials, this attractive outdoor addition features easy-to-install river-rock tiles and glass blocks. Whether you want to build an outdoor shower or just learn about innovative styles and techniques, this is a project that will provide you with useful information on creative uses of stone and tile.

Before

After

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	This outdoor shower features a border of glass blocks and a floor and wall covered in river-rock tile.

Tools:

stone hammer
sledge hammer
drill
pencil
four foot level
six foot level
fine cut saw
claw hammer
crowbar
four inch grinder with diamond blade
shovel or pick hammer
square
paddle mixer
mixing tub or wheelbarrow
perforated mixing hoe
clean buckets
assorted trowels (margin, notched, and finishing)
grout float
rubber mallet
grout sponge
safety glasses
mask

Materials:

glass block (with spacers and reinforcement bar)
flat river rock tile
stacked river rock tile
white mortar
cement board
masonry screws
mesh tape
pretreated wood (for framing)
junk masonry (broken cinderblocks, stone, etc.)
pre-mix concrete
1/2-inch reinforcement bar
white ultra-modified latex thinset
super flexible additive

Note: The quantities needed for each of these materials varies with application. For your specific project, Dean and Derek suggest taking the dimensions to a local dealer, where they will calculate the amount of each product needed.

Demolition and Design

This project, like many seen on Rock Solid, begins with demolition. It involves replacing an existing shed-like outdoor shower, so Dean and Derek's first step is to clear the area to see what they have to work with before designing the new shower. They remove the wooden enclosure of the existing shower using a drill, sledgehammer, and stone hammer (figures A and B).

Figure A

Figure B

	Figure C
	Figure D

The original concrete pad that forms the old shower's floor is retained (figure C). It's a good idea, when taking on this type of renovation, to avoid demolishing concrete when possible.

With the area cleared (figure D), Dean, Derek, along with some help Joe DiMare, design their shower. They decide on a shower approximately six feet high and built of river rock tile and glass block.

The width of the shower will be extended by six inches to align it with the adjacent window and make it symmetrical with the side of the house. The concrete pad will be extended to meet the shower's new dimensions and raised to pitch away from the house for drainage.

The completed shower will consist of two parts: (1) a back wall formed by the side of the house and covered by stacked river rock tile, and (2) the floor formed by the concrete base, covered with river rock tile, and enclosed by glass blocks. The river rock tile used for this project is made of individual pebbles attached to a mesh backing to simulate the look of a river bed.

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