Trim for Bathtub

[cab938]

Hi,

I need to trim out a couple of windows in bathrooms, and both are small and right in the wall with the tub surround (and tile for the second one). I was thinking that I'd like to do the trim in plastic - maybe vinyl if I could find the stock. For each bathroom I only need bright white, but I don't know how well painting would work. The trim in both needs to be water tight (or at least strongly resistant), and custom routed/shaped.

Love some advice on materials in particular. I have used an off the shelf vinyl trim previously and it sucked - I need solid stock of some kind that I can route to fit. I was thinking offcuts of corian might work. Not sure if I can just order small enough pieces, or maybe find some offcuts somewhere (most places seem to get them fabricated to fit outside of the province, but again, helpfull suggestions on sourcing are welcome!).

I also thought UHMW might work, but the price is pretty high (3/4"x4"x2' is $20). Price is certainly a concern here. Also not sure how it might paint.

Certainly willing to consider traditional wood too, but would need some advice on how to make it really water resistant. Especially in the nooks and crannies. The idea with plastic/vinyl is that when glued together the seal would be pretty water proof.

Regards,

Chris

[Rusty]

Are we to assume this is in a tub/shower? If I had a window in a showerI would do it all in tile with a solid sill and solid casing over schluter. Or at least a nice Listello to replace the casing. Wood or plastic will fail.

[cab938]

Yes, this is a show/tub.

Tile was of course on the mind with the one bathroom, that's been completely tiled, but I thought matching other casings in the house by routing it out of plastic/vinyl/etc. would be nice.

Maybe I'll redouble my efforts to find appropriate tile pieces to trim it out...

I thought plastic would be fairly robust, how do you envision it failing here?

TIA, Chris

[Rusty]

Chris, wood will fail for sure and plastic or vinyl will succeed only if you can get a perfect seal between the tile and the plastic/vinyl and miters etc... In my opinion that seal normally depends on some type of silicone and silicone fails on a regular basis.

[GolfSteve in Calgary]

Hi Chris, I have a window with wood trim in my shower. If I had my preference I would get rid of the window and install a ventilation fan, but that's a big job.

I replaced the original aluminum slider window with a new vinyl window 10 years ago. Love the vinyl window. This is in our main floor bathroom where we take long hot showers every day, so the window and trim is exposed to steamy wet conditions daily.

The window has oak trim around it (the original trim was mahogany). I've lived in this house for 40 years, and have finished the trim using oil based polyurethane. The finish needs touched up about every 5 years, but it is very durable. I apply a new, light, coat of finish directly over the old finish without a problem. I don't let the finish deteriorate to the point where it starts to peel - then I think you would want to sand off the damaged finish first.

In my opinion the trick is to keep as much standing water off the wood as possible. I installed vinyl blinds that cover the window and the trim, and the blinds are left closed all the time. The blinds prevent water from the shower from splashing on the window and trim. Condensation from the shower doesn't seem to hurt the finish.

[Cowtown_eric]

Most borgs sell really low end plastic 356.

Despite the low end tag, it fits your purpose to a T. No fuss, no muss, no refinishing, and for the 5 minutes yer in the shower, with soap in yer eyes, who cares.....

Eric in Cowtown

[cab938]

What is "plastic 356"? Does it go by another name? I couldn't find it while googling around...

Chris

[Ryan Shervill]

What is "plastic 356"? Does it go by another name? I couldn't find it while googling around...

Chris

It's shiny white foam(ish) cored trim available in standard profiles. You can get it off the rack at home depot.

[cab938]

Ah, so it's not solid then? E.g. not appropriate for routing a profile into?

Chris