How to repair cracks in a shower tray?
Quite often, residents of houses and apartments have to deal with such an unpleasant phenomenon as the breakdown of plumbing products. The reason for this can be both an insufficiently careful attitude or shortcomings that have arisen due to poor-quality installation, and reasons beyond the control of the owners, in particular, poor-quality water. One of these problems is the occurrence of all kinds of cracks and chips. Fortunately, it is quite possible to close a crack in the shower tray or partition without resorting to the services of paid craftsmen.
After reading our tips, you will learn what to do if a crack appears and how to repair a shower tray. Work patterns will vary slightly depending on the location of the defect and its nature.
How to fix a crack in a pallet?
Starting to eliminate the crack in the shower tray, you need to take care of acquiring all the tools necessary for repair. You will need:
- Sandpaper and a drill equipped with a polishing nozzle;
- Alcoholic liquid;
- Liquid acrylic;
- Epoxy resin;
- Soft spatula and/or brush
When it is necessary to repair surface cracks, they can be easily painted over with acrylic paint of the appropriate color. Acrylic can be purchased at any store that sells building materials and applied with a regular brush.
If you do everything carefully, then it is quite possible to achieve such a result when a cracked shower tray will look like new.
Standard acrylic repair kit
If a crack in the shower tray touched not only the surface of the product, but also deeper layers, a more complex technology will have to be used.
- At the first stage, you need to clean the pallet from all existing contaminants.
- After that, you must wait for complete drying.
- Then, to prevent further increase in the size of the crack, it is recommended to drill small holes on its sides so that they do not pass through the pallet (no more than 1–2 mm).
- The next step will be the application of an alcohol-based degreaser.
A number of manufacturers of shower trays pre-apply a crack remover to their product. In a situation where there was no such composition in the house, you can purchase it in stores selling sanitary ware. They consist of acrylic and hardener. The proportions should be indicated in the instructions that are attached to the composition.
After that, the existing defect must be carefully sealed. To do this, apply the mixture over its entire area. It is better not to save at the same time, because the excess can be easily removed by grinding, while an insufficient amount will lead to the formation of a cavity that will have to be filled again.
When repairing cracks in the shower tray or partitions, it is very important to ensure thorough ventilation of the room in which all work is carried out, since if this rule is not followed, poisoning with the resulting harmful substances becomes possible.
A slightly different way is how to close a crack in the shower tray that goes through.
- You will need to install a “patch” on the back of the product.
- For this purpose, you need to take several layers of fiberglass impregnated with epoxy resin.
- When doing this work, you need to remember that the resin, when exposed to air, quickly hardens. Therefore, you need to act very quickly and it is better to prepare all the necessary materials in advance.
- After that, you need to let the product dry for at least one day. Then it is sanded, polished and painted.
If you do not want the pallet to crack again, pay attention to the size and location of the crack before proceeding with the repair. There are times when fixing a shower tray is possible, but doesn't make much sense.
The fact is that the main problem of such devices is that most of the load during their operation falls on the very middle. Therefore, if the defect is located in the middle of the product or its size is too significant, then it is better not to waste time, money and effort, but to immediately purchase a new device. You can also install it yourself or invite a master.
Fix a crack in the partition
All kinds of damage can occur not only in the shower tray, but also in its partition. Her repair will not be much different.
You will also need paint and epoxy. The work steps will be the same as in the situation with the repair of the pallet. It is necessary to thoroughly clean the place of the partition that is directly adjacent to the crack, then degrease it, apply resin, and then paint.
This method is quite reliable and can significantly extend the life of your shower.
So, as you can see, there is nothing particularly difficult in repairing cracks and chips on plumbing products. All works are quite accessible even to a novice home master.
