Working With Plastic Bathtub and Shower Enclosures

Some of these plastic shower enclosures use extremely thin materials and you will need to be extremely careful when handling them. I've seen them crack, chip and break and when this happens, you need to either return the damaged product, or purchase a new one.

Most home improvement centers have nice displays or nice pictures of plastic shower enclosures in their stores. Their displays, often look great and even the pictures on the boxes that the products are enclosed in, seem to give a look of elegance to most plastic bathtub and shower enclosures.

You go down to your favorite home improvement center and purchase one of these products that looks easy to assemble and requires very few tools. Before you leave the store, make sure that you have purchased the proper adhesives and bathtub or shower enclosure backing.

Most home improvement center representatives or house plumbing supply warehouse workers can help you, all you need to do is ask. I do not recommend purchasing a gypsum based product that is not mold resistant or water resistant, for your backing board. For those of you who do not know what a backing board is, it's the building material that will nail or screw onto your bathroom wall framing. The plastic shower or bath tub enclosure will be attached to this backing.

One last thing I would like to say when working with plastic bathtub or shower enclosure products, would be, to be careful, if you have to cut them. Most of these products will suggest using a razor knife, but I have actually chipped off and cracked sections of these enclosures, when using a sharp utility knife.

I recommend using a pair of scissors, I have had great success and would suggest testing the scissors first, by cutting a section of the plastic enclosure that you will not be using.