Shower Bench -- lots of questions

[Matt Meiser]

My parents are looking for me to build a bench like this for their master bath shower.

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I'm looking for advise on whether the bench would be stable with the given dimensions. I think so, but could use a second (or more) opinion. The dimensions sketched on are outside dimensions.

I've thrown out the idea of using something like Trex but I don't know if that's a workable idea. Locally, I can get teak, but only in 4/4 which means I'd have to laminate the legs. White oak is readily available in 4, 6, and 8/4. They also have Sassafras in 4 and 6/4 (price list shows 8/4 is out of stock) which they say is a great outdoor wood. Someone also suggested Ipe, but I'd have to order that from somewhere out of the area. I'm not super excited about working with teak or ipe as I understand both to be hard on tooling?

Lastly, any recommendations on a finish, if any? I'm thinking any kind of film finish will not hold up.

[Erik Loza]

Some friends of ours have a shower bench like that. I'm sure they bought it knocked-down rather than built it. Don't remember where from. Possibly Ikea. It is teak, though. That's the only wood I could see holding up in that kind of environment. Or possibly Ipe. Maybe Cypress if you want a domestic? Theirs is unfinished but it surely would last longer if you treated it. Maybe a poly finish? I think anything oil-based would wash away from exposure to the shampoos and such. Agree with you on composite decking: Not the right choice for this. Needs to be real wood.

Just my thoughts. Best of luck with it.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Prashun Patel]

The good and bad thing about Ipe is it's so darn heavy. It'll be stable to sit on, but heavy for the elderly to move when cleaning.

I definitely would not use a film finish. I wouldn't use any finish on a wood that's going to get a daily soaking. Poly will crack (at least it has for me). An oil finish risks letting moisture in, but not letting it out fast enough.

Assuming you don't mind using a waterproof glue or epoxy, I vote for the teak. I laminate legs frequently and there's a lot of games you can play with book or slip matching to hide the joint; I'm surprised at how well it becomes invisible - especially on something with such a straight qs profile as teak.

[Matt Meiser]

Someone else also suggested Jatoba which I can also get locally in 4/4 and 8/4. Reading shows its good outdoors? I was thinking I'd probably use epoxy, outdoor Dominoes, and/or stainless screws.

[Jay Jolliffe]

I'd use Teak also. They use it on boats for deck furniture that's out to the weather & it holds up fine. Also I'd use Teak oil as the finish.....

[Brian Tymchak]

My worry would be about an unfinished wood splintering.. :eek: I've never worked with Teak, Cypress, Ipe, etc., so I don't know how splinter-prone they are. White oak is somewhat prone to splintering and I assume you would have to cut across long grain to create the seat depression.

I wonder if Epifanes Varnish would hold up? They use it on wood boats / yachts. I just used it last Fall on a set up Oak hot tub stairs which I then covered for the winter. I haven't uncovered them yet to see how it's held up over the winter though.

[Sam Murdoch]

Teak is the way to go Matt. It will need no finish and last for a long time. Can occasionally be scrubbed with water and a Comet type powder to keep it clean. Jatoba is not a good option - in my experience it is not a great wood to expose to constant damp conditions without a very good finish. As for working with only 4/4 stock you could build your legs as right angles - with mitered corners or not - which will give you a good inside landing place for the aprons. If you wanted to add a bit of detail it would be easy to incorporate a taper or a curve to the 2 faces of each leg. Yes teak will be hard on your edge tools - but not more so than Trex.

Epoxy and exterior dominos would be all the fastenings you would need.

[Kurt Cady]

I know this is a woodworking forum - BUT hobby time is still money in my opinion. We bought this for our shower a year ago. It gets soapy and wet every day and it looks as good as new. I added a couple 1/4" tall nail in feet from HD to keep the end grain legs out of the water. Wegot it from BedBathandBeyond. With one of their 20% off coupons it was reasonable.

There are others from the same company similar to the one you pictured. Some had puttied/gapped joints. Others looked almost perfect

Others:
http://www.amazon.com/Spa-Shower-Bench-Seat-Shelf/dp/B004YR1E1Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361208628&sr=8-2&keywords=teak+bench

Ours:
http://www.amazon.com/Solid-Teak-Indoor-Outdoor-Stool-/dp/B005LQ77FE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1361208628&sr=8-4&keywords=teak+bench

[Erik Loza]

Others:http://www.amazon.com/Spa-Shower-Bench-Seat-Shelf/dp/B004YR1E1Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361208628&sr=8-2&keywords=teak+bench

That's the exact one my friends have.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Ole Anderson]

I know this is a woodworking forum - BUT hobby time is still money in my opinion.

I'm not following what you mean here. To me this looks like a great project to fiddle around in your shop with. That is our hobby.

By the way Teak is great to work with as long as the grain is fairly straight. It machines well and tends not to splinter. If it did my butt would be full of them from jumping up on my swim platform for the last 24 years. I have refinished the platform twice by simply sanding it and applying Teak oil, 5 coats an hour apart, sitting in the sun in between coats. Not so much as a permanent finish, there is no such thing, but as a wood conditioner. If you want to keep the golden Teak color, you can lightly wire brush the grey away using a fine brass or SS brush while the wood is wet. Too many times though and the grain will start to become prominent and it will be time to get out the sander.

However if you get a good price on teak furniture, it may cost less than just the rough wood you will have to purchase to do the project. You are looking at about $30/bf in smaller quantities.

[Jim Riseborough]

could make it out of this. might be able to paint.

http://www.plasteak.com/plasteak-recycled-plastic-products/recycled-plastic-lumber/hollow-lumber

[Matt Meiser]

However if you get a good price on teak furniture, it may cost less than just the rough wood you will have to purchase to do the project. You are looking at about $30/bf in smaller quantities.

$15 something at Kencraft in Toledo.

[Ole Anderson]

Hey Matt, I just pulled the pricing off of Johnsons website, no club discount, yea, it seemed high.

[Peter Quinn]

My first though when teak is mentioned is can you buy it already made? Make your parents a nice piece of furniture, buy the bench. I love wood working, but I don't love working teak. I know from past jobs that some of the exporting countries tax low value added goods sharply in an effort to grow their domestic economies. So often the bench will be cheaper than the lumber. And they do a more than reasonable job of fabricating these things in Indonesia. Add to that the fact that teak is IME unpleasant to work with regarding dust. The dust is sticky, heavy, and for many creates mild reactions or breathing problems. It is hard on HSS because it embeds a fine silica like mineral in its pores as it grows, combined with the high oil content, it makes a paste that quickly dulls tool steel, carbide tooling is required at all steps. It machines quite easily though with carbide tooling. All that said if you haven't used it it will be an exciting new challenge and something to add to your "I've worked with that" list.

that said I can't think of a better species for the application. White oak will check badly from the wet dry cycle, ipe and jatoba are both very heavy to lift. If at all possible I'd skip the laminated legs for an extreme damp situation. Better to mail order the 8/4 or 6/4 for the legs. That's a small enough volume to get ups or even USPS.

For finish an epoxy under coat might give it longevity, look at epoxy products.com or smiths cpes. Ephanes varnish over that would probably be the best chance for a film finish. Otherwise an oil application might be easier to maintain and shouldn't degrade as quickly in a shower as in direct sun.

[Paul Grant]

I built mine out of Cumaru which was left over from our deck. Works well. Color will bleed a bit when new so it's best to leave outside to let a some sun and rain season it a little.
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[Myk Rian]

Matt;
Have you considered redwood?

[Kurt Cady]

I'm not following what you mean here. To me this looks like a great project to fiddle around in your shop with. That is our hobby.

My point was that sometimes you can buy a good product for the same or cheaper than you can make it - and use that time to build something else. The cost of the project isn't just the cost of the lumber.

Sometimes we hobbyists get roped into projects we'd rather not do, but for one reason or another we can't turn it down

[Mel Fulks]

I see Kurt's point ,you might find something at a medical supply place that is more waterproof ,safer ,and cheaper.

[Matt Meiser]

My mom is looking at BB&B right now. I might be off the hook on this one. Its not something I was looking forward to due to the material choices. I'd like to build the bench, just don't want to tear up expensive tooling to do it.

[Peter Quinn]

My mom is looking at BB&B right now. I might be off the hook on this one. Its not something I was looking forward to due to the material choices. I'd like to build the bench, just don't want to tear up expensive tooling to do it.


We have actually edge jointed a teak board over HSS jointer knives, and about 5' down the board the just sharp knives are dull and screaming, when you stop the machine you can see the wear mark as if you had taken sand paper to that spot on the knives, renders them useless. It won't be a problem with carbide, but jointer, planer, to some extent BS blades and drill bits don't do well. Oddly, I have found that hand tools have more longevity than you might expect. I did a bunch of edges with a #4 stanley, and it held up pretty well. I've heard it suggested that its the speed of the machine knives combined with the grit in the teak that does the damage, sounds casually plausible.

I know for sure the value added thing is true. I looked into making my wife a porch glider for her first mothers day when we had our son. The lumber for a basic design was running $1200, I found a great glider for under $800. That got the economist in me searching for answers, how do they sell this stuff so cheap? Well, the Indonesian government wants to stop the stripping of lumber as a cheap commodity from their country and encourage the employment of as many domestic workers as possible in higher value added tasks. So they tax the heck out of lumber exports, not so much furniture and finished goods. Had the same experience on a large maccassar ebony job. Cheaper by far to buy more processed blanks ordered from a mill than straight billets for resaw. They do the work, price goes down. Go figure. So a good way out might be to insist that you are doing your part to stimulate fair and equitable growth in less privileged developing nations. As much as you would love to snort the nasty stinky (smells like rotten artificial blueberries to me) teak dust, it would starve hard working Indonesian carpenters and generally slow the growth of GDP everywhere. :rolleyes: That remains my story when teak is mentioned.