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2002 Affinity Shower Wall Construction

Yahoo Message Number: 95849
At DW's request I installed a towel bar in the shower yesterday. The walls appear to be made of a Corian-like material about 1/4" think. There is a shallow air gap of about 1/4" behind that, then a 3/4" plywood sheet.
Corian or the generic material referred to as "solid surface" is new to me.
I drilled small pilot holes through the solid surface, air gap, and about 1/2" into the plywood. Then I drilled clearance holes in the solid surface through which the mounting screws could pass without biting into the solid surface but not into the plywood. The mounting screws pass through the towel bar mounting fixture, solid surface, air gap, and bite/anchor in the plywood for about 1/2".
The clearance holes are just a few thousandths of an inch larger than the screws.

My questions are:

(A) Will the 3/4" plywood sheet and 1/4" solid surface shower wall move independently from one another while going down the road to a degree that will cause the screws to rub on the clearance holes and start or promote cracking of the solid surface?
(B) Will the tension caused by drawing the solid surface toward the plywood where it is unsupported in the air gap upon tightening of the mounting screws, promote cracking of the solid surface?

TIA,

Dave M. 2002 Affinity #6103
Dave & Cathy M, 2002 Affinity #6103, 2018 GMC Acadia, Linux Mint 19.2

Re: 2002 Affinity Shower Wall Construction

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 95853
Dave

The solid surface should be tight to the plywood (substrate). The installer must not of put adequate pressure on the panel while the adhesive was curing, thus allowing it to pull away and creating an air gap. I really don't think gap will create a problem. And if you didn't crack the solid surface while tightening the screws for your towel bar you should be fine. "Should be"? being the key words..... Being there is a space between the solid surface and the substrate means the panel is more or less floating on the substrate and while adding the fasteners should be a good thing, if the panel is now secured where the fasteners are and loose at the other end or above and below the fasteners and is able to flex and or move while traveling it may crack out where the fasteners rub.

Jim

2002 Affinity Shower Wall Construction

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 95868
I don't know if I am the DW or not, but I wanted a couple of towel bars in the shower also.

It was an easy fix. First I went to WalMart and purchased two beige expansion curtain rods then I came back and installed them on both sides of the shower. They have worked beautifully for about eight years now. In fact, colored towels on both sides of the shower really brighten up the shower box!

It was probably about a $10 deal. Love those kinds of solutions.

sob

Shirley O'Brien
Allure 2006 #31290