What to use for bathroom niches? Is it better to use glass or bricks for bathroom niches?

We all know that the bathroom is an important place in the home and a key decoration location. Many people will design some storage space in the bathroom. Niches are a common design among them. Many people will design wall cages in the bathroom. So what materials are good for bathroom wall cages? Let's take a closer look!

What material is good for bathroom niche

Bathroom niches (kan) are common storage areas, usually built on the left and right sides of the bathroom flue and sewer pipes, and are built with red bricks when wrapping the pipes. Some are built in layers for storage, while others are built and tiled before partitions are installed for stratification.

Commonly used partition layers include tempered glass, tiles, wood boards, plastic boards, and stainless steel.

tempered glass

The advantages of tempered glass are transparency, crystal clear, good appearance, thin material, no fear of water, high temperature, good stability, and no deformation. The disadvantages are that it needs to be customized, has a certain production cycle, and can only be replaced instead of repaired. In addition, it is easy to get dirty. If you put toiletries on it, there will be a lot of water stains and dust, and it needs to be cleaned frequently.

Especially the tempered glass niches set in the shower area, like the tempered glass shower rooms and partitions, are prone to water stains and dirt, affecting the appearance.

ceramic tile

The advantage of using ceramic tiles as interlayers is that they have good integrity and can be unified with wall tiles. They are simple and easy to maintain. The disadvantage is that they take up more space and are usually thicker. They need to be installed during the masonry process and cannot be installed after the wall tiles are pasted.

There are also some people who use two tiles glued back to back to make partitions later, but they need to clamp an edge strip on the side or grind the edge. The operation is more complicated.

Wooden boards. The advantage of using wooden boards as partitions is that they are more aesthetically pleasing. In bathrooms, where the walls are usually decorated with tiles, wooden partitions look more cozy. The disadvantage is that wood is prone to deformation, mold, and rot when exposed to moisture for a long time. Therefore, wooden niches are generally installed in the dry area of ​​the bathroom, not in the shower area.

plastic

That is, it is made of PVC, which is similar to the material of PVC wash cabinets. There are also some plastic partitions that are not made of PVC. The advantages of plastic are that it is cheap and economical, has high plasticity, and has many colors. The disadvantages are that it looks cheap, is not resistant to high temperatures, and is easily deformed and discolored by temperature changes.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel is common in decoration. It is corrosion-resistant, moisture-resistant, and water-resistant. Wall shelves commonly used in bathrooms are mostly made of stainless steel. There are no obvious advantages or disadvantages. Stainless steel has brushed, mirrored, and some colors to choose from. It can be decorated with some metallic texture.

Bathroom niche design

Bathroom wall cage construction

The main method of building a bathroom niche is to build on the side or one side of the wall while wrapping the vertical pipe. Red bricks and porous bricks are usually used for masonry. It occupies the space of the bathroom and is usually built in the corner of the bathroom. For example, while wrapping the vertical pipe, the width of the vertical pipe is extended to increase the niche. At the same time, the water channel of the shower is set here to avoid grooving the wall.

It is also convenient to place some toiletries here, such as shampoo, bath gel, glasses, etc.

If you are making a hidden shower head, this will make the construction more convenient.

Generally, red bricks are used for thin masonry to expand, thicken or widen the space for the vertical pipe. Ordinary cement mortar can be used for masonry. After the masonry is completed, cement mortar is used for plastering. Because waterproofing and tiling are required in the later stage, it can be smoothed with a wooden trowel. Do not smooth it, as it is too slippery and will affect the subsequent construction.

Another way is to build a niche space when building the bathroom partition wall, with a thickness of about 10 cm. You can directly lay tiles to place some items, or install partitions later.

There are also methods of wrapping the vertical pipe and building a square column on the other side, so that a niche is formed between the vertical pipe and the square column. The bottom is built up, and partitions are made in the middle and the top to form a niche.

Bathroom niche location

Generally, niches are made in the wash area and shower area of ​​the bathroom. These two locations are where some toiletries need to be placed, which are convenient to take and put. The niches are usually decorated with tiles, which are waterproof and water-resistant.

The first is to use the corner space near the vertical pipe and exhaust pipe for masonry. The rest is the redundant space of the bathroom or the small space that is not convenient to use.

The role of bathroom niches

In addition to storage, it can also be used as a decorative area to place bathroom decorations, green plants, etc. At the same time, it improves the utilization rate of the bathroom space and avoids sanitary dead corners. At the same time, it has a certain decorative effect.

Bathroom wall cage design tips

Niches are generally a good design, but when it comes to making niches in the bathroom, they also need to be placed in appropriate places. As the name suggests, a niche is a hole in the wall that is used as a platform for placing things, which saves space and is also beautiful.

The decoration of the bathroom should separate wet and dry areas, and the niche is best made in a dry place, such as above the sink or outside the bathroom.

There are two things to note when building a niche. First, it cannot be built on a load-bearing wall. Second, it must be waterproof.

Personal advice: If the bathroom space allows, it is better not to do it. If the space is not very large, you can consider it, because everything has two sides, both good and bad.

Bathroom niche

You can also cut niches on the bathroom wall, but the brick-concrete structure of the bathroom wall in the current house is 15 walls, and the high-rise is block walls. Thicker walls are generally load-bearing walls, and closets are not allowed to be cut out of load-bearing walls. Therefore, there are relatively few practical applications. In reality, masonry is more common.

If you want to dig a niche, you can only dig out half of the wall at most. You cannot dig out the load-bearing wall, and it is not recommended to dig out hollow bricks.

You can dig out a part of the wall and then embed partitions or metal frames in the wall to make a niche.