# If you were going to make a container that holds water from wood...



## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

Which wood to choose? I'm turning a bay in our bathroom into a giant shower. The bay has a window and I'd like to build a long, narrow box that will have lucky bamboo growing in it to provide some visual screen. Lucky bamboo (really a dracaena sp) can be grown in water and given that the window is in a shower, I thought that would be a natural medium.

I'm looking for a combo of durability and aesthetic.

Teak? Cypress? Ipe?

Let the discussion begin.


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

I am thinking white oak. They were used in ships and such. I have some oak soap holders with no finish on it in the shower. They are over 4 years old and I just wash them clean as needed.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

Cypress would be fine as well. Soft though.


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

Whiskey barrel were oak. They held liquids.
Cedar , make sure no nails exposed, they go black !


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

White oak.

Teak or ipe would also be fine. The problem with cypress is that it's harder to get only heartwood these days. When I recently shopped for deck wood, a cypress dealer steered me toward red cedar for my boat because the stuff he was getting was new growth and not really rot resistant.

There are other woods that are usable. In a shower you might want to consider resistance to mold and mildew.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Choose your wood for aesthetic qualities and put two coats of S1Sealer on it.
https://www.systemthree.com/products/s-1-clear-penetrating-epoxy-sealer.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Downside of using a sealer is like painting a deck, once you do it you'll have to redo it every year forever.


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

White oak is used in wet cooperage. Red oak leaks. IPE is too hard to easily form a stave

No sealant needed as once the wood swells from the liquid you have a tight seal, another reason ipe isn't the way to go.

M


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

There is a woodworking joint, can't remember the name of it but I have it in my books if I can find it, where you compress a groove in the edge with a piece of steel or screwdriver. Hand plane down to the groove. Then when water seeps in it will swell the compressed wood and make a watertight seal. I don't know if that is really necessary since it's a planter in a shower but might be fun to try it.


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## mike02130 (Jul 23, 2016)

Not for nothing, but if you plan on pulling a permit, most towns require a shower window to be 72" high for new construction. If inspected you may want to have some money to pay off the inspector.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

The wood I would choose is PVC.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

> Not for nothing, but if you plan on pulling a permit, most towns require a shower window to be 72" high for new construction. If inspected you may want to have some money to pay off the inspector.
> 
> - mike02130


I suspect something is lost in translation. Previous there was a tub with surround there so the window passed original inspection. My reading is the glass needs to be safety glass.

It's a moot point anyway, the shower is going in.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

> Choose your wood for aesthetic qualities and put two coats of S1Sealer on it.
> https://www.systemthree.com/products/s-1-clear-penetrating-epoxy-sealer.
> 
> - shipwright


Would you have to reseal this regularly? I don't think I want to do that, not to mention the plants wouldn't be happy about it either.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

> Downside of using a sealer is like painting a deck, once you do it you ll have to redo it every year forever.
> 
> - Rick M.


S1 is no ordinary sealer. As long as it is protected from ultraviolet, it will last pretty much forever. I have used it a lot in boats and can vouch for it.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

> White oak is used in wet cooperage. Red oak leaks. IPE is too hard to easily form a stave
> 
> No sealant needed as once the wood swells from the liquid you have a tight seal, another reason ipe isn t the way to go.
> 
> ...


If the area will get wet and never dry, then OK a swelling action will work fine but a properly sealed surface will work better when a wet /dry cycle Is normal. Also there will not be the discolouration, mildew, etc. that you can get with bare wood.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I'm going to say what I said before - PVC. You can put a veneer of wood on the face and top edge if you want that look - that way it would be easily replaceable when it fails.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

> S1 is no ordinary sealer. As long as it is protected from ultraviolet, it will last pretty much forever. I have used it a lot in boats and can vouch for it.
> 
> - shipwright


What are your thoughts about how to apply it on the inside of a container rather than just a flat surface? Does it glue? Would you tape off the joint area, seal the wood, and then glue the container together? Would you seal it after the box had been constructed? I sorta like this idea, but I'm not an epoxy pro.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Personally, I would seal the inner surfaces well, for this application, maybe four coats to be sure. Then I would cut the joints and glue, again with epoxy. This may be overkill for you. I have a lot of experience with epoxy and where water is involved it is my go to. 
S1 itself is not a glue. You would need to get an epoxy glue as well. It could get too expensive for a small project if you don't have the materials on hand.
Another option would be to use the epoxy glue as the sealer. It won't penetrate as well but will be a thicker layer. Then you would only be buying one epoxy.


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## ClammyBallz (Apr 16, 2015)

Paul's advice is right on the money with the epoxy. I've made aquariums out of plywood boxes coated in epoxy that lasted 10+ years. However, I would consider for a more cost effective approach, make an acrylic box and wrap it in a wooden box.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

> Paul s advice is right on the money with the epoxy. I ve made aquariums out of plywood boxes coated in epoxy that lasted 10+ years. However, I would consider for a more cost effective approach, make an acrylic box and wrap it in a wooden box.
> 
> - ClammyBallz


I thought about this, but the box is also in a shower so will get wet from the outside as well.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

> I ve made aquariums out of plywood boxes coated in epoxy that lasted 10+ years.
> - ClammyBallz


Why would you make an aquarium out of plywood? A breeding tank or something?


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## ClammyBallz (Apr 16, 2015)

Some of them were used as sumps (filters), others were holding tanks for a local wholesaler. Not as pretty as a glass or acrylic aquarium, but substantially cheaper when you need a large custom sized tank to hold water.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

I decided to go with Afrormosia. I'll let you know how it turns out. I'll probably put it together in the next 2-3 weeks.


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## sawdustdad (Dec 23, 2015)

African Teak will last a long time and look great. I'd let it age to a soft silver grey. The other woods that I would have suggested are western red cedar or redwood. Probably a lot less expensive, much lighter, and the red cedar (not to be confused with Virginia Juniper or eastern aromatic cedar) is what I used to build a hot tub some 35 years ago. Basically built a coopered barrel, 4 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter. Once the wood swelled up, it was water tight.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

> African Teak will last a long time and look great. I d let it age to a soft silver grey. The other woods that I would have suggested are western red cedar or redwood. Probably a lot less expensive, much lighter, and the red cedar (not to be confused with Virginia Juniper or eastern aromatic cedar) is what I used to build a hot tub some 35 years ago. Basically built a coopered barrel, 4 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter. Once the wood swelled up, it was water tight.
> 
> - sawdustdad


I live in Oregon…so WRC seemed a bit boring.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

Just as an update, my box project has initially been a failure. The box held water nicely, but the swelling of the wood from water on the inside (but not outside) led to bowing of the sides which caused the glue joints to fail. I'm back to the drawing board. This time I may go with an acrylic box with a wood veneer. I'm thinking 1/8" and I'm also thinking of doing the S1 sealer to avoid the very same problem with the veneer.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

> There is a woodworking joint, can t remember the name of it but I have it in my books if I can find it, where you compress a groove in the edge with a piece of steel or screwdriver. Hand plane down to the groove. Then when water seeps in it will swell the compressed wood and make a watertight seal. I don t know if that is really necessary since it s a planter in a shower but might be fun to try it.
> 
> - Rick M.


It was described by Frank Klauz in an article on making
a "pond" for his waterstones. Fine Woodworking magazine.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)




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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Does this mean you have success?


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

> Does this mean you have success?
> 
> - shipwright


Yes. I constructed a box from acrylic and sealed it with silicone. Then I salvaged the wood from the first attempt, planed the front and back down to 1/8", attached it to the acrylic with epoxy, and sealed the outside with epoxy as well. It seems to hold the water and rocks just fine. The shower is still a week from being functional so we will see how it does when getting splashed.


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## ClammyBallz (Apr 16, 2015)

You really should have used Weld-on 4 to glue up the acrylic. Silicone does not adhere to well to acrylic, it will eventually separate from the acrylic and leak.


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## LiveEdge (Dec 18, 2013)

The silicone is a secondary adhesive, more meant to fill any imperfections in the joints. The acrylic was joined with superglue. The weld-on would have been a good idea, and I thought about it, but I just didn't want to muck with yet another unknown adhesive system. It is what it is. When the box fails, it will fail in the shower and I will build another. I'm guessing it doesn't fail for a while.


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