Edge Jointing 12mm Plywood

[andrewm]

I have a need to join two pieces of Mermaid board edge-to-edge. This is 12mm plywood with a laminate face used as an alternative to tiles in shower cubicles. The shower room is too small to get a full piece in so the only solution that I can think of is to cut it in two and then rejoin once in the shower. Any recommendatiohns as to the best way to acheive this?

The best that I have come up with is to route a 3mm groove in each piece and use a piece of 1/8" aluminium strip as a floating tenon, glueing the whole lot together with some rapid set Araldite. This will result in less of a disconnect in the face panel than cutting a tounge and groove.

What does anyone think?

Andrew

 

[Spectric]

How good is the ply, being a laminate it may not edge join very well and I can see you having water ingress issues which would destroy the ply. Do they not sell trim that is designed to join sheets in cases where a sheet is too small ?

Something like this Composite Panel Cladding Joint Trim - 3.6mtr Midnight

 

[andrewm]

I don't think that the ply is the best that it could be. Certainly not birch or anything like that. There are joiners available but I think it would look bit naff having a horizontal strip running all the way around so was trying to minimise the impact of having to cut the board. the join will be quite high, 300mm or so below the ceiling so water ingress isn't too much of a problem and I ws hoping that the araldite with some silicone to match would suffice.

 

[paulrbarnard]

What ever you do the join is not going to be perfect. I assume you won’t be able to sand it flush. Spectric’s suggestion of a joiner is probably the only solution. Better to have an obvious join rather than a poor join.

 

[Thingybob]

I had the same problem could not get the 2400mm board through th door so worked out what could go through and cut it down to that length about 125mm off and left the gap at the top and edged it with the aluminium edging they sell looks fine

 

[Torx]

If horizontal the joint strip might encourage water ingress from dripping condensation and the result could be worse than nothing at all. If really unavoidable make the lap angle downwards, router on a track if possible.

 

[Torx]

I had the same problem could not get the 2400mm board through th door so worked out what could go through and cut it down to that length about 125mm off and left the gap at the top and edged it with the aluminium edging they sell looks fine
View attachment 159315

That looks great

 

[Thingybob]

I could get the 800mm side panels in but not the 1200mm back panel so had to match them all and the shower door is we'll below the top so looks good

 

[Ollie78]

Use one of the H shaped joiner trims designed for this type of product, they don`t look as good as a single panel but at least they allow for a bit of slack for positioning and they are water tight as you fill the joint with sealant.
Otherwise i was thinking that if you use a lock mitre bit but cut both on the horizontal cut (one flipped over obviously) then you might get a nice clean joint, pretty risky if it doesn`t work though.

 

[Fergie 307]

If you have to do this maybe to hide and seal the joint surface you could bevel just the edges of the surface laminate, then use the type of filler designed for kitchen worktops. Massive variety of colours so should be able to get a good match and it's waterproof. But personally I would go with the H trim.

 

[MikeJhn]

Can you see the join? It's obvious once you know it's there, there is only one.

 

[andrewm]

Thanks all for your ideas. Stopping short of the ceiling would certainly be feasible if the idea of using Mermaid board wasn't to cover up the old tile adhesive on the walls - which incidentally are made of straw sandwiched between two sheets of plasterboard.

I suspect that MikJhn's shower is using the more expensive boards that have tonge and grooves specifically so that they can be joined without the metal strips.

 

[MikeJhn]

The boards are Nuance by Bushboard and yes they have T&G, and post formed edges on the end panels, made fitting so much easier with their recommended adhesive onto an uneven wall, would not do it another way if I had to do it again. Using their adhesive they guarantee the panels to be waterproof for ten years.