19 Foot Safari SE Shower Wall Impending Disaster

[longdog]

Has anyone done anything about the small vinyl-covered wall between the shower and the toilet? This seems like a design flaw. I am pretty sure th wall is particle board or plywood, and is only covered by a thin vinyl veneer. The water is exposed to drips from the shower handle and to splashes when showering. Water runs along the ledge at thigh height and pools between the wall and the start of the fiberglass shower/tub liner.

I can already see the start of mildew, and probably some bubbling of the vinyl near the edges.

Don't you think that this ideally would have been covered over by a third piece of fiberglass? Has anyone constructed a retrofit out of fiberglass, acrylic, or other material?

[Tim A.]

When our 19' Bambi was new, I looked at that wall and thought the same thing you have mentioned. My solution was to fit a piece of 1/8" vinyl foam board (often used for signs and very light) to cover that bit of wall completely. I sealed all edges and joins with marine-grade urethane caulk. There have been no problems with my "fix," but I have no idea if the original wall would have had any problems. I also moved the location of the shower head to the back wall of the shower because that works better for us. It also means that less water gets to the wall with the foam board.

[SilverCabin]

On our 23' we have the same bathroom layout as the 19'. After our first use, we noticed water running out into the toilet area from around that wall after we used the shower. I gave the whole area a good caulking with high quality silicone caulk. We've never had water issues again, and our wall looks like new, except for the caulking I added at all the corners.

Randy