How to ensure nib walls are strong to resist movement?

bigkid

Hey guys,

Unfortunately due to some poor choices by whoever originally built our house, I have to install a nib wall on either side of a new double shower. I also need to raise the shower floor which means installing a hob. The walls of the house are double brick, and it is a second story concrete slab floor.

The nib walls will come out approx 550 from the external walls, will be approx 1000 in height, and will only be about 90-100 thick. They will have glass panels above them and one will have a large shower door hinged off it. I can’t really go any thicker as it will encroach too much on the usable shower space due to having to build a ledge against the backwall to hide a toilet waste pipe that runs along the wall.

My original plan was to build the hob from a single course of bricks, then bolt a stud frame on top with 90x45 LVL and then sheet it and tile it. But a tiler who quoted my job said every time he has seen a timber stud nib wall done, it has never worked too well and slight movement of the nib wall causes issues.

So what is the best option that wont cost through the roof here? Build the hob and nib walls entirely from brick? Surely that may still suffer from the same movement issues?

Build the hob and nib walls from 90mm besser blocks tied into the external walls and the concrete slab floor with vertical and horizontal reo bars, then core fill it? Surely that would be solid as hell, sounds pricey.

Any ideas much appreciated. I also added an AI mock up I created to show the look we are going for. Our shower wont be set back that far though, it will be inline with the door opening to the left, I just couldn’t get AI to replicate that is all.

JacobZ

Hi @bigkid,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is wonderful to have you with us.

I think the first thing I would be doing in your situation is speaking with your tiler about what they would do in this situation. If they have the experience to foresee issues stemming from a nib timber wall, then they would almost certainly have seen good examples they could also mention. The experience of your tiler would be a great resource to use in this situation.

In my experience, having built numerous timber framed nib walls in shop fitouts, I would agree that a timber nib wall is not the best in a scenario where rigidity is key. This is because timber is flexible and it is extremely difficult to remove all potential for flex. Tiles and grout are rigid, so even slight movement in the surface beneath can lead to cracking, debonding, or failure over time, so having an entirely rigid wall is the gold standard you should be aiming for.

Going full brick for the hob and nib walls would definitely improve things, especially tied into the existing double brick. That said, at that thickness it’s still relatively slender, so it’s more solid than timber but not completely immune to movement.

The besser block approach is going to be the most rigid of the options. If it’s tied into the slab and side walls and core filled, it’s about as solid as you can get . It does come with more labour and cost, but long term, it is almost certainly the best option.

While the initial outlay on a reinforced, core filled besser block wall might be more than other options, the reduced risk of issues would likely be worth it.

Allow me to tag @Nailbag, @Dave-1 and @R4addZ to see what they think.

Jacob