# Forum Home Renovation Plumbing  mini orb in the bathroom

## goannadareyou

Hi, does anyone have any ideas on using mini orb (that low profile corrugated iron) in bathrooms?
In particular I wish to know how to attach the taps etc and make a neat seal between them and the mini orb.
We intend to use the mini orb as the walls for the bath/shower.
Any help will be much appreciated.

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## brettdel

Gday goannadareyou,
We were going to use mini orb but instead went for aluminum checker plate in our shower (no bath).  This was a few years ago, so things probably have changed, but I couldnt find anything that would give a reasonable seal.  
The checker plate makes installation a little easier as you can file off the raised areas around the installation points, giving you a flat surface to work against.  I even decided against this in the end and went for a ceiling mounted shower rose and a mixer installed outside the showers screen, not much help in your situation but there are always 2 ways to skin a cat.  
Just something a little different (it came on the market after Id finished ours and Id love to use it)   have you seen aluminium propeller plate? not as many raised bits and its chemically polished  
Brett

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## silentC

One idea that springs to mind is to get a bit of stainless tube the same size as the flanges on your fittings and use a hole saw to cut a hole the same size for all of your pipe penetrations. Cut a bit of tube so that the flange sits flush with the outside of the tin and push it into the hole around your pipe and then screw on the tap. 
Another way would be to use a stainless splash-back behind all of your fittings and put some sort of timber or metal trim around the edge of it and have the tin cut flush to the trim. I think I'd do it that way as it's a straight forward install and I reckon would be easier to keep clean.

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## trevorZ

goannadareyou
Better late than never , maybe!
I've got the same problem as I'm building our own house and using mini orb in the bathroom. I've been thinking about it for quiet awhile and what I plan to do is use a scrap bit of mini orb, the stuff we used in the bathroom had plastic protective on it, so using a scrap bit of that I peeled it up leaving enough stuck to the mini orb then made a sort of dam or pond about 80mm across and filled it up to about 5mm  above the top of the corrugations with Diggers Cast and Embedding Resin. I've removed the cast from the mini orb and it looks pretty good with the corrugations on one side and flat on the other side. Thats as far as I've got at the moment, the next step will be to work out where the center will be and probably using a circle cutter in the bench drill cut out round piece the right size.It may also need sanding a bit thinner.
   I was going to use builders bog for the cast and paint it but I had the other resin sitting around and I know I can cut and sand and polish it and it is clear when it sets, which could be another finishing option. There is probably a few different products suitable for the cast. The resin I had came from bunnies.                                         If I get any more done in the next few days I'll keep you posted.

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## barney

hope I'm not too late - but why run the pipes down behind the mini orb..  a mate of mine has his exposed in his shower and it is really effective. all you need to do is drill through for the securing clamps/rings to hold the pipes in place.

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## Aceyducey

Here is how a bathroom we mini-orbed at the start of this year looks....   
We tore off the tiles 7 miniorbed the entire room and then lined it with stained jarrah around the top edge. 
Biggest drama was fitting the edges of the sheets together 7 getting enough screws in to hold the mini-orb to the walls properly. 
We had no pipe issues as they were already in place & we didn't mive any fixtures (though added a new vanity & got new shower glass).  
Cheers, 
Aceyducey

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## Aceyducey

And here's a second shot of the room....focused on the vanity (which we made out of a TV cabinet). 
Note that the mirror was placed over the mini-orb. 
We also inset mini-orb under the bath lip. 
Cheers, 
Aceyducey

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## Aceyducey

Oh - and here's a 'before' shot of the bathroom  :Smilie:  
We did quite a bit to it! 
Cheers, 
Aceyducey

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## trevorZ

here is a couple of pics of the piece i made to go between the spout and the mini orb which i described earlier. its painted with chrome paint which scratched easily and there is silastic behind it. i still have to make one for the tap

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## trevorZ

another pic

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## trevorZ

now i'll rotate the first one

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## trevorZ

last time

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## goannadareyou

thanks all that replied to this question. 
Hi Acey, that bathroom of yours looks really great. well done!
One favour though! We would like to see pic of the edge of your bath especially where you said you inset mini-orb under the bath lip. mmmm. Is this possible? 
Thanks again and Merry Christmas to all (unless of course you don't celebrate Christmas in which case enjoy the holiday season anyway) 
Alan

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## Aceyducey

> _Originally posted by goannadareyou_  *Hi Acey, that bathroom of yours looks really great. well done!
> One favour though! We would like to see pic of the edge of your bath especially where you said you inset mini-orb under the bath lip. mmmm. Is this possible?*

  Alan, 
Sorry but don't have a shot of that & the place is tenanted so we can't easily get in to take pics  :Smilie:  
Cheers, 
Aceyducey

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## mat

Alan 
Have a look at the vanity pic and the bath is featured in the mirror.

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## Asifaz

Hi Trev
Spout penetration looks great , just wondering how the taps and flanges are treated to achieve the same result. 
Regards   
Lindsay Wild (Asifaz)

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## rosieyee

hello Aceyducey,
I am in the middle of doing what you have so beautifully done.  Just wondering if you could give a bit more detail on how you delt with the taps in your shower.  It looks like you have mounted them to a piece of timber??   Did you cut a retangular piece out of the mini orb for the plumbing to come through??
Thanks
rosieyee

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## Bloss

A 2003 original post and a 2008 single post follow up . . . probably best to create a new thread and ask the question again.

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## rosieyee

thanks for the tip Bloss, I'm new to this.  :Smilie:

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## ren0v8

Has there been any further discussion on this forum of miniorb in bathrooms?

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## ren0v8

rosieyee - did you ever get a response to your question? I am about to embark on a minorb reno of a bathroom and would be interested to learn from your experience.

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## ren0v8

Hi Trevor2
Back in 2002 you posted an interesting idea for sealing taps etc against miniorb using a resin casting. It looked very neat and I have recently copied your idea. However, before comiting further I thought I might enquire how this stood the test of time.
I would also be interested in any other experiences you have had with miniorb in this environment - eg leaks (I notice you used screws) and electrolytic reaction.
Regards
Bruce

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