Thanks for purchasing one of our Copper Shower Kits! If at any time during your installation you have a question please feel free to call or email, 719-873-5280, coppershower@gmail.com. We have taken a lot of time to write up these instructions and hope you will take the time to review them before starting your installation. Copper is a very soft metal, please be sure to support trim pieces and panels when carrying, moving and installing as they are very easily bent, especially the longer pieces.
Upon delivery check all packages for damage and file a claim within 48 hours, be sure to document with pictures damage to package and merchandise.
Warnings and Safety
Working with and cutting any metal can be dangerous and great care needs to be taken, wearing protective gloves and eyewear are recommended.
Tips and Tricks – A lot of time and thought was taken to create these instructions to help make your installations as easy as possible, if you are anything like me you might just try to do this installation without them, if so, we do hope you will at least read all of the Tips and Tricks section.
Wearing gloves when working with copper is a good idea to minimize the oils from your hands as well as protection.
Following Step 2, calculating panel reveal and marking trim pieces will really help
Using a chop type saw (if available) with a non-ferrous metal blade works best (but not necessary) for cutting trim pieces to length, when possible always try to do a test cut to see how the metal will react while being cut, for cutting inside and outside corners it works best to place the trim over a piece of wood to help hold the corner tightly down while cutting.
If cutting trim pieces with hand cutters/tin snips you can use sandpaper or a file as needed to trim and remove any sharp edges, a small nail or similar tool can be used to help bend edges that may have been flattened while hand cutting if necessary.
Sometimes the trim slip joint can seem too tight to get the panels into place, if so use the putty knives supplied and inset one putty knife into the slip joints each side of where the panel is going to be installed.
Preparation of your subsurface is very important whether it is new construction or a remodel. We strongly recommend using a product like Red Gard (there are several on the market) which can be applied to the substrate by brush, roller or sprayer, that form a rubber like membrane over the subsurface making it water tight and anti-microbial, and obviously following your local and state building codes is a given.
If you purchased a Copper Shower Kit with a Patina, if you have the space, lay out all the panels on the ground before installing. Looking at the panels this way you might find a pattern you like by rearranging them.
Step 1 - Determine the area where the vertical trim pieces (side finish trim, corner trim and “J” trim that install into the corner trim) are going to be installed and get a measurement of that length, all vertical trim pieces will all be cut to the same length, making note of all the bottom ends of each trim piece. Place marks or vertical lines on the walls where studs are to make panel installation easier.
Step 2 – Determine the panel spacing, overlay, exposure, reveal or whatever you want to call it, for the panels. Here is an example, if you purchased a BTS kit (4 panels high) that can cover up to 64” of wall above the rim of the tub but you only want to go 60” tall, if you start with a reveal of 16” the reveal of your last panel will be much smaller. To make then all even, follow these instructions. The top piece of finish trim is about 1” wide, starting with 60” for example subtract 1” for 59” of total panel exposure, divide that by 4 (# of panels) and your reveal will be 14.75” per panel. Now starting with anyone of the cut trim pieces, starting from the bottom, measure up 14.75” and using some blue type painters tape that can easily be removed place a mark on the tape at 14.75”, then place another tape and mark at 29.5”, and another at 44.25”. Next place tape and markings on the rest of the remaining trim pieces being sure to start at the bottom of each trim piece.
Step 3 – Install the trim pieces, make sure the end pieces are plumb attaching the trim pieces to the wall by screwing through the flanges that will be later covered by the copper panels so no anchors are visible. It is best to have the screw head as flush to the copper as possible. Be sure you put the bottom end of the trim at the bottom.
Step 4 – Installing the larger panels, it is best to start with the back wall so you avoid scratching either of the side walls while installing the panels. There is a top and a bottom to the panels, the bottom or exposed edge has the hem or fold, installed to the bottom. Keep in mind you can always remove the entire kit making this a dry assembly to go back and fix any problems you make along the way before finalizing the final installation with tape and silicone if you choose to. First you need to determine the panel lengths, and trimming them to the correct length. You can take a measurement of the opening by first measuring the space between the exposed edges of the finished trim and then by sliding a card or piece of paper where the panel slips into, pushing it into the space all the way and marking a line on the paper, doing this for both sides, measuring the distance on each card and the opening and totaling all 3 will give you the panel length, measure twice and cut once. Keep in mind that if you are working with a crooked or un-plumb wall you may need to take that into consideration when cutting the panels to the correct widths. Cutting the panels about 1/8” shorter is not a bad idea and will help insure the panel goes on flat and flush along the wall, you do not want any ripples in the panels along the walls. Install the panel by placing one end into the slip joint of the trim (if it is tight you can use one of the plastic putty knives included with your kit and install it in the slip joint helping to open the joint), then carefully flex the panel just enough so you can place the other panel edge into the opposite trim slip joint. Before you attach the panel be sure the panel is flush to the bottom of the tub/shower rim and that the panel will be flat and flush to the wall the entire length of the panel, if it is not flush you may need to trim the panel a bit more to get the correct fit. If you are comfortable with this being the final installation you can add some 2 sided tape between the wall and copper to help hold the copper tighter to the wall and minimizing the oil canning effect. Attach the panel to the studs, be sure to keep the screws close to the top edge of the panel so the next panel installed above will cover the screw(s) holding this panel in place.
Step 5 - You will follow all the steps above plus you can install both putty knives into the slip joins below the markings you made earlier on the trim pieces. Install the panel making sure the bottom edges are on the marks you placed on the trim pieces earlier to ensure the correct panel reveals. Attach panels 2 and 3.
Step 6 – Top panel installation, this will be the same for all top panels. Depending upon the panel reveal, you may need/want to trim the top edge of the last panel, you want the last panel to be install/attached so the top edge of the top panel is about 1/8”- 1/4” below the top edge of the finish trim pieces on both sides of the panel, this is done so the top of the finish trim piece that needs to be placed over the top of the last panel is able to be installed flush with the top edges of the vertical trim pieces. Keep in mind when attaching the top panel you want the screws to be covered by the top trim piece and for the screws to be along the center of the top finish trim piece.
Step 7 – Next, you can install all of the remaining panels doing one side wall at a time. When installing the left side wall panels, install the right side of the panel first to avoid scratching the center panels, when installing the right wall panels install the left edge of the panel first. While installing the remaining panels be sure to pay attention to the marks you made on the trim pieces and/or the actual panels already installed so all the panels line up evenly.
Step 8 – Now install the top finish trim pieces. Pick a wall to do first and start by measuring the distance between the two vertical trim pieces or hold the top trim piece in place, holding it against one of the egdes of the vertical trim pieces and mark the other end where you want to cut it. After you cut the top trim piece to the correct length, hold it in place where it will be installed, mark on the flange the location(s) of the screw(s) that are holding the top panel in place, using tin snips cut 2 lines along both sides of the mark you made on the flange, being careful not to cut the face of the finish trim, you may need to cut part way behind the finish face so the channel you make can slide down behind the screw(s) holding the top panel in place. You may need to slightly loosen the screw(s) holding the top panel in place to be able to place the flange of the top trim piece behind the top panel to slide it down over the top until the top trim piece is flush with the tops of the vertical trim pieces on each side. Tighten or loosen the screws as needed to get a good fit.
Step 9 – You can be done now or you can remove everything (if you do, be sure to label all the parts so everything lines up to make the reinstallation really fast and easy) so you can reinstall using silicon to really seal everything, just keep in mind if you do, it will make it almost impossible to ever be able to remove the kit without sever damage to the metal. If you are done you can finish by adding some pieces of the heavy duty 2-sided tape supplied to help hold the bottom edges of the panels firmly in place and help reduce the oil canning effect. If you do use the 2-sided tape try not to place the tape directly over screw heads, if you ever want to remove the panels you can use a fillet type knife with a sharp, thin flexible blade to cut the tape and you do not want to have screw heads in the way. For the best installation results using the 2-sided tape you will need to use a “J” roller to achieve the strongest possible bond strength.