When we bought our home, one of the things that I loved about the house was the large, soaking, whirlpool tub. There is something great about drawing a big, hot, relaxing tub full of water. Soaking in the tub is great for ridding the body of toxins, especially if you add Epsom salt and ground ginger.
It is always nice to have a glass of ice water, a candle and maybe something to read while you are soaking, but finding a place to set it all can be a whole different issue. This is where the next greatest DIY project comes in. Making a bath shelf is very simple and great to have lying across your tub to hold necessary items.
To make a bath shelf you will need wood, wood glue, screws, drill, stain/paint, and a waterproof sealer. Just be sure to check the length of the wood pieces you are using, which need to be long enough to span the width of the tub.
We recently took a bunk bed apart and I saved the slats so these wood pieces were perfect for this project, however, if using a pallet, be sure to disassemble enough for the main boards in the shelf, and the cleats. Cleats are pieces of wood you will run vertically across all the boards to hold them and provide support. I would imagine you would need three to four boards of a pallet for this project. You could also simply buy a 1x8x6 and cut it in half. This would provide a shelf for a bathtub around 36 inches in length.
After figuring out the wood to be used, start by filling any holes and fixing splinters, and fixing any cracks or broken pieces. If the wood being used has nail holes in it that are not wanted, you can easily create a plug for staining purposes, or just fill it with wood glue if it will be painted.
To create a plug, use any wood that is slightly larger than the nail hole. Some good choices (depending on the size of the nail hole) would be: wood skewers, dowels, toothpicks, or caramel apple sticks. Next, sharpen the end of the wood with a cheap pencil sharpener to a point. Then, apply some wood glue into the nail hole, finish by hammering the wood piece through the hole until filled. Saw off the ends to create a flush plug. The holes will now be stainable.
Again, you will only need to create a plug if the nail holes bother you and you will be staining the wood. Wood glue does not stain, however, you can paint over wood glue. Proceed with sanding all the corners and surfaces of the wood to create a smooth surface.
You can now drill pilot holes for each cleat board you are using. Ideally, the cleats will have two pilot holes for each board. I will be using six boards so I will need twelve pilot holes in each cleat. Pilot holes allow you to screw into the board without creating splinters.
If you want, the holes to be counter-sunk (so the screws will be flush) go ahead and do this as well. I do not own a counter-sink bit, so I usually just use a drill bit, the same size as my screw head, and drill down one-eighth of an inch. You can use a piece a tape on the drill bit so you know how deep to drill. Simply place the bottom edge of the tape at one-eighth inch on the bit so when the tape touches the board, you stop drilling.
Now, it is time to stain or paint all of your boards. Once the boards are completely dry, line all of the shelf boards next to each other. Make sure the face side is down, because you attach the cleats to the back of the board.
Apply wood glue along the cleats and place them vertically along the boards. Screw all the screws in place, and again wipe off any excess glue. For extra pressure while your glue dries, you can turn it over and sit books on top of the shelf. After everything is completely dry, add two coats of your preferred weatherproof coating over the shelf before using. Now, the bath shelf is complete and ready to hold a glass of your favorite beverage while you relax.
As they said in the old Calgon commercials, “Take me away.” ...