Plastic bathroom panels

ed110220

Does anyone have any opinions on the merits of plastic bathroom panels, to be used as an alternative to tiling?

I have a small bathroom of approximately 2x2m which is in desperate need of refurbishment due to to age and failing grout which has allowed water to damage the underlying plasterboard.

I was thinking plastic panels would be a quicker and easier DIY solution than retiling. Presumably they can be attached to plasterboard once i have reboarded the walls? Are there any pitfalls I should watch out for?

southcoastrgi

more info here

p00

We had the bathroom moved into the boxroom from downstairs in 2011

We've had panels in the shower and half the wall the rest of the way round. We also had the ceiling panelled and spots put in.

Brilliant idea. The ceiling has stayed nice and white and the walls are so easy to wipe down.

It does depend on your family though. They can be damaged as we had the previous bathroom turned into a cloakroom and OH damaged one of the panels putting coat hooks up. Now that bit has a hook on it to cover it up.

I would definitely use panels again.

xxp00

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Person I know has just tried to put right the damage done by somebody using them in his mum's home.

One wrong cut and the entire panel is screwed. One misjudgment with the adhesive and not only is the panel screwed, so is the wall behind. One slightly uneven wall angle or height and it looks wrong.


His opinion is that it would have been less work and expense to just put up some tiles, especially as they can be replaced individually if the need arises.

Jonesya

I think they're quite good - no grout lines to go black or fail and let water through, fewer joints. Re. the plasterboard, do you even need plasterboard beneath them, can't you fix them directly to the studwork?

Personally I think plasterboard anywhere near a shower is a liability, parents had a 'professional' bathroom fitter refit their bathroom who tiled the shower straight onto plasterboard. Several years down the line the shower leaked and the installation was a right-off as the plaster blew and tiles fell off. The original builder who put in my bathroom tiled straight onto plasterboard and now I'm in the process of repairing it as some of the tiles have come away.

Installing plasterboard in a shower should be a hanging offense, if you go for tiles look up tile cement backer boards/hardibacker board or aqua-panel, they're water resistant and so don't disintegrate when they get wet.

ed110220

Jonesya wrote: »

I think they're quite good - no grout lines to go black or fail and let water through, fewer joints. Re. the plasterboard, do you even need plasterboard beneath them, can't you fix them directly to the studwork?

Personally I think plasterboard anywhere near a shower is a liability, parents had a 'professional' bathroom fitter refit their bathroom who tiled the shower straight onto plasterboard. Several years down the line the shower leaked and the installation was a right-off as the plaster blew and tiles fell off. The original builder who put in my bathroom tiled straight onto plasterboard and now I'm in the process of repairing it as some of the tiles have come away.

Installing plasterboard in a shower should be a hanging offense, if you go for tiles look up tile cement backer boards/hardibacker board or aqua-panel, they're water resistant and so don't disintegrate when they get wet.

Thanks for the advice. I agree about the plasterboard, but I think when it was built in the 1940s they probably only had a bath not a shower so there was less water splashing about.

Hadn't thought about applying them directly to studwork, that would work as the whole room is drywalled/drylined.

keystone

ed110220 wrote: »

Does anyone have any opinions on the merits of plastic bathroom panels, to be used as an alternative to tiling?

Yes.

Yuk!!! Me no likee. Sorry.

Cheers

elver_man

Cant say that I like them, it reminds me of the showers in caravans. Much rather go with tiles for a good finish.

LandyAndy

My mum has them in her bathroom.

They have been well fitted. They just look naff.

googler

The best ones aren't plastic.

ed110220 wrote: »

Hadn't thought about applying them directly to studwork, that would work as the whole room is drywalled/drylined.

The ones we got were designed to be placed on a flat surface such as (water resistant ) plasterboard, not onto studwork.

LandyAndy

googler wrote: »

The best ones aren't plastic.



.

No, I don't think my mum's are. More like massive tiles. Still horrible though.