Bathroom - wet wall boarding, anyone used it?

Snow_Dog

I am looking at using wetwall sheeting for a shower cubicle, (not the aqua panel stuff you use in place of plasterboard), the stuff I am on about is like wall panels 2.7m high by 1m wide that have a laminate coat and are used instead of tiling.

The stuff sounds great, no grout to go grey, easy to wipe down etc and most of all no gaps to leak (apart from at the bottom where its down to your silicone skills).

Has anyone used this stuff? Is it any good? Whats the catch? Any feedback would be good.

http://www.norske-int.co.uk/index.htm is a link to one of the more expensive ones. Any opinions.

needaspirin

It looks pretty impressive to me. Similar to what you might find in some decent hotels. If it is completely waterproof as claimed it should be fine. Any idea about the cost though?

Snow_Dog

It looks like about £500 to do three sides with the mermaid stuff but the kit is everything, interlocking cormer joints, shower tray joints, end trim etc.

It sounds a lot but I was working out the cost of tiles, adhesive, grout (waterproof stuff) and thinking maybe it does work out not too bad.

The other one I was looking at was about £115 per sheet and £25 per jointing trim. This is at

http://www.ekmpowershop3.com/ekmps/shops/dundeetrades/index.asp?function=DISPLAYCAT&catid=114


Was going to call them for samples.

needaspirin

I think it'll look classy whichever finish you use. I've just finished my bathroom. Completely tiled walls and floor. Saved £££s by doing it myself.
I'm converting a passageway between house and garage to a 2nd toilet and shower room. Perhaps I could save myself a bit of work and get a nice result by using this material.

buxtonrabbitgreen

We used DBS which I think is similar. We had a very damp bathroom and no matter what I bonded/painted it with it still grew loads of mould. This stuff is brilliant. Just wipes down and still looks as good as new after 3 years, though the ceiling panels are still not up yet.

skid112

have it my shower room, perfect, easy to clean, just wipes down no leaks found as yet but only had it in five years!

Snow_Dog

Cheers for the votes of confidence, samples on their way from Dundee Trades, will let you know what the verdict is.

Jonesya

We had this in our shower, the boarding itself is fine but as you point out there's still the silicone at the bottom where it meets the shower tray - and of course this is where it leaked! Worth pointing out we had it fitted by a bathroom installer, it wasn't a DIY job.

We had it fitted onto an internal wall, over time the shower tray dropped and the silicone between the tray and board opened up allowing water to leak out, which caused the tray to shift even more.

Next time around we'd go for a self contained shower cubicle - from the literature it appears there's much less potential for them to leak.

Snow_Dog

Well the Mermaid one comes with a special joint to shower tray, however some of the others I have been looking at just rely on your silicone skills.

I think the trouble is, builders will grab any old bits of timber to level out the shower tray, bit of expanding foam to hold it all in place and hey presto. The problem with that sort of approach it its open to movement.

The last shower tray I put in was based on two layers of bonded PLY, then a seal then a thin bed of mortar with the tray bedded on top of that lot.

Then all around the tray from the bottom to the top round the three sides was stuffed with about three tubes of silicone. That was one shower tray that wasnt going to move.

I also asked a couple of builders about mounting the shower mixer (bar type) as the fixings didnt seem too robust holding it firmly to the wall, and their response was to just OD on silicone (and yes they had seen that done where you could wobble the mixer unit afterwards). The perfect solution to me seemed to be knock in a noggin between the wall joists and anchor the pipework to that (actually found a 90 deg compression fitting with base plate for screw holes, worked perfectly, you could have swung off that mixer tap).

Martyn_H

@Jonesya...

Have you seen any examples of self-contained showers?

I don't trust that Wet Wall stuff. Once it does get wet it's bound to swell, and it's certainly not cheap.

moonrakerz

I used these about 3 years ago when I did a complete rebuild of my bathroom. I used Mermaid, they are NOT cheap but you get what you pay for ! You can even get sealer to colour match the boards !
I used the 900 X 1200 kit for a corner shower.

VERY, VERY happy with it !