Sealing T&G wall panels against rot vs plastic wall panels

Possom

My bathroom has original 1930s 3.5" wide (89 mm) tongue & groove timber paneling on all the walls.

I'm to have a new bath, with a combined shower, installed and as some of the panels are damaged I had intended to replace *all* the wall panels with new 89mm wide timber T&G panels.

The builder which I have talked with said that he'd be concerned about installing timber paneling on the walls (with no tiles) as the steam from the bath and shower would quickly rot these.

He mentioned about similar width plastic paneling available from either Homebase or B&Q.

I haven't seen it but, since it's plastic, I'm guessing it may not look great.

What would you think of the option of timber panels, then perhaps sealed between them with some form of mastic and then painted in either a linseed oil paint, or a marine (boat) paint?

Or would you have any alternative suggestions with regards to sealing timber panels, or with regards to plastic panels which don't instantly look like cheap plastic.

Thanks!

JP08

Personally I wouldn't worry too much - the last lot of stuff has been there for 80+ years.

In the last place I actually edged the tiles with timber beading - PVA'd it on, couple of coats of yacht varnish, and a bead of silicon round the edges. Took 15 years for the ends to start to rot - and that was the bit that was soaked every time I had a shower !

Just a money saving thought though - if you've found a good match, can you salvage enough of the 1930s stuff to do three walls say, and the new on one wall only.

Possom

JP08 wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't worry too much - the last lot of stuff has been there for 80+ years.

In the last place I actually edged the tiles with timber beading - PVA'd it on, couple of coats of yacht varnish, and a bead of silicon round the edges. Took 15 years for the ends to start to rot - and that was the bit that was soaked every time I had a shower !

What I hadn't mentioned is that there has been a shower cubicle only (probably from the 1980s) which I have just removed. The walls here had plasterboard affixed over the 1930s panels and tiles affixed over this. So this would have preserved the panels within the cubicle.

Prior to that I suspect there would have been a bath only (no shower) and certainly there was no rot apparent to the wall panels from that if it was there between the 1930s and 1980s.

JP08 wrote: »

Just a money saving thought though - if you've found a good match, can you salvage enough of the 1930s stuff to do three walls say, and the new on one wall only.

That's something to consider.

JP08

So are you planning to have the shower area timber as well then ?

I wouldn't worry about the timber on the rest of the walls having a problem - the "its survived 80 years already" argument applies, but I think I'd avoid a timber panelled area directly exposed to the shower.

Maybe just tile that bit - find some nice '30s style tiles or something ?

Possom

JP08 wrote: »

So are you planning to have the shower area timber as well then ?

I had planned on that. It's a shower at the end of the bath as opposed to a separate cubicle (not that that would make any difference with regards to steam produced).

I had hoped maybe linseed oil paint of yacht paint would be suitably water repellent.

JP08 wrote: »

Maybe just tile that bit - find some nice '30s style tiles or something ?

I could maybe have a look for something like that.

andyhop

New softwood timber panelling is crap, you'd be better off using reclaimed

Don't used PVC, it really is a cheap and nasty product

You can't just use timber panelling in a wet / shower area, you must use a sealed surface ie tile/ laminate board.

Possom

andyhop wrote: »

New softwood timber panelling is crap, you'd be better off using reclaimed

Why is reclaimed better?

andyhop wrote: »

Don't used PVC, it really is a cheap and nasty product

That would certainly be my initial thought with regards to using PVC.

andyhop wrote: »

You can't just use timber panelling in a wet / shower area, you must use a sealed surface ie tile/ laminate board.

So sealing between the T&G with a mastic-type product and painting with linseed-oil paint or yacht paint would not be sealed adequately?

I was just reading another thread there, and the link below was provided:
https://www.splashacrylic.com/product-category/bathrooms/
If I wanted to have painted 3.5" wide T&G wooden panelling so that it retained an original look, perhaps it would be possible to install timber panelling and then cover it with a sheet of clear acrylic?

andyhop

New timber is fast grown, we do everything possible to avoid cladding in bathroomsmas it always splits, twists and shrinks . You just don't use timber as a water resistant surface or finish in bathrooms

Dan-Dan

andyhop wrote: »

New timber is fast grown, we do everything possible to avoid cladding in bathroomsmas it always splits, twists and shrinks .

A good friend runs a bathroom fitting company , they use cladding on lots of clients bathrooms these days as an an alternative to tiling (which they still do plenty of) i asked him on what you say and he does not report any splitting , twists or shrinks over the last few years

Poor product being sourced by your customers?

andyhop

I can only tell it how I find it

Kiln dried 12-18mm , even the best grade I can buy from my timber merchant is crap. Maybe using hardwood?

There was a time I was buying MDF labelling on sheet format ,spray painted finish which is fairly durable

Dan-Dan

Sorry Andy i was referring to the PVC Cladding?