New bathroom install - what to choose for the walls?

JustAnotherSaver

Going to have someone coming out to price up the job for a new bathroom. We'll be wanting the whole thing doing down to new floor, walls & ceiling too.



The house is 1930s plaster & lath walls. The current setup is tiles in the bathroom but there's a couple sections where the tiles have not popped off but they're certainly raised and the grout is cracked.



My wife is liking the look & idea of wall panels. Not necessarily this specific colour but https://www.panelcompany.co.uk/large-dark-grey-marble-1-0m-x-2-4m-shower-panel.html something like so as an idea. Easier for the install perhaps? Easier to clean, less joints. The bathroom itself is quite small, only about a 2mtr-x-2mtr room.


Is there anything we should look out for? Anything to avoid? What about the application of these? She read that you can apply them on top of tiles. It'd make the job quicker and cheaper i'm sure but depends how crap it'd be.



It's something we'll have to talk to the installer about but i'd like to know about them a bit beforehand. Are they any good or are they a headache?

phill99

I fit bathrooms for a living.


I have installed a few bathrooms where the customer wanted wall panels. They are quicker to install than tiles, have no grout lines and are easy to wipe down.


However, they are only as effective as the sub strata they are going on to. So it would be unwise to install them on to tiles that are becoming loose. That would only cause problems in the long run. Rip all the tiles off, make good the walls and then install the boards. Don't do half jobs as it will bite you on the backside at a later date.

JustAnotherSaver

phill99 wrote: »

I fit bathrooms for a living.


I have installed a few bathrooms where the customer wanted wall panels. They are quicker to install than tiles, have no grout lines and are easy to wipe down.


However, they are only as effective as the sub strata they are going on to. So it would be unwise to install them on to tiles that are becoming loose. That would only cause problems in the long run. Rip all the tiles off, make good the walls and then install the boards. Don't do half jobs as it will bite you on the backside at a later date.

Thanks. I had a feeling that would be the response but i thought i better ask first.



When it comes to panels is it a case of a panel is a panel or are there different types?



Basically what i'm trying to do is if tosh exists then i'm wanting to avoid it. I don't necessarily want to be paying top dollar but what i do want is a bathroom that wont need doing again any time soon.






Hmm i thought i had the photos uploaded to my imgur album but it seems not.


Would it be possible to knock off the section of tiles that are 'popping', sort the wall behind that and then put the panels on top? I'm just throwing this out there as an idea and asking if it'd work.


2 of the walls have absolutely no issues or at least none we've seen. The other 2 walls have a small section on each involving say 4 tiles on each wall.

J_B

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Would it be possible to knock off the section of tiles that are 'popping', sort the wall behind that and then put the panels on top?

Why not knock off all the tiles? Shouldn't take long.

Dan-Dan

J_B wrote: »

Why not knock off all the tiles? Shouldn't take long.

it is likely the walls will need some degree of prep once the tiles come off

We quoted a job recently where we priced to remove tiles , prep walls ready for application of shower boards etc , we lost the job because customer wanted to save the costs of that and went with a quote where they assured them it would be fine to go straight onto the tiles

We advised against but win some lose some

Catswhiska

We had our bathroom done this year with wall boarding. It’s fantastic and the bathroom is so much warmer and easier to clean. Expensive but worth it

Stantheman

Another vote for shower panels here. Really easy to fit, look great and are easy to maintain. I used Nuance Bushboards. Very expensive but I'm told they are the best.

I wouldn't install over tiles. In fact we removed tiles and then added a waterproof plaster board and glued the boards to that. Just wanted to ensure no water was getting through.

JustAnotherSaver

If the tiles are to come off then they're to come off. I'd ask for them to quote with and without to see whether it's worth me the hassle of doing it myself. I know some would say it's nothing to do yourself but if something can go wrong then i usually make sure that it does go wrong



What would you use to remove tiles? SDS drill or is that overkill?


So assume all the tiles are now off. One of the walls will certainly be brickwork, in fact 2 probably will whereas the other 2 are likely to be that plaster & lath stuff. What would you use under the showerpanels, anything? What about Aquapanel, or would you only use that on the walls where the shower & bath will be & the wall furthest away would be [something else - moisture resistant plasterboard? Standard plasterboard?]?

getmore4less

I looked at boards a couple of years back, there was a significant difference in quality/design/look of the joins.

scaredofdebt

Catswhiska wrote: »

We had our bathroom done this year with wall boarding. It’s fantastic and the bathroom is so much warmer and easier to clean. Expensive but worth it

Expensive compared to tiles?

JuzaMum

I ordered panels for my shower room then realised I couldn't get them in the room as it is very small. Make sure you can get a panel the required size in and turn it round the right way before you order!