Bath side panels

MouldyOldDough

Our bath plastic side panel has cracked

Are side panels a standard size or do we have to find one to fit a particular brand of bath ?

CliveOfIndia

They're mostly a standard size - or a small range of standard sizes.  If the bath is an unusual shape (circular, curved, etc.) then you may find it a bit trickier.  But for a bog-standard bath you should be able to get hold of a replacement panel easily enough.  Just measure the old one and you should be good to go.

As I say, you'll probably find there are a range of sizes available, but it'll be a small range of sizes to fit most commonly-available baths.

gazfocus

Depends on the age of your bath. We had to replace our bath panel earlier this year and because the bath was about 15 years old, it was a nightmare trying to find the right size. In the end, we had to buy a ‘standard’ one from B&Q and cut it to size with a multi tool. 

FreeBear

gazfocus said:

Depends on the age of your bath. We had to replace our bath panel earlier this year and because the bath was about 15 years old, it was a nightmare trying to find the right size. In the end, we had to buy a ‘standard’ one from B&Q and cut it to size with a multi tool. 

After doing some plumbing work under my bath, I'm also having to deal with the prospect of replacing a badly cracked panel. Nothing is coming up at a reasonable price and in stock at the local branch of B&Q, so it looks like it will be a sheet of moisture resistant MDF/ply - All the low cost offerings on ebay appear to be MDF, so probably cheaper to get a whole sheet from a local timber merchant and paint it myself. Being a 1500mm bath, I'll get two sets of panels from a single sheet.

danrv

gazfocus said:

it was a nightmare trying to find the right size. In the end, we had to buy a ‘standard’ one from B&Q and cut it to size with a multi tool. 

I didn’t think they could be trimmed.
My AS Sandringham bath panel has moulded ends and needs shortening by 1-2mm. It's quite thin and flexible so would lose it’s shape. A neighbour has also given me a Wickes reinforced 1700mm panel that’s definitely too long and possibly too tall. Has moulded ends too. 
If there’s a type of bath panel that can be trimmed to suit that would be useful.

Jonboy_1984

We had a height adjustable one similar to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquariss-Gloss-White-1800mm-Front/dp/B09R3RDM9B (basically the small strip is a separate piece and you simply place them according to height.

We had to trim it slightly as the wall wasn’t straight. We painted the cut end with a varnish and it lasted 8 years before cracking became apparent and replaced it. This was at the end with the taps/shower, and I suspect would have lasted a lot longer if we could have made the cut at the “dry” end.

gazfocus

danrv said:

gazfocus said:

it was a nightmare trying to find the right size. In the end, we had to buy a ‘standard’ one from B&Q and cut it to size with a multi tool. 

I didn’t think they could be trimmed.
My AS Sandringham bath panel has moulded ends and needs shortening by 1-2mm. It's quite thin and flexible so would lose it’s shape. A neighbour has also given me a Wickes reinforced 1700mm panel that’s definitely too long and possibly too tall. Has moulded ends too. 
If there’s a type of bath panel that can be trimmed to suit that would be useful.

The one we ended up with did have moulded ends, however, our bath is in the corner of the room so the edge that we cut went up to the wall (we screwed a wooden baton to the wall behind it then glued the bath panel to the baton for strength, and the moulded edge on the other end fitted nicely on the corner of the bath.

If you try cutting it, I'd definitely watch a few YouTube videos on the best way to do it. We used masking tape where we needed to cut which seemed to help. I'm pretty sure we used a multi tool but I guess an angle grinder or Dremel would work as well.