Bathroom install - sheeting for walls ... or tiles?

[Mr. Clueless]

We're going to have someone come out and look at doing our bathroom (total rip out and start afresh job) and i want to have some sort of a clue before they get here and not just swallow what may be a load of garbage because it might be something the installer would rather not do.


Currently we have the bathroom how it was when we inherited it 5 years ago...



The house is a 1930s house with plaster & lath walls & ceiling.

The tiles are pretty flat except for that area that has gone black mouldy due to the silicone - the tiles have started i don't know if it's actually popping off but they're raised.

We've been told about the possibility of sheets and we're interested in this for ease of cleaning purposes (as well as probably a quicker install which may lead to being cheaper at the end of the day - though that isn't the main thing).

Q1: Are sheets decent enough or are they a poor option?

Q2: I'm told you can sheet on top of tiles. I've a feeling that this isn't really a good option though i'm clueless so i have nothing to base this on other than a hunch. Would it be acceptable to sheet on top of the tiles? I assume the raised ones would need to be removed but everything else ok? Just wondering how it'd also work around the window when you start doing that though.


Q3: Are there different types of sheeting? I've seen something (forget the name, splashback or splashwall i think it is) in B&Q though i imagine there'll be better value stuff out there (again - a hunch). If there are then what would you opt for and why?


Bit of extra info...

The room is approx 2mtr-x-2mtr & we'll be wanting the whole thing done. New floor, new walls, probably new ceiling (it's like a vinyl paper on there at the moment which stains with the moisture/heat), extraction, lighting, rad, units.

 

[Yeahaa]

Some of the plastic wall panels are so thin can see manufacturers track marks within the panel once fitted .
So choose a decent one or will look aweful
Is water that has caused the tiles to pop out .
In theory can cover tiles with the panels , but will only be stuck on as good as the tiles .

 

[foxhole]

You can have plastic wall panel or Formica on sheet timber , the latter being quality and therefor more expensive .

 

[Mr. Clueless]

Well as said the bathroom is quite small so we can afford to go with something decent. Even if the replies to this thread are on the lines of "don't use....." then that's at least something we can use (as in we can use that info).

I don't really know how they'll prep the walls. Would you expect them to use Aquapanel boards and then put the finishing board on top of that? Or is that not how it works?

I think the previous owner did have water issues actually. It would make sense as when we moved in there was water staining in the room below where that tile pop-off would be.


I just did a Google for "bathroom wall sheets" and picked the first one that came up https://www.panelcompany.co.uk/wall-panels/bathroom-shower-panels.html Would stuff like that be ok? By ok i mean decent. I don't want crap that'll leak or need replacing 6 months down the line because it's failed.

 

[Yeahaa]

Well as said the bathroom is quite small so we can afford to go with something decent. Even if the replies to this thread are on the lines of "don't use....." then that's at least something we can use (as in we can use that info).

I don't really know how they'll prep the walls. Would you expect them to use Aquapanel boards and then put the finishing board on top of that? Or is that not how it works?

I think the previous owner did have water issues actually. It would make sense as when we moved in there was water staining in the room below where that tile pop-off would be.


I just did a Google for "bathroom wall sheets" and picked the first one that came up https://www.panelcompany.co.uk/wall-panels/bathroom-shower-panels.html Would stuff like that be ok? By ok i mean decent. I don't want crap that'll leak or need replacing 6 months down the line because it's failed.

I didnt say dont use , some look better made visually than others .
Performance wise they should not leak any of them even the cheapest .
Cheapest way to patch it up remove loose tiles and any damaged plaster , fill it back level using bonding plaster 2 layers ? , stick the pvc panels on with silicone .etc
Other way is take everything back to brick and do a full refurb , probably be wet rotten timbers under the bath etc

 

[Mr. Clueless]

I've had a look under the bath and it appears sound.

However the state of play behind the tiles i can't comment on.

 

[foxhole]

IMG_2698

• foxhole
• 1 Dec 2018

Shower panel in my en-suite , on ply background.

 

[foxhole]

IMG_2501

• foxhole
• 1 Dec 2018

PVC white shower panel, all use purpose made trim to edge and seal .

 

[cdbe]

My parents have just had the cladding done -it was a reasonable brand and looks nice. The fitters were going to strip back to brick (it was fully tiled) but after they'd SDS'd the tiles off the bonding was rock solid (it had been redone 10 years previously). How the fitters approach the existing wall will give you a clue about their standards. I did my own bathroom about 15 years ago and it still looked good 10 years later when we moved. The only thing is that if you damage it, it's not repairable - I managed to drop something against mine and put a small chip in it - fortunately I was able to cover it with a strategically placed towel rail! However, I've played with some samples of the more modern stuff (actually given it a good whack with a sharp metal object) and it seems less brittle than the stuff I used. Also, as Foxhole mentioned above - use of trims, particularly on internal corners (rather than a bead of silicone) is a good sign.
I would definitely do the ceiling in cladding even if you don't clad the walls.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

Well i had the guy out & went over a few things ...

He said he'd advise only sheeting the 2 walls in and about the shower and one of them he'd only advise part doing. Basically the wettest sections of the room. That's IF we go with sheets.
He did mention those corner beads as right now we have some sort of tiled curve thing and he said that's dated and no longer gets done really.
He spoke about lowering the ceiling and plastic sheeting it. Not sure why, maybe he thought that's what i wanted when i said new ceiling but i specified i don't want a plastic ceiling i want it boarded. I don't want a papered ceiling (currently have some kind of vinyl paper).

I went and had a look around a few places. Saw some really nice tiled sheeting which we found were to be discontinued due to their £300 per sheet price. The salesman steered us towards some acrylic stuff. It actually looked quite nice though my wife was dubious about its durability, so once the salesman was out i found a spare piece. It had a ton of 'supports' running between the sheets but even still, i put it on the floor & stood on a section forcing all my weight down on to it with the heel of one foot and it didn't bend, buckle or anything. Now sure if you take a knife to it it'll probably mark but it felt pretty sturdy stuff.


With that said, we went to Topps Tiles as they were round the corner and to be honest we were surprised how tiling will probably work out cheaper for us. Sure it depends on what you buy. We liked some tiles that were £50m2 but we also saw some nice ones at £21m2.

Our bathroom wall area comes in at 16.75m2 if i've measured correctly. It's a 2mtr-x-2mtr bathroom pretty much.


foxhole your bathroom looks really nice, however i note you commit the toilet roll sin!!

 

[Yeahaa]

the toilet roll sin!!

 

[Mr. Clueless]

better, much better I can't do the roll backwards against the tiles. It's just wrong

 

[Mr. Clueless]

Bringing it back on the topic of tiles for a second as i think that's probably what we're going to go with.

We went to Topps Tiles today again to try and whittle the job down and i left wondering what on earth is the difference between a £20m2 tile and a £60m2 tile aside from £40m2? What does that extra £40 get you?

We saw some really nice ones that were £45m2 but then we saw some that were £21m2 and as far as looks-wise go, the shading etc, there really wasn't a whole hell of a lot of difference. We preferred the £45m2 but not enough to pay £765 vs £357. They were both matt finish since we have decided that if we get matt tiles then we'll certainly like them. Gloss ones can look nice on a small display but throughout the bathroom we're not 100% sure about it - it MIGHT be a bit too much and we don't want to spend on that kind of gamble, so we're going with matt.

We went to a nearby bathroom place and saw some at £25m2, again looked very similar to the ones out of Topps that were £21m2 and £45m2.

So for the price difference i think we'll just go with the cheaper ones. I'm just curious what that extra £20 gets you.


For reference, we were looking at:

Inara Cloud: £44.98m2
Durba: £41.94m2
Deema Cream: £19.92m2

If money wasn't an option between the two then we'd probably opt for one of the first two but as far as looks go there just doesn't (to my eyes) seem to be £20 worth of difference. Maybe it's in the material or maybe one needs maintenance and the other doesn't i don't know. There has to surely be a reason behind it?

 

[Yeahaa]

Bringing it back on the topic of tiles for a second as i think that's probably what we're going to go with.

We went to Topps Tiles today again to try and whittle the job down and i left wondering what on earth is the difference between a £20m2 tile and a £60m2 tile aside from £40m2? What does that extra £40 get you?

We saw some really nice ones that were £45m2 but then we saw some that were £21m2 and as far as looks-wise go, the shading etc, there really wasn't a whole hell of a lot of difference. We preferred the £45m2 but not enough to pay £765 vs £357. They were both matt finish since we have decided that if we get matt tiles then we'll certainly like them. Gloss ones can look nice on a small display but throughout the bathroom we're not 100% sure about it - it MIGHT be a bit too much and we don't want to spend on that kind of gamble, so we're going with matt.

We went to a nearby bathroom place and saw some at £25m2, again looked very similar to the ones out of Topps that were £21m2 and £45m2.

So for the price difference i think we'll just go with the cheaper ones. I'm just curious what that extra £20 gets you.


For reference, we were looking at:

Inara Cloud: £44.98m2
Durba: £41.94m2
Deema Cream: £19.92m2

If money wasn't an option between the two then we'd probably opt for one of the first two but as far as looks go there just doesn't (to my eyes) seem to be £20 worth of difference. Maybe it's in the material or maybe one needs maintenance and the other doesn't i don't know. There has to surely be a reason behind it?

The more expensive tile is porcelain , the other a basic ceramic .
Porcelain tiles are nice , was in 3.5M house last week , they had ceramic .