Protecting woodchip wallpaper in a shower??

[Steve W]

I'm in work minimisation mode, so I hope you can help.

I'm adding a sliding shower rail to a bath with an existing mixer tap. Trouble is, the walls are old woodchip paper with several layers of vinyl emulsion paint over it. Of course the right thing to do would be to remove same and tile all the surfaces. This is a pain, because there are are already two rows of ceramic tiles above the bath which would be difficult to match

However....if I didn't do that, what's the best way of protecting the walls from effects of daily shower use?

I am thinking: - good bathroom silicone sealant along joint between paper and existing tiles (2 rows above bath) - "paint" the wallpaper with Thomson Water Seal, or similar, paying particular attention to joints in wallpaper - ensure that the walls get decent ventilation after use of shower

Then, if paper starts to peel, I could just remove paper local to the shower and repaint the plaster wood with satin vinyl emulsion.

I wonder how long this will last - weeks, months, years...? Anyone got any experience or suggestions along these lines?

Thanks Steve

[Brian Reay]

Any and all of the above will be very short lived- weeks if not days. A shower curtain between the wall and shower will be the "best bodge"- fix a rail on the wall side and hang a curtain from it, long enough to hang in the bath. Make sure you draw it back to "air" the wall after use. Don't expect it to last that long.

A proper job needs with a re-tile or using some of those plastic finished panels designed for this job- you often see these in hotels etc. They are marine ply, faced in something like "Formica".

If the wall is plaster board (you type plaster wood), then a proper job is essential. Plaster board is easily ruined by moisture and nigh on impossible to repair. I'd not even trust it in a shower area if it was tiled over. You can get various suitable waterproof alternatives "aquapanel" is on, I used an unbranded one that is cement based.

Brian

[Lobster]

Fix large sheets of perspex - either clear or coloured - to the wall using domed mirror screws, using silcone to seal the edges of the sheets to each other and the top of the tiles.

I know someoone who swears by the this method for fitting out shower cubicles - reckins it's far easier and more leakproof than tiling.

David

[Steve W]

Thanks David & Brian. Yes, you are confirming what my guts were telling me anyway, if I'm honest. Beneath the paper it is plaster on brick, so removing the paper and painting the wall would be an OK bodge, I guess. I had that in a previous house and it did well for years, with an annual re-lick of paint.

I'll look into plastic sheets (sorry bout that). I suppose polycarbonate might be cheaper than acrylic. I assume either would do. Mmm.

Thanks Steve

[Mary Fisher]

In the early 1980s we painted the embossed paper in our half tiled bathroom with a good quality paint - 'for the time being'. The shower plays onto the wall and there were seven of us (five teenagers and two adults). We only removed the (lower part of the) paper in January this year, to put in more tiles. It took some shifting. There was no evidence of any kind of problem so we repainted the remaining wallpaper only in a different colour. Ventilation is important and we did insist on the paper being wiped down after use - but not made 100% dry.

The original 'temporary' work had no sealant between the tiles and the paper but this time we've splashed out at ran clear vinyl (or silicone, I can't remember) along the top of the new tiles because they're not rounded.

I suspect that if you put sheeting of any kind over the woodchip moisture could be trapped behind it and that mould will grow.

Mary

[Owain]

So don't match them - use contrasting ones. Or knock off two rows of tiles and redo from scratch. Honestly, it'll look so much better. And if you haven't got an SDS drill with a chiselly end it's a wonderful excuse to buy one.

And you don't have to do a particularly great job of strippin the woodchop paper off, just hack it enough that the tile adhesive has at least some wall to stick to.

Owain

[dingbat]

Tile the damned thing. It'll take you a weekend and if you stick with plain white tiles it's cheap too.