Alternatives to tiles in bathroom?

[Roger Mills]

I shall shortly need to re-do the bathroom in my holiday property and will need to cover the wall on one side and at one end of the bath with something which will stand having water thrown at it from an over-bath shower.

The default is tiles - but I don't like tiling, and the grouted joints tend to get mildew on them over a period of time. Is there any suitable sheet material - maybe shiny white(ish) plastic or somesuch - which I could use instead? If so, what is it, and what size sheets does it come in? Does it come in any colours other than white?

[NT]

uPVC, but none have anything like the durability of tiles. After years of cleaning, they wont look good. Perhaps you could make tiling more enjoyable by doing a gaudi?

NT

[sm_jamieson]

Who's been watching tommy walsh on quest ? I'm a new convert to it. I think the Gaudi garden was yesterday ;-) Simon.

[NT]

Actually I thought his wall was a bit tame, the real gaudi's much better

NT

[stuart noble]

If you get mildew, the polystyrene backed plastic tile sheets might be worth considering.

[Cicero]

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One source:

stock a different (limited) range of cellular material planks and accessories.

Don't be put off by the (allegedly) limited lifespan; these plastics can be quickly replaced with little disruption and much more quickly than tiles.

Cic.

[NT]

cost, but an easier cleaner life.

NT

[4square]

In hotels I have seen 'all in one' seamless mouldings for bath / shower, complete with back and end panels, to height of about six feet, perhaps more. They have shower fittings fixed to them, and seem a good idea, easy to clean and wipe down, but I dont where you would buy one. Perhaps sourced from Germany / France? I am intending to look for something like this the next time I refit my bathroom.

[Cicero]

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Several types available (e.g. Coram):

they're quite expensive - about £1500-00.

Cic.

[Phil L]

I used airboard in my bathroom and it's perfect for covering up unsighlty tiles.

It comes in 5m lengths at about £8 each, they are 300mm wide so one board should cover 2ft of wall from floor to ceiling, affixed with silicone directy onto the tiles. They look like tongue and groove and are sold by upvc window manufacturers as soffit boards.

anything other than white in plastic is expensive - you can get stuff with marbled effects and other patterns but as I said they are quite dear.

The airboard isn't 'shiny' IE high gloss, it's a sort of matt finish, so it stands being cleaned without scratching by using a non-scouring bathroom cleaner and a damp sponge. mine have only been on a few months, but the way I see it, is if they turn out to look s**te after a few years, I'll rip them off and put new ones up at a cost of about £40, about the same as it would cost me for materials to re-decorate any other room in my house.

[Roger Mills]

Many thanks to all who replied - I now have lots to go on!

Mermaid and Wetwall look promising. Anyone know how much they cost?

[js.b1]

Food processing plants use polypropylene in sheet form with labyrinth H-seal.

I believe there are gloss, matt & perhaps pinseal finishes. Pinseal is sort of like leathergrain only finer, quite attractive. Colours are natural, white, black (carbon black), some "poster paint" and some pastel shades. Bay Plastics and many others might do something. Polypropylene is popular because it is steam cleanable.

As I redo each of a relative's kitchen cupboards in euro oak I use white gloss polypropylene backing sheets flush to the wall. Makes fixing a bit more interesting (Rigifix M6 or metal kitchen cupboard fixings), but very easy to keep clean. The top I clad in offcuts of polypropylene likewise so extremely easy to clean. The cabinets are Osmo Oak Wax 3164 which works ok.

So it might work for a bathroom, sort of a designer minimalist - without beading every foot or so with "tile panels". If you do tile the bathroom, and it is cold in winter, use Marmox waterproof insulation behind tiles or PIR foam between battens & Aquapanel behind tiles on top. Plasterboard is useless in wet areas, plywood no better, both aquapanel (cement) & marmox (extruded polystyrene not expanded) are totally waterproof.

[newshound]

The mermaid type panels are quite expensive but look classy. Durable and easy to keep clean. My shower is done in them. I'd use them at the upper end of the holiday market, but maybe go for the cheaper / replaceable plastic at the lower end?

[zaax]

PVC Bathroom Cladding. Some what fiddly as wall as not straight.

[Tim Watts]

Just out of interest, can you potentially take fine wood panelling and cladding, soak it in resin and make it utterly waterproof forever (I presume so - recally that thread about Wood Hardening dodgy windows). And has anyone? I can see a limited, but rich market for that.

Imagine a wood panelled wetroom - funky.

[John]

Choice of cleaning materials is essential with plastic. Don't use anything abrasive or the surface gets damaged and the only way to clean it is with abrasive cleaner......

[stuart noble]

Except it would no longer look like wood. More like a plastic imitation.

[JTM]

Sorry for the late reply, but I couldn't remember the name :-( . Grosfilex (and similar) is what I've used in 4 bathrooms. Panels are about 2.4m long, 375mm wide, about 4mm thick in a twinwall format. They are a tongue and groove fitting and can be stuck on with most gripfill or N M nails stuff. I've just done 2 @ 25 sq m ceilings in a shiny white cheapo version.

Panels I bought in UK were about 19 squids each, in France, a pack of 3 panels (about 2.9 sq m) around 38 euro. There are also 1m (ish) long panels with T & G side and ends but might be more xpensive.

(if you want a pic or 2 contact me: jtm @ las-adelfas . com)