How to replace a shower when I don't have matching tiles

[Richard Hamer]

Hello again, I have posted another message in this group trying to get hold of some obsolete tiles. Assuming I fail, I'd like to try another tack.

I have an old shower which needs replacing. It is one of those ugly jobs with moulded back panel, and side panels. The modern, nicer looking showers tend to just have two panels at best, relying on tiles for the back and side faces. I have no tiles on the back/side, and the other tiles in my bathroom are obsolete.

Does anyone have any suggestion on the best solution ... (1) Buy a new "all in one" shower which again has 4 moulded walls - expensive? Best place to view/buy? (2) Retile the whole bathroom with some more modern looking tiles. The existing tiles are sound and level, so tiling on top should be fast and look good. However, involves a lot of hassle around existing fittings such as cistern and sink, and may make the ceramic portion in contact with the wall that bit too narrow. (3) Tile with different tiles, jsut a simple cream/magnolia colour, in the shower portion - due to little bits of boxing in on either side, it is actually a self contained expanse, so the new tiles would end at a natural break in the wall. Trouble is, they would still obviously look different, and also the old tiles are a different size to any of these new fangled ones, so I would have to use a very different size of tile, like those big slabs or those small mosaics, rather than a tile which is almost-but-not-quite the same size which would look very bad indeed. (4) Is there anything I can line the wall with behind the shower, as a single sheet of material, which would look attractive enough to fit in with the bathroom, but not look as weird as non-matching tiles?

Alternatively, what would the best way be of recolouring the outside of the existing ugly plastic shower housing to something more neutral - would paint stay adhered to it (it is subject to movement, as with any shower wall)? What kind of paint?

Thanks for any suggestions ... Rich

[Mike Dodd]

I might have missed the plot here (are we talking a shower enclosure, or just the shower unit?), but how about a full sized mirror?, might be quite smart, if a little kinky?

(before you shout, I still need to sober up)

[Lobster]

How about coloured Perspex sheeting, or this:

[Richard Hamer]

Thanks to David and Mike for their suggestions. We are talking about a complete shower enclosure. The Mermaid panels look like they'd do the job - they're sufficiently different from the tiles in size and texture that they wouldn't look out of place, and it might look like it was properly designed like that.

As for the mirror - that's also an intriguing idea!!! Has anyone done it before? Do they tarnish in a showery environment? I can source enough spare tiles to tile around the edges of something like a mirror or the Mermaid panel, to tie it in with the rest of the room.

Thanks again for the suggestions, Rich

[Lobster]

Think I'd find the big mirror inside the shower cubical a bit 'kinky' too, as someone else said! I'd also worry that it always look mucky, unless it had just been windowlene'd.

Another thought off the top of my head; instead of large perspex panels I wonder if you could use glass instead? The advantage to that would be you could paint the panel behind to a really good match for your tiles (get a Dulux/Leyland colour match paint made up?). Don't think glass would show the dirt so much. It would need a perfect seal round the glass of course, and I'm not sure about the practicalities (like what you'd make the panel from. Skimmed plasterboard? Plywood?)

David

[Richard Hamer]

Thanks, I',m inclined to agree about the mirrow. The tiles are very speckled (Johnson Waldorf Honey WF6 in case anyone's reading who has a spare crateload) so matching them would be quite difficult - though matching one of their two colours should be quite easy with the right paint made up. I'd be more inclined to gow ith one of those panels.

Unless you can get shower cubicles with 4 glass walls, >>

[Owain]

"Lobster" wrote | Another thought off the top of my head; instead of large perspex | panels I wonder if you could use glass instead?

If it was spaced away from the wall then some coloured lights, or even an LCD screen, could be fitted behind.

Owain

[nightjar]

Foamed PVC sheet is available in a variety of colours and a number of thicknesses and has served me well as a sheet lining material for large areas. Note: only the core is foamed - the skin is continouous and smooth.

Colin Bignell