Those single piece shower panels

[Scott M]

I'm being chased by a friend to put in a shower cubicle based on those single piece PVC/laminate/acrylic panels. I've only ever tiled showers before so this is all new to me and I'm after any words of wisdom going.

Are they just a case of cut to size and stick to the wall with Stixall/silicon/other? And is a fine toothed circular saw the right tool?

Panels so far seem to be between £65 (Amazon) & £400 (Wickes). They want cheap-ish but I won't waste time on rubbish. Any recommendations on where to look? Plumb Centre seem to have a good range but I can't see any finishing pieces - presumably neat beads of silicone are as good as anything.

I vaguely remember this coming up before but Google ain't my pal today!

[DerbyBorn]

Scott M wrote in news:HdCdnRKdyYnvOd7EnZ2dnUU78K [e-mail]:

any use?

I guess you need a specialist supplier to find a decent range.

[DerbyBorn]

Scott M wrote in news:HdCdnRKdyYnvOd7EnZ2dnUU78K [e-mail]:

There is also a "Lino" type of way of doing it. Saw it in a hospital wet room.

[Ash Burton]

We had our en-suite shower lined with aqua-panels on top of the old tiling similar to what you mention.

I think the fitter got them from the local Plumb Centre, he just cut panels to size and stuck them to a plywood lining over the old tiles .

The corners and joins are L and H profile pvc extrusions that the panel edges slot into. Silicon sealer was used to seal the panel to tray interface.

You need to check the panel color match before fixing if using more than one panel.

[Muddymike]

I'll second that. Many years ago I lined the walls around our bath with showerproof laminated ply panels only to find one was a distinctly different shade. Sadly it only became apparent after I had cut and fitted it :-(

Mike

[Huge]

Balances out what happened when the matching floor and wall tiles in our guest bathroom didn't. Match, that is. Fortunately we liked them better than if they had. Matched, that is. Saving me the hassle of taking them back and changing them.

[newshound]

Good link. But I wish they included a typical price/sq m for each of the options, rather than forcing you to hunt.

FWIW I have used the Mermaid type melamine on phenolic ply, fitted in extruded aluminium sections. Not cheap and not a brilliant range of finishes, but very tough and a long lasting easy to clean finish.

I "roofed" my shower with T&G PVC cladding, a very cheap way to cover the area with something totally waterproof. Not too bad to keep clean.

[Capitol]

I installed a shower cubicle some years back. It's glass fibre and not thermoplastic. It has performed very well and is very rigid. I made the mistake of fitting an impossible to adjust(too stiff) thermostatic valve and now have to replace that with a manual control.

[Scott M]

Thanks for the comments guys. PlumbBase seems to have a good range at a sensible price (~£80 per panel) from a company that churns out matching extrusions and a good range of how-to booklets to go with them so that's probably the winner.

Just got work out the best way to lay the tray. First floor, Victorian floorboards with assorted holes. Various things I've read/watched seem keen on cutting it all out and putting in a sub-base of waterproof ply. Is this the standard practise now (or maybe it was always - only ever laid them on solid floors)?

[Steve Walker]

If it a stonecast/resin shower tray, according to the instructions with mine, they are bedded onto mortar. I just blocked any holes that mortar could drop through with scrunched up newsapaper and mortared onto the existing floorboards. As the rest of the bathroom floor was then covered with 1/2" cementicious boards, electric underfloor heating and then tiled, it meant the step into our low level shower tray is only about an inch high.

SteveW