Shower panels

[brewdexta]

I'm building a small ensuite and I may break with tradition and go shower panels rather than tiles.

It isn't a wet room, just a 1200mm x 760mm stone/resin tray with sliding glass door and walls on 3 sides.

Any makes/types I should avoid or the best to buy? Any tips?

I was going to seal the shower tray and walls with Mapei shower waterproofing for tiling, I was still planning on doing that if I go shower panel.

Hopefully my wife/daughter will have wrestled with the tile/shower panel conundrum and made a decision by this weekend so I can get on with it

 

[gaz1]

if you want it to last and be better sealed dont go the way your going

better off with a wet room floor that can be heated with wet floor under floor heating as the mrs and daughter will like this

the rest of it can just be made as a drip off as it goes past the top part of the wetroom floor uprights

 

[brewdexta]

Too late, and its the way I want it for several reasons.

Can anybody else answer the questions I asked

 

[mtt.tr]

Shower panels are much of muchness, though you can get reinforced ones more akin to conservatory roof sheets or 6mm thick super bendy ones.

I prefer the reinforced/extruded type probably did 4 showers with them. No call backs all look good.

 

[gaz1]

Too late, and its the way I want it for several reasons.

Can anybody else answer the questions I asked

just go out and buy plastic sheet and stick that to the wall the only part that needs sealing is the bottom, corner edge and as they are 8x4 sheets one line across the top

renew the silicone as it will fail or stains due to the soap and products used in the shower every few years

because its a full sheet very little water can get through except where the edges are and you should be able to silicine the rear as well as the front edge rather well

 

[Shox Dr]

We used panel (fake Marbel), been on for 22yrs. Looks as good as the day it was fitted. Sorry Andy I cant tell you the make.
It wasnt cheap, German manufacturer

 

[Kayos]

The pvc ones are cheap and nasty
The ply ones are an absolute pain but the only ones I would use in my own house, if the wife wasn't obsessed with Victorian style bathrooms

 

[Cato]

I'm building a small ensuite and I may break with tradition and go shower panels rather than tiles.

It isn't a wet room, just a 1200mm x 760mm stone/resin tray with sliding glass door and walls on 3 sides.

Any makes/types I should avoid or the best to buy? Any tips?

I was going to seal the shower tray and walls with Mapei shower waterproofing for tiling, I was still planning on doing that if I go shower panel.

Hopefully my wife/daughter will have wrestled with the tile/shower panel conundrum and made a decision by this weekend so I can get on with it

Don't get the hollow plastic type, use the faced phenolic/resin plywood. Much easier to cut accurately, doesn't discolour, stays flat, takes knocks, less sensitive to cleaning materials, you can screw stuff like the shower racks directly to it, it'll take suction cup type shower handles and shelves and doesn't warp if there's a radiator next to it or in front of it.

It's more expensive, but it's a 'one and done' job.

 

[brewdexta]

Don't get the hollow plastic type, use the faced phenolic/resin plywood. Much easier to cut accurately, doesn't discolour, stays flat, takes knocks, less sensitive to cleaning materials, you can screw stuff like the shower racks directly to it, it'll take suction cup type shower handles and shelves and doesn't warp if there's a radiator next to it or in front of it.

It's more expensive, but it's a 'one and done' job.

The hollow PVC panels seem to be about 80 quid for 2.4 x 1.0 metre and the solid acrylic about 250 to 600 quid for similar sizes but looks better quality. I was thinking the PVC is probably not the way to go. I'm just about to check out the laminate ones you mention.

Once I have an idea of which product, I can send over the colours/patterns to her indoors and she can choose. It will make it quicker

 

[cocker]

I've just used the hollow/ribbed inside stuff . I won't be using that again !
Any pressure from screws and the stuff bends in , looked horrible .
Lucky I had enough for two goes .

 

[brewdexta]

With the acrylic, you can buy 3mm or 5mm thick sheets in different colours. Its a bit like the stuff they line butchers freezers with and will bend a bit. However the more expensive stuff is 10mm solid and is printed on the back, the acrylic is clear.

The laminate seems to come half way between the hollow/corrugated PVC and posh acrylic pricing. Cheaper stuff has MR MDF core which isn't promising, the posher stuff plywood or phenolic.

The posh acrylic comes is all sorts of patterns, I guess due to its manufacture its easy to do that with printing it on the back of clear acrylic. It moves quite a bit though, needs 3mm expansion gaps. The laminate should be almost nil.

 

[Misterg]

I fitted laminated waterproof ply ones to out en-suite 17 years ago and they still look look like new (more than can be said for the shower enclosure).

They weren't cheap - I *think* they were 'Dolphin' brand or something similar.

 

[Blobber]

Done a few with the plywood/phenolic type boards and they were spot on, I really rate them, none of them like any aggressive cleaning though so put the ajax and wire scouring pads out of reach!

 

[dobbslc]

Interesting thread! I'm going to do the new ensuite next year sometime and have been thinking about using these sheets instead of tiles.
How do they join at the corners?
I'll have to burn the scouring pads as my other half once cleaned the car with one and then wondered why I went ape sxxx over the phone when she told me!
The phone ended up in the pond I was sitting next to supping beer on a lads weekend away

 

[brewdexta]

Looking at one manufacturer, there's an aluminium extrusion for internal corners and for the bottom of the panel etc. That's for laminate panels.

The solid acrylic ones are just butted with a 3mm gap and sealed with a low modulus silicon.

 

[Cato]

Interesting thread! I'm going to do the new ensuite next year sometime and have been thinking about using these sheets instead of tiles.
How do they join at the corners?
I'll have to burn the scouring pads as my other half once cleaned the car with one and then wondered why I went ape sxxx over the phone when she told me!
The phone ended up in the pond I was sitting next to supping beer on a lads weekend away

I may know someone, who I'm definitely not married to, who thought that it would be quicker to clean a heavily grimed kitchen window in a house we they had just moved into with oven cleaner. I They replaced the now frosted glazing unit and we they never spoke of it again.

Anyway, the phenolic/resin ply panels use extruded aluminium profiles. Either square or concave, and they have similar trims for any panels which have free ends.

 

[hunter27]

Earlier this year I ripped out our 'showerwall' sheets (plastic covered MDF) as it had started swelling for the second time and vowed that I would not use anything with wood in it. I settled on Aquawall wall boards https://www.interiorpanelsystems.co.uk/wall-panels/aquawall-panels/ they measure 650mm x 375mm and look like tiles without the grout. They are easy to cut and fit, interlock together and, can be fitted either way up and can be fixed to a flat wall or on battens. I am very happy with them. I found that IPSL also sold them on ebay and were around £9 cheaper per pack.

 

[gaz1]

Looking at one manufacturer, there's an aluminium extrusion for internal corners and for the bottom of the panel etc. That's for laminate panels.

The solid acrylic ones are just butted with a 3mm gap and sealed with a low modulus silicon.

whilst you might think that aluminium corner piece is a good idea if that wall isnt straight it can screw up that seal ( 90/90/90 for a u shower chamber 90/90 for just a corner )

whilst the acrylic reference is the better option you can also do the same with other sheets

 

[mike os]

Avoid anything that isn’t solid

Acrylic is good stuff, especially the solid surface type as it can be re polished

Any painted clear acrylic is likely to scratch somewhat

I did one in painted glass,,, like glass splash backs … that looked fantastic but was a bit spendy

 

[Hitch]

I fitted some in our ensuite, 4 years ago. 3 sided shower, glass double doors to the front.
No issues with it at all.

Think it was 'Splashwall' or something along them lines.
Ordered it through B&Q as the exact same product was cheaper from them. Looked a much nicer product than some of the cheaper versions.
Good stuff, some kind of resin impregnated mdf, about 8/9mm thick, with a decorative side.

Mine was studwork, covered with aquapanel. And the showerpanel bonded to that. No visible fixings.
Didn't bother with the little aluminium profiles for cornerseither Just bonded in place with a 3/4mm gap in the corners and between tray (sat on top of tray) a nice neat 6mm bead of silicone- pushed in properly hasn't given me any issues.