Shower wall material

[Grosey]

Just wondering what people recommend for the walls of a 3 sided walk in shower, it will be fully tiled. 

 

Aquapanel / cement board

Moisture resistant plasterboard

Plywood

Other?

[MAB]

I am currently building a tiled walk in shower and have decided to use 12mm Hardibacker board for the walls (1200 x 800mm sheets) :-

http://www.jameshardie.co.uk/hardiebacker-12mm-cement-board

[Onoff]

I'm using Aquapanel 1200x900x12.5 laid horizontal in the wet room corner. Floor to ceiling is nom 2740mm less floor tiles so 3 panels high and a strip along the top as needs be. It'll have the hell tanked out of it after anyway.

 

(Need to buy another board(s) as I purloined one to go behind the wc).

[Ferdinand]

Slightly on a tangent, I used quite high end interlocking patterned plastic wall panels for a bathroom a few years ago including behind the walk in shower, and they have proven fine over 6 years of 3 separate tenants. No tiling or finish needed.

 

They came as 8x4s, and slotted together with just a trim of the top or bottom to fit. They were braced against the opposite wall overnight while the adhesive set :-).

 

But I cannot for the life of me find what they were called.

Ferdinand

 

Edited April 12, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Grosey]

Keep seeing 2 scoops of thought on whether to tank cement board products or not, what's the general concensus here?

[Onoff]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

Slightly on a tangent, I used quite high end interlocking patterned plastic wall panels for a bathroom a few years ago including behind the walk in shower, and they have proven fine over 6 years of 3 separate tenants. No tiling or finish needed.

 

They came as 8x4s, and slotted together with just a trim of the top or bottom to fit. They were braced against the opposite wall overnight while the adhesive set :-).

 

But I cannot for the life of me find what they were called.

Ferdinand

 

 

Mermaid panels?

 

I believe @JSHarris rates these too?

[Jeremy Harris]

5 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Mermaid panels?

 

I believe @JSHarris rates these too?

 

I used AB Products Multipanel ( https://www.abbuildingproducts.co.uk/multipanel-c-5055.php), a bit more robust than the Mermaid ones, as they use a plywood core, rather than MDF.  I can vouch for the fact that they look good for years, as I used them around 8 years ago to refit the bathroom in our old house, and they look as good now as they did when I fitted them.  Very easy to keep clean, and no grout to get mouldy.  I was so impressed with them that I've used the same stuff in the bathrooms at the new house.

Edited April 12, 2017 by JSHarris

[Ferdinand]

I guess one difference worth a note is that the panels are much easier to fit with 2 people.

 

So people working alone may find tiles more straightforward.

 

(Cue someone telling me that they did it single-handed while their arm was in a sling.)

 

F

 

Edited October 16, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Jeremy Harris]

I did manage to fit panels to all the walls of our old bathroom on my own, but it is not easy to fit full 8 x 4 panels on your own, because of the way the click-fit joints go together.  In the new house I only fitted panels around the shower, bath and behind washbasins, and it was a fair bit easier (only two whole 8 x 4 sheets, the rest were smaller).

 

If working on your own the job can be made a bit easier by waiting for half an hour or so for the solvent grab adhesive, used to fix the panel, to go off, before fitting the next panel.  It's also important to dry fit all the panels first, as the adhesive does harden pretty fast, so you have very little working time after applying it.

 

The final point is that the lower edge seal strip that's often supplied with these panels (any brand) is useless.  It's the weakest point of the whole system, and I had to retrofit a PVC trim around the shower bath in the old house, just to overcome the design failings in the special seal strip.  For the new house I fitted the panels with a gap of around 4 to 5mm under each panel (I temporarily held them above the shower tray and bath with strips of thin ply).  The gap was filled with neutral cure silicone, and then covered with a small PVC moulding, fixed in place with clear neutral cure silicone.  This not only makes for a better seal at the base, but it covers up the sealant, so eliminating another area that can go mouldy.

[TheMitchells]

On 12/04/2017 at 09:13, JSHarris said:

The final point is that the lower edge seal strip that's often supplied with these panels (any brand) is useless.  It's the weakest point of the whole system, and I had to retrofit a PVC trim around the shower bath in the old house, just to overcome the design failings in the special seal strip.  For the new house I fitted the panels with a gap of around 4 to 5mm under each panel (I temporarily held them above the shower tray and bath with strips of thin ply).  The gap was filled with neutral cure silicone, and then covered with a small PVC moulding, fixed in place with clear neutral cure silicone.  This not only makes for a better seal at the base, but it covers up the sealant, so eliminating another area that can go mouldy.

 

Jeremy, Any chance of photo of the bottom edge with the pvc moulding.  My parents want a shower installed in place of their current bath and they like the look of these panels.  am I right in thinking to fit the shower base first then the wall panels so any water is flowing into the tray, rather than the wall panels and then the tray with the issue of water possibly seeping beind the tray if the seal goes?

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I can post some photos tomorrow, showing the detail. 

 

The shower tray was fitted first, with tanking strip extending up the wall.  The panels were then fitted, with a 4mm gap at the base, I used bits of 4mm ply to space the panels up above the edge of the tray. 

 

This 4mm gap was then filled with sealant, and when that had cured the small PVC cornice trim was bonded on with more sealant, to cover the tray to panel junction.

[Jeremy Harris]

Sorry, I forgot all about this until taking some other photos today.  Here's a photo showing how I fitted the small PVC coving to form a seal and hide the sealant at the wall panel to shower tray junction:

 

[Nickfromwales]

I went another route with Mermaid ( after ditching that god-awful bottom trim ) and scribed the panels to the tray exactly, then lowered them into a very generous bead of CT1. Wiped away what displaced with wet wipes and looked great. A cosmetic silicone seal could have been applied if it was suitable but it wasnt in that instance and still looked good with just the CT1 tooled, wiped and finished accordingly. 

[Jeremy Harris]

To some extent the use of that PVC trim was to get around my inexpert skills when it comes to making a neat bead of sealant! 

 

As a bonus, it also eliminates the possibility of any sealant going mouldy.

[ProDave]

To make a neat bead of sealant with no skill needed, buy some "corner tape"

 

This is just two strips of masking tape, on a backing to space them, that when applied gives you two strips of masking tape either side of where you want the bead of sealant, nice and evenly spaced. Apply sealant, wipe to get a nice bead, and remove masking tape while still wet. Once perfect looking bead of sealant.

[Nickfromwales]

On 23/06/2017 at 15:21, JSHarris said:

To some extent the use of that PVC trim was to get around my inexpert skills when it comes to making a neat bead of sealant! 

 

As a bonus, it also eliminates the possibility of any sealant going mouldy.

Jeremy, I've just reread this and I think I should clarify I was referring to the "god-awful" trim that Mermaid supplied for the bottom seal , and the comment certainly was not aimed at your install. 

One problem from posting hastily whilst grafting, it doesn't always get read before sending.  . Oops !

[Jeremy Harris]

20 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Jeremy, I've just reread this and I think I should clarify I was referring to the "god-awful" trim that Mermaid supplied for the bottom seal , and the comment certainly was not aimed at your install. 

One problem from posting hastily whilst grafting, it doesn't always get read before sending.  . Oops !

 

 

It's OK Nick, that's the way I read it. 

 

I deliberately didn't use that dreadful trim, that has what amounts to a gutter in it to trap water, as I'd used it around the bath on the panels I fitted to our old bathroom, and experienced just how bad it is.  There I fitted a wider PVC trim strip to fix the problem caused by the recommended "seal".  Why they still sell that seal I don't know, as it's a really bad design.

[ProDave]

There is another "god awful" type of trim to avoid. One sold to us by Topps Tiles when we did our last bathroom. 

 

It's a trim that fits to the wall before the tiles go on. It doesn't create a "gutter" so on the face of it, it should be okay. So why is it god awful?

 

Well the edge that touches and seals to the bath looks just like a white bit of trim. But, it is a different material. Over a period of time, the white edge turns yellow, and it curls up away from the bath leaving a gap.  I would never use it again and can't believe the manufacturer does not know this happens and it is not fit for purpose.

[Nickfromwales]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

There is another "god awful" type of trim to avoid. One sold to us by Topps Tiles when we did our last bathroom. 

 

It's a trim that fits to the wall before the tiles go on. It doesn't create a "gutter" so on the face of it, it should be okay. So why is it god awful?

 

Well the edge that touches and seals to the bath looks just like a white bit of trim. But, it is a different material. Over a period of time, the white edge turns yellow, and it curls up away from the bath leaving a gap.  I would never use it again and can't believe the manufacturer does not know this happens and it is not fit for purpose.

I stopped using them about 15 years ago. They are, without a second or a shadow of doubt, THE biggest pieces of shit ever to disgrace a tile job. The number of ( repair ) jobs they create is great for trades, not so great for the poor fool that fitted them. It's almost as if they were designed to leak and cause slow, severe, penetrating leaks which only become apparent after its too late to do anything other than rip the tiles and PB off and start again. 

Utter and total crap. ?  

Ive got a master and an ensuite in the same house to fully redo ( when I can ) just because of these trims, ( fitted in the last <10 years ), and the water just flows under them, along behind, and then pours out the end behind the tiles. ?

Edited June 24, 2017 by Nickfromwales

[TheMitchells]

On 12/04/2017 at 09:13, JSHarris said:

I did manage to fit panels to all the walls of our old bathroom on my own, but it is not easy to fit full 8 x 4 panels on your own, because of the way the click-fit joints go together.  In the new house I only fitted panels around the shower, bath and behind washbasins, and it was a fair bit easier (only two whole 8 x 4 sheets, the rest were smaller).

 

If working on your own the job can be made a bit easier by waiting for half an hour or so for the solvent grab adhesive, used to fix the panel, to go off, before fitting the next panel.  It's also important to dry fit all the panels first, as the adhesive does harden pretty fast, so you have very little working time after applying it.

 

@JSHarris

just reviving this thread as I wondered if you tanked the area before using the panels.  my builder says I HAVE to tank.  I shall be using aquaboards before the multipanels.  I dont mind tanking if needed.  and the builder has been really good with the build - if it is not 100% done right, he does it again. 

Edited July 28, 2019 by TheMitchells

[Jeremy Harris]

I tanked the lower part, but not most of the area where the boards were bonded on, as the adhesive didn't seem to adhere as well to the tanking as it did to the bare wall.  There are two laminate layers on the boards, with the ply core, so I thought that the chance of moisture getting through was a lot lower than with tiles, where moisture can creep through the grout lines.

[Onoff]

I Aqua Panelled then tanked the whole lot using the Aqua Seal kit. Tile adhesive went on no problem.

 

Seems to have stuck. Believe me, we're giving the wet room corner a serious bashing.

[TheMitchells]

If we are tanking then using the Multipanels over, it seems a little over the top to use Aquapanels too.  Would I be okay with green moisture resistant pb like the rest of the room.  I can then tank the whole shower area before applying the multipanels.  Aquapanels are quite a lot more expensive.  would rather spend the money on decent multipanels, as per Jeremy's.

[Onoff]

16 minutes ago, TheMitchells said:

If we are tanking then using the Multipanels over, it seems a little over the top to use Aquapanels too.  Would I be okay with green moisture resistant pb like the rest of the room.  I can then tank the whole shower area before applying the multipanels.  Aquapanels are quite a lot more expensive.  would rather spend the money on decent multipanels, as per Jeremy's.

 

I imagine if you pay close attention to the junction where the multipanel comes down on the tray then using mrpb behind will be fine. I think the multipanel vertical joins are pretty foolproof but the bottom edge seal people on here don't rate and do something else instead. There's a specific thread/comment on that somewhere on here. @ProDave and @JSHarris know the score.

[Jeremy Harris]

I just used standard PB, as experience with the Multipanels fitted to our old bathroom showed that they are 100% watertight, including the vertical joints.  As @Onoff says, the weakest point is at the bottom of the panel, where it joins the bath/shower tray.  I tanked the wall for about 200mm up from that junction and fitted the panels on 4mm plywood spacers, then removed the spacers and filled the gap at the bottom with sealant.  The gap allows for any slight movement and is wide enough to be able to squirt sealant right in to ensure a good seal.