Wall Panels for a Bath->Shower swap later

[Ferdinand]

Note these are Grant Westfield multipanels not AB Multipanels - AB Building Products are a large distributor in the South West. See this post.

 

I am planning to use the AB Multipanels to line my bath alcove in the Little Brown Bungalow. So far, so good.

 

However, I may want to adapt it to be a shower in say 10 years, and that the price of the panels is quite high at £145 or so for an 8x4 in the standard finishes before you even start getting into trims and fixings. I only need 3 but that will be perhaps 1/3 of the cost of the (reasonably posh) bathroom.

 

Is there any reason why I cannot fit full height uncut panels such that later on the bath can simply be hoicked out and a suitably sized shower installed - eg if a tenant can no longer climb into the bath?

 

Considerations are:

 

• Sealing the bath to the panels in a way which is suitable, and can be removed later. Given that both are rigid this should be possible.
• Installing the shower over the bath now in a way that will not require changes later.
• Detailing the bottom edge of the panels - probably involving having them a suitable distance off the floor now to allow for a shower tray later.

 

Comments are welcome.

 

Ferdinand

Edited October 16, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Nickfromwales]

You could just fit an L trim between the bath and the panel for a seal, but then you'd have to rely on the silicone seal to hold the bath in place as you wouldn't then want to fix the bath against the wall as it would make holes in the panel. 

I'd say fruitless endeavour TBH. Sorry. 

[Nickfromwales]

Why not go to a system that uses 8'x2' ( 2.4x0.6m ) panels and just buy some spares to bury up the attic. ? Can't really think of another long term cost effective solution other than TBH . 

[Ferdinand]

51 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Why not go to a system that uses 8'x2' ( 2.4x0.6m ) panels and just buy some spares to bury up the attic. ? Can't really think of another long term cost effective solution other than TBH . 

@Nickfromwales

 

Could you elucidate on that, please, Nick?

 

To you mean have the panels arranged horizontally and arrange the bath height such that an extra can be infilled at the bottom? Or have I got the other end of a different stick? The shower and bath would be identical footprints.

 

AB Multipanels are available in a 2ft version and since it used a tongue and groove "Hydro-Lock" joint then provided the orientation is correct a horizontal joint should be effective. But I can see that being less effective than vertical joints.

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited October 11, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

OK have checked.

 

The tech people at AB Building Products say that they can be installed horizontally. The Hydro Lock tongue and groove joint would need orientating so that the joint would tend to let water out into the shower rather than the other way. This is a cross-section, so it is not absolutely clear which way the orientation should go. Hmm.

 

 

F

Edited October 11, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Nickfromwales]

No sorry, posting and working ?

Fit them vertically and just buy enough spares to remove the bath footprint worth of u/s panels and then fit the tray and wrap in the spare panels. 

[Crofter]

How about a bath with a door in the side?

[Ferdinand]

14 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

No sorry, posting and working ?

Fit them vertically and just buy enough spares to remove the bath footprint worth of u/s panels and then fit the tray and wrap in the spare panels. 

 

Cheers @Nickfromwales.

 

Perhaps agree on spares. But this stuff is so pricey that I would prefer not to waste any of it at all.

 

By the time the glue, trims, delivery etc have all been bought (add 40%) it is not far sort of £60 per sqm. Done properly it is worth it, but when I do the conversion I really want to leave what is already in place, in place.

 

I can see a couple of options for my ceilings which are just over 2.4m high:

 

1 - Fit sheets horizontally (8x4 then an 8x2) and leave exactly the right amount to add an extra 8x2 sheet around the bottom - which would work either as a pattern match, or as (potentially) a contrast eg up to knee height in the shower in pure white or dark blue, or as the background tone from the rest. Not sure about fitting a single run of 8x4m above the bath to give a waterproof cover up to 1.85m. is that enough?

 

2 - Fit 8x4 or 8x2 sheets vertically, but cut very carefully, and keep the offcuts for fitting later should it need to turn into a shower.

 

I will need to think carefully about interlocking and butt-joints, and which ones are more appropriate and reliable in that situation.

 

Costs are interesting - I can find ways to cut that 60 per sqm to about 45-50 by playing with order volume and careful design, but not much below that as it is a commodity + trims product. But even on a tiny bathroom like this that is £100+ now and much more when converting to a shower.

 

The 8x3 sheets are exactly the same price as the 8x4 sheets, and Hydolock adds just under 10% over flat edge and loses a smidge of board size.

 

Ferdinand

 

Edited October 12, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

11 hours ago, Crofter said:

How about a bath with a door in the side?

 

Thanks @Crofter. Interesting idea.

 

I think that would be marketing / perception problem - able-bodied people do not like obviously adapted premises to buy or to rent. For me that would limit my market - which for this premises is likely to be people wanting to send their children to the local school, a young family, singles / dinkies, work from homers, or several kinds of retirees wanting a quiet life and access to services / countryside. I need to cater for potential changes, as it could avoid the £several k cost of a change of tenant.

 

If they buy a disabled-adapted house, quite often the first thing that happens is that obvious adaptations are removed by the purchaser.

 

Wider doors are fine, but an 'inappropriate' (for the non-disabled person's opinions) grab handle or loo could cause an entire bathroom to be redone.

 

We have even flirted with it at the margins on BH with debates about how to hide access ramps or change them later etc. Wasn't there a Scandinavian chap on ebuild who was quite militant that he could ignore the building regs if he wanted to in this area?

 

Plus I have already ordered the bath and it arrives tomorrow .

 

I went for this one.

 

Ferdinand

 

[Barney12]

I agree with Nick that I just can't see how you'll make it work.

 

How about:

20x25 bumpy white tiles. Looks clean, crisp and practical. Cheaper than your proposal too even with a tilers labour. 

Tile down to the bath.

Hopefully the bath has adjustable feet. Fit it at the higher point of adjustment. Then if you need to remove it you can drop it down (away from the tiles) and slide it out. As long as it's not monkeid you won't damage your tiles. 

Chuck a few boxes of the same tile in the loft for If and when you remove the bath.

 

[Ferdinand]

Thanks for all the comments on this.

 

F

 

[Nickfromwales]

Have you already provisioned to have a shower over the bath? I.e. you won't need to chop the pipework in later? 

Ive thought about it and the only real solution is vertical 8x2's and buy enough the re-clad the bath corner ( 700x1700 ) area as and when.

Itll cost far less than a full remodel so just swallow the cost of the spare panels and chuck £5 a week on the rent to cover it

 

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Have you already provisioned to have a shower over the bath? I.e. you won't need to chop the pipework in later? 

Ive thought about it and the only real solution is vertical 8x2's and buy enough the re-clad the bath corner ( 700x1700 ) area as and when.

Itll cost far less than a full remodel so just swallow the cost of the spare panels and chuck £5 a week on the rent to cover it

 

 

We have that covered. 

 

The bath is a little shorter than the room is wide so there will be a return where the taps /shower are, and the panel with the return is a standalone between the door and a corner joint so can be most easily be removed should that prove necessary.

 

Cheers

 

F

Edited October 12, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

This is what I am ending up using for this bathroom:

 

Shower panels for 3 of 4 walls:

Multipanel Classic range from AB Building Products. 4 x 4x8 Aqualock panels in Blue Eiger pattern, adhesive, corners, trims and profiles, and silicone. = £650 approx. (Actually £610)

 

Bath

1600 x 850/700 L-Shower bath with Screen from Cheeky Bathrooms: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172603618735 = £265

 

Taps / Waste

Wickes Kuban bath filler: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Kuban-Bath-Filler-Tap-Chrome/p/209438 = £40

Bath swivel flip plug and overflow: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391493900884 = £22

Cube Chrome Bathroom Basin Sink Mono Mixer Tap & Slotted Sprung Pop Up Waste = £35

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cube-Chrome-Bathroom-Basin-Sink-Mono-Mixer-Tap-Slotted-Sprung-Pop-Up-Waste/332383435828

 

WHB / Loo

Wickes Positano Loo, Cistern, WHB = approx £170

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Products/Bathrooms/Bathroom-Suites/Contemporary-Bathroom-Suites/Positano-Suite/c/1001012

 

Floor

Square of Vinyl from B&Q = approx £25

 

Cabinet

Budget £75

 

Radiator

Budget £50 Actual £38 for 900 x 450mm. Screwfix.

 

Shower

Still to be chosen. Likely 9.5kw Electric. Budget £100-125. Actual twin head mixer £80.

 

Other sundries, trims, plumbing bits, silicone etc. Budget = £60

 

Total = just under £1500 for all materials.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

Correction.

 

I have been happily talking about "AB Multipanels".

 

It turns out that AB Building Products are actually a distributor for Multipanels made by a big supplier called Grant Westfield, and that they are available more competitively at eg 

 

Plumbnation

https://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/wet-wall-shower-panels/?manufacturer=grant-westfield

 

and

 

The Big Kitchen Warehouse.

http://www.thebigkitchenwarehouse.co.uk/ourshop/cat_975511-Multi-Panel-Wall-Ceiling-Panels.html

 

Seem to be about 15-20% less.

 

Ferdinand

[PeterW]

Just watch PlumbNation with delivery charges - seen them at over £70-80 on some things. 

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, PeterW said:

Just watch PlumbNation with delivery charges - seen them at over £70-80 on some things. 

 

The order I enetered with PlumbNation actually showed no delivery charge - but was well over £500 and The Midlands is hardly Timbuktu. It is part of Travis Perkins.

 

But I actually went for the other one.

Edited October 16, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Ferdinand]

OK. Probable Recommendations.

 

*This* shower recommended on another thread by - I think - @Nickfromwales. It seems well built and has a lot of fitting bits with it. Worth a try and delivered quickly.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332130829568

 

The shower bath is also well made, thick, and well reinforced. I think it also comes in 1700 and 1800mm sizes. But in 1700 you can probably buy cheaper as part of a suite from eg Wickes.

1600 x 850/700 L-Shower bath with Screen from Cheeky Bathrooms: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172603618735 = £265

 

The bath waste received is also as recommended on BH. And is heaevy and chunky.

Bath swivel flip plug and overflow: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391493900884 = £22

 

 

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

For the benefit of anyone reading this, for a shower over the bath ( eg you'll be standing in it not sitting down ) you need a bath rated to have a shower over it. Normal cheaper baths are quite flimsy and aren't meant for you to stand in them, whereas baths rated for showers over them ( often referred to as 'shower baths' ) have thicker layers and reinforced woodend pads in the base with much stronger / suitable leg arrangements. 

Also, and this is the one most forget about, the shower baths are finished to a much finer tolerance, so for one the top edge is either perfectly flat ( to take the bottom seal of a shower glass panel, or has an edge sympathetic to the targeting and directing of splashing or pooling water. This one catches a lot of people out and then they ask why water is collecting in the corners where the bath meets the tiles / shower screen profile. .