Bathroom wall tiles or panels?

[yogadogs]

We're getting quotes for bathroom refit but being advised very differently about what to put on the walls; a couple of companies have said that waterproof panel sheets is better than tiling as grout would discolour, then the other two have both said tiling is better as the panels can fade if in direct line of sunlight.

Has anyone used these bathroom wall panels either up to half or full height? Are you happy that you did or have you since regretted? Would really appreciate some feedback. Thanks.

Love my wall panels. We find it much easier than the wall tiles we had previously.

@AbbieLexie Many thanks for replying. Good to know you love your panels! That reassures me quite a lot. Having seen some in a local bathroom showroom, I thought they looked really good - like genuine marble. The two guys saying that tiles would be better made me pause for thought but my DH says maybe they're pushing tiling because they're not particularly good at fitting the panels!

Yes
They might not be experts at fitting the panels, I'd agree with that.

Can you fit panels over tiles?

We have panels in two bathrooms and I love them, one is a new bathroom the other replaced the tiles in the existing bathroom. They are so easy to clean, are warmer than tiles and should be easier to remove than tiles if we decide to refurbish again (it took us 20 years to update the bathroom, just couldn't bear the thought of removing all the tiles, floor to ceiling all the way round).

I hate panels, they scream care home to me.

I love wall panels but would never have the marble affect ones!!!

@ooooohbetty No idea if you can fit those panels over tiles but we have wooden cladding up to window-sill level that was there when we moved in and hated on sight, but we haven't been able to do anything about the bathroom until now.

@puckingfixies Thanks to you too for your endorsement of panels. Very helpful.

@3dogs2cats "I hate panels, they scream care home to me.

@RandomMess Are marble affect panels really tacky?

Well I think they are 🤷🏽‍♀️we had black pixels in previous house and some with with grey stone and sparkles in here...

Actually it's just sparkly! I Despise grout with a passion though

We have plain acrylic panels. They look amazing and are so easy to clean. They were a bit of a nightmare to store before the fitters arrived though - they're huge and bend really easily. My parents have marble effect panels and they do look a tad dated, I must admit. But... So much better than manky grout so it's swings and roundabouts!

Panels are ok but I wish I still had tiles. Looked fine in the showroom but a bit meh insitu.