Acrylic walls panels rather than tiling for bathroom

[BigSkies2022]

Hello. I am at the beginning of renovating a bathroom - stripping it of bath, turning it into more of a wetroom with a big shower. My plumber has thrown a slightly curve ball by suggesting cap and cove vinyl flooring and acrylic wall panels instead of tiles. He says its 'bomb-proof' and won't need maintenance.

Intrigued! does anyone have any experience of these materials/method, and if so, can you recommend any particular suppliers/websites. There seems to be a huge range even of brands, and I'm not sure how they differ.

Thanks.

As a landlord don't do it - one hard knock & you will have a hole. Tiles are much more tolerant for a rental.
Tenants don't look after things the way you would.
I had a downstairs shower room done in this & like a previous poster said all you need is a disco ball. But I needed it quick for my terminally ill husband at the time & the wait for the tiler was longer.
They just don't look the same quality

If its for a rental i’d go for it! When DM did DGM’s bathroom a few years ago she used wet wall panels to make cleaning easier for DGM- house is now a rental property and its stood the test of time.

I do think decent tiles look nicer but you get so many different designs for these panels now & if its done well its much nicer than cheap tiles.

We had these behind our shower , within a few months water had got behind and the whole lot had to be replaced. I never felt fully confident it wouldn't happen again so recently we've had them replaced with tiles. Tbf it was probably down to the fitting/sealing that we had a problem but I wouldn't have them again.

Same

Thanks for the responses. Fair to say it is polarising! I will show this thread to my fitter and ask him for his best advice on brands. Haven't ruled out tiles by any means, but it's disheartening to see the spick and span grout and sealant deteriorating in the space of months because tenants just don't do the regular upkeep needed. Also, they seem to be addicted to filling the shower stall with products, sponges, loofahs - every one of which creates a surface for damp to cling to. They don't clean glass or taps properly, so in a hard water area, we get limescale build-up.

I am old, meticulous and streamlined in my habits (fair to say I was much less so in my twenties) so this pains me, and I'm trying to find a way to decorate that doesn't amplify the worst tendencies of young, busy tenants. I've never used or seen aqua boards/shower panels, or cap and cove, in the flesh. There are some very nice looking examples on Pinterest though, so it may not be the wretched alternative some posters seem to think. As ever, decent quality and excellent trades will make the difference.

I was initially considering panels for my bathroom remodel, but all the ones I liked worked out being substantially more expensive than just choosing nice tiles. If you go for big tiles then there's less grout to worry about (that was my tactic in the end!)

Don't get the dark 'slate ' one, gets covered in water marks which don't come off. Btw never found a wet room which doesn't leak somewhere!

I don't think having them nicely fitted will make much difference if you have the whole bathroom done in panels. The texture is 'wrong': too flat, too shiny, the pattern repeat painfully exposed like wallpaper — and it also has a different acoustic. It's not an efficient replacement for tiles, it's something else. They don't compare. How about charging £50 a month extra rent and having a cleaner go in for a couple of hours each month to clean properly?

Can I also suggest dark grout (definitely not white!) And if you are feeling flush then use epoxy grout which is hardwearing. Apparently it's used in hotels.

We have this in our walk in shower- installed by previous owner who was a builder. The rest of the walls are just painted.

I wouldn’t have chosen it myself, but it’s actually great- no grout to worry about cleaning, really robust. Ours is a kind of dark brown marbled effect which sounds horrible but actually looks really smart against the polished shower fittings.

I would stick to keeping it around the bath/shower as opposed to wall-to-wall throughout the bathroom.

Hi again. Yes, to PP, we have large tiles with same-coloured epoxy grout in our own bathrooms at home, and those have been great. They were quite expensive, but I may be able to find large, more basic tiles, but also use the epoxy grout. The other thing about using tiles is getting them mitred, so you can avoid using trim; but that adds ££ to the job too. Still, on the horizon of the years that you expect a high quality renovation to last, it does diminish.

Yes, if I do go for the panels, it would be around the shower only. The existing layout would lend itself well to having a wall built between the lav and what will be the walk in shower section, so it would be a highly defined area. It could work, and it could avoid the costs involved in mitring tile work.

My DILS walk in shower has epoxy grout. It's much more subtle and durable.

I’ve got matt Mermaid wall panels in my en-suite and DS2 has them in his bathroom. MIL has them in her shower.

We had awful tiles when we moved in here. They were large, matt and grooved. It was impossible to keep them clean, the people who lived here before had neglected them too, so we had to do something about it. I decided on panels after seeing MILs shower.

Ours are just in the shower and behind the basin. I literally squeegy them down after we’re finished showering then spray them with daily shower cleaner. Every couple of days when the bathroom is cleaned they get a going over. We don’t have any water marks and we live in a hard water area. I wouldn’t go for shiny ones, they don’t look as nice imo.

My DPs have this in their bathroom. It's brilliant. So easy to clean.

I'm getting my bathroom replaced, probably next year, and I'm definitely going for the panels instead of tiles.

Watching an influencer on Instagram. She has a separate mop head for her Vax mop and bucket. Just cleans down the bathroom with the mop then spins. I've ordered a spare mophead to try