Am I mad not to get a tiled bathroom?

[CoolKitkat]

It seems that most people prefer tiles on the walls and floor, but I find them cold and hard to keep clean. Am thinking of shower panels and waterproof paint on the walls, and vinyl on the floor as it's softer and easy to clean.

Not planning on moving for at least 10 years (so not too worried about selling on just yet / resale value) but I'm wondering if I'm missing something, as everyone I speak to about this (including bathroom fitters), looks at me like I'm crazy. Am I?

We had our bathroom renewed and did away with tile, we have waterproof aqua board on the wall and vinyl flooring, not had a problem with slipping on the floor.

I have see some shower panels looks good in a sort of modern quirky way - bathroom
Painted white and then a bright colour panel lining the large shower. No bath. So it was sort of a colour pop and wasn’t pretending to be anything else if that makes sense?

Sorry couldn’t live with the panels at all. I only tiled the shower and above the basin .( and behind the bath in the bathroom) I think any more is too clinical panels remind me of caravans. I’m more ambivalent about the floor. I understand wanting it to feel warm in winter and that it shouldn’t be slippery.

Why the hating on panels? I think they look nice. Each to their own.

We have just had shower done, panels in shower, and a few tiles over the sink. Rest painted light grey. Looks beautiful.

I have a mix of panels and tiles in our en-suite, I have metro pink blush tiles with black grout on the back wall of the shower, the other two walls of the shower are panel. I then have metro tiles behind the sink that compliements the panels with a sink the same pink as the shower tiles. The rest of the room is painted a very subtle grey/off white. The floor is original wood flooring. Quotes for tiling were very expensive so me and a friend did it to save money.

The main bathroom is basically all wood, including the bath etc. Surprisingly easy to keep clean.

Panels just remind me of hotels and seem cheap. I have vinyl, wood and tiles on my bathroom floors. I did have a leak and had t take up a vinyl tile- not cheap at all! To replace it I had to buy the whole pack- £250! Plus them to put it back right with the vinyl grout lines.
I like tile because you can pick a oatern. Next hoyse I'm putting underfloor heating in the bathrooms though.
Agree that a totally tiled bathroom can be cold, so I only tile the bath/shower and behind sink. I have used clear perspex to protect wallpaper behind sink in downstairs loo which was a great buy.

My tiled bathrooms have underfloor heating and tiles with non slip attributes. They are warm bathrooms! Big towel radiators too.

Panels are seen in bathroom pods in student accommodation, hospitals and caravans. I’ve never seen them in up market designed homes or hotels. It’s all about money and aspiration. A friend has put them into a bathroom refurb and they look cheap. They still have the old tiny shower too. It’s not a good look but her DH is a total cheapskate so spending money wasn’t on his agenda and he has no style.

The amount of snobbery on this thread is unreal 🤯

I don't take the comments seriously as they come from the kind of people who buy their own furniture.

Have tiles if you like; have panels if you like! It's your house and you should have what makes you happy.

Planning to have panels in both our bathrooms when we redo them. I hate tiles and think they are more likely to leak.

Peals don’t look “cheap” if you buy decent ones. Same with flooring, you get what you pay for.

“The kind of people who buy their own furniture”? As opposed to those who rent it? How odd.

Panels always look cheap.

Tiles don’t leak if you “tank” around them. It’s again a case of spending the money.

Panels look awful. My parents got them when they redid their en suite a few years ago and they look awful. I had only ever seen them in cheap hotels before. Had no idea anyone used them domestically.

It’s personal preference and while I agree that some panels can look cheap and nasty ( usually the shiny ones) they can look really nice as well.

Like a PP we had panels in the shower and then a few tiles over the sink in the en suite. The rest is painted. The floor is those laminate strip type things.

The panels look like metro tiles and you can only tell it is a panel when you touch them. They do so much easier to keep clean and weren’t cheap.

Before we did it the whole room was tiled and I didn’t like it at all. No flexibility to change colour etc and it felt cold and slippy!

“The kind of people who buy their own furniture”? As opposed to those who rent it? How odd.

It's a quote from Alan Clark, it's a comment about the nouveau riche who have to buy their furniture as opposed to those who have been wealthy for generations and inherit their furniture.

@JaninaDuszejko

“The kind of people who buy their own furniture”? As opposed to those who rent it? How odd.

It's a quote from Alan Clark, it's a comment about the nouveau riche who have to buy their furniture as opposed to those who have been wealthy for generations and inherit their furniture.

I love that quote. I thought it was Michael Heseltine.

It was by Clark about Michael Heseltine.

And good catch, @JaninaDuszejko! I wondered if anyone would recognise the reference.

Personally I think panels look great. Modern and hygienic. I think tiles are a bit grim to be honest, all that grout for limescale and germs to lurk in (shudder). They seem quite old fashioned to me now, bit like carpeted bathrooms 🤢.

They only tiled areas in our bathrooms are the floors and shower area. Walls are painted everywhere else

My OH is a bathroom fitter. He always recommends wall and floor tiles (although not a necessarily all of the walls tiled a paint the rest). Underfloor heat it if you can and go for large tiles to minimise grout joints. Where there are no tiles at any areas at floor area, use tile instead of skirting board so you can mop easily

We have one bathroom tiled and one with panels which look like driftwood ( non shiny).

The tiled bathroom surfaces need constant cleaning because of the condensation “run-off”

We’re due to update the tiled bathroom. I’m definitely choosing wallboard

thatonehasalittlecar
’Get microcement on the walls - it looks amazing and is so easy to keep clean’

I’ve just googled what that is and now I want a microcement bathroom. With tessellating tiles on the floor.

Panels come in a range of styles and costs vary. As a pp mentioned per sqm they can be more expensive than tiles.

They are much quicker to fit.

They work best floor to ceiling, especially if they have a striking pattern.

@CoolKitkat you might want to consider panels for all the walls, why have the walls plastered, wait for that to dry ( 4 days plus ) then paint?
Multipanel do plain colour matt panels, we have Dove Grey floor to ceiling where we would ordinarily have plastered and painted.