To make repairs in the bathroom is not easy, as this room has high humidity. Wallpapering is often short-lived due to constant dampness. One of the options is ceramic tile, but the option of installing plastic panels is considered more economical and no less practical. They are completely hygienic and easy to care for.
Material benefits
Finishing the bath with plastic panels, in comparison with other materials, has the following advantages:
- low cost of material (compared with wood and ceramic tiles);
- ease of installation and maintenance;
- non-exposure to moisture, steam and water;
- the ability to create designs for every taste due to a wide range of colors and patterns on sale.
Purchasing Tips
Nowadays, the market is saturated with a wide variety of building materials, but, unfortunately, not all manufacturers are honest people, some seek to save money and use low-quality starting materials. In order that the purchase does not bring disappointment, and the plastic panels for the bathroom last a long time, the purchase should be guided by simple rules:
- It is better to take panels with the greatest number of stiffeners, this will provide future construction strength.
- Stiffeners should not have external damages and deformations, the front side should be evenly painted or have a pattern, this will create an interior.
- The appearance of the panels themselves must also be without external damage and bumps.
Stiffeners on the front are not allowed.
Preparation for installation
Before buying panels, you should decide on the option of their installation: horizontal or vertical. There are subtleties that must be considered in advance. If the bathroom has a solid size, then you are absolutely free in their actions. But many cannot brag of such parameters. In this case, plastic panels for the bathroom must be installed vertically, while the color should be light colors. Such actions, of course, are not able to physically increase the volume of the room, but visually the dimensions will become larger, and the bathroom itself will look brighter.
Materials delivered to housing should be left alone for at least a couple of hours for acclimatization. Finishing the bathroom with plastic panels is allowed only after this time has elapsed, otherwise, due to temperature changes and expansion, the structure may be deformed. In some cases, even high-quality materials due to non-compliance with this rule may become unusable. Under no circumstances should you start work in a cold room. If the temperature inside the house is less than 10 degrees Celsius, the plastic panels for the bathroom will probably become worthless due to the subsequent expansion in the heat.
Calculation of the amount of material required
To purchase in a hardware store or on the product market, you should know its quantity. Sometimes a very unpleasant situation happens when there is a shortage of some little things, on the other hand, and hunting is not to overpay anyone. Therefore, before purchasing plastic panels for the bathroom, you should make simple calculations.
First, determine the total surface area of the walls in the bathroom. The next step is to calculate the area where the panels will not be installed exactly. Such places include doors, bathtub installation sites, other areas at the discretion of the owner of the premises. Then a simple subtraction from the first of the second is carried out. In further calculations, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the surface area of the standard panel is 0.75 m 2 . The difference obtained above should be divided by this area. As a result, you will get the required amount of material. Keep in mind that nobody in the store or on the market will cut plastic panels for the bathroom for you because the result of the calculation will almost certainly be fractional. Therefore, the result of the division should be increased to the next integer.
Little tricks to get you started
So, your goal is to design a room in which there is a brand new modern bathtub. Do-it-yourself plastic panels can be used to decorate a room in the highest class. Before starting work, some subtleties should be taken into account, and in the end everything will pay off handsomely:
- You should not remove the mounting film immediately, it is better to do it after all work is completed, so you keep the panels clean.
- If plastic panels are mounted near hot batteries, a heat reflector should be installed. This will protect the plastic from subsequent deformations.
- Close to the ceiling, the panels cannot be installed. The minimum distance must be at least 5 millimeters. This is due to possible thermal expansion.
- Installation should begin from the most noticeable place in the bathroom. This way you can avoid docking panels in prominent places.
- When cutting plastic, you must be guided by the rule "measure seven times - cut once." Measurements should be carried out very carefully, because there may not be a second attempt.
Installation of plastic panels
This work has two fundamentally different options: either direct gluing, or installation using a crate. The first option is much simpler, the second is considered somewhat more reliable, as it helps to deal with wall irregularities. You can see the bathtub with plastic panels in the photo below.
Glue mounting
If the option associated with glue was chosen, then first you need to make sure that the walls are perfectly flat. Panels are not wallpapers, so you won’t be able to peel them back. The surface of the wall is cleaned of dirt and degreased by special means. A reliable composition is needed as glue, so it is recommended to use the so-called "liquid nails". After cleaning and degreasing the walls, apply a primer to them.
We smear the first strip with glue, glue it to the wall, after which it must be immediately peeled off. This is done so that the "liquid nails" could soak into the wall and into the panel itself. After 5 minutes of exposure, the product is glued to the prepared place. With the rest of the panels we do exactly the same. Corners in the bathroom are finished with ordinary plastic corners, which easily fit onto silicone.
Crate mounting
Installation on the crate slightly reduces the size of the bathroom, but avoids the problems associated with roughness and unevenness. The crate can be metal or wooden, the choice of material depends on the owner, but in the bathroom the first option is still preferable.
First of all, we clean the surface. Wet walls should be dried using a heater. Having finished drying, we treat the walls with an antiseptic to prevent the appearance of fungus. We install the crate horizontally if the panels are mounted vertically, and vertically for horizontal installation of panels. The elements of the crate themselves should be located at the edges of the surface of the walls.
The plastic panels are fastened using self-tapping screws: screws are screwed into the wide mounting shelf, the narrow side is inserted into the mounting groove. Installation of each subsequent part is carried out similarly. Pay attention to the finish of the bathroom with plastic panels in the photo below.
Ceiling mounting
After the work with the walls is completed, you can take on the ceiling in the bathroom from plastic panels. First, you need to determine how high the ceiling surface falls, while it should be noted that at least 7 centimeters will be required to insert a lamp. Places for fixtures are designated in advance.
The next step will be cleaning and treating the ceiling with an antiseptic, similar to doing similar work for walls. In this case, it is necessary to remove all finishing materials that were installed earlier, regardless of their composition. Then, using a tape measure, markup is made, according to which the crate is installed. The wooden crate should be attached to the walls and ceiling with the help of self-tapping screws, the metal crate is reinforced with dowels. The fasteners should start from the walls, and only then the transition to the ceiling is made.
First, the PVC start profile is installed, then the remaining panels are sequentially attached to it. Installation on the crate is made with self-tapping screws. After installing all the necessary panels, the finish profile is attached.
Decorating a bathroom with plastic panels is a matter that does not require special investments and efforts. Such repairs can be done even by beginner builders who sincerely want to bring beauty to the house. Strive, try and you will succeed!