I have a shower cubicle to re-tile and wondered if anyone here has real experience of the tile effect wall panels, ie plastic sheets you bond to the wall that look like tiles?
Shower cubicle I have to re-tile is 3 walls as its set in, approx 760mm x 760mm and instead of tiling I am considering these panels but before I spend any money, are they worth it?
Are they easy to fit?
Do they look OK?
Do they last OK?

I have never tiled before, but thats not the main reason for asking, I just thought if I can get these panels and install in a couple of hours it may be worth it over the hassle of learning to tile.

So, any comments?

The only advice I can give is; make sure that everthing behind or below the PVC sheeting is sealed and/waterproof, because if water gets behind the sheets you will not know where it is coming from. Do not use silicon, use waterproof cement to seal everything before you affix sheets, THEN make sure sheets are sealed.
It is easy to make this stuff look good, but terrible to make sure it is all sealed properly! God luk with this.

Regards
Jon

Tip: we have just put WET WALL up round the bath, The sheets are 9mm thick MDF with a formica covering. They are dam heavy to try and hang on the wall and stick up with "Gripfix". Not a 1 man job took two of us, one to move / hold etc the other to put in the screws/ line it up. ( I was lucky were putting in a false ceiling so I drilled holes at the top and put in some screws to hold it to the wall ,same under the bath line)... Don't know how you would hold them up in a shower cubical with just "gripfix"

Also you only get one shot drilling the holes for things like Shower pipe and shower cable....


But we got it up eventually



[Edited on 10/1010/11 by mad4x4]

Avoid the B&Q ones like the plague!
I was persuaded to use these in a friends shower, as they'd be 'easier'.
My arse! You only have to look at it wrong and it splits along the lines and falls to bits.

Thanks for the input so far.
I first heard about the B&Q ones, quick search revealed poor reviews.
Wickes also supply similar, but their reviews looked OK.
Plenty on ebay, but not sure if they are all the same.
These things are usually all made in one factory and just resold, so not sure if I can trust one over the other.

used this three years ago on ours. used gripfix to attach to walls, and sillicone to seal.

fitted in a large quadrant shower cubicle and didnt have any real trouble putting up, but as others have said a two man job. cut easily with a circular saw with taped edges to avoid any cut marks.

finished off with metal edge trim, for a neat job. Not problems with sealing and no issues with stained grout to deal with.

just takes a quick wipe over every week.

good stuff for me

paul

i have a shower enclosure and when i first fitted it i used tiles and grout, which was easy to do and look ok at the start. after a few months the grout started to change colour which is not a problem just scrap it out and do it again. then the encloure broken so i fitted a new 1 but using mermaid board (plastic covered ply) and this is much better. but is expensive but i would not buy the cheaper version. fit the shower tray and then stick the boards onto the wall using adhesive (comes with the kit) and it comes with a joint for the corners.

steve