Finishing the bathroom with plastic panels: installation features (28 photos)

The choice of materials for the design of the bathroom requires a balanced approach. This is caused by the specifics of the operation of the room: its small size, high humidity and the presence of a large number of communications. The traditional material for the walls of the bathroom is ceramic tile. Its high cost and impressive installation costs make property owners look for other finishes.

In recent years, plastic wall panels for the bathroom have been increasingly used. This modern material is used for decorating walls, ceilings, niches, it has an affordable price and easy installation.

What are plastic panels?

Plastic panels are made of PVC, they have a length of up to 3 meters and a width of 10-20 cm. In the context of the panel has a structure similar to bee honeycombs. This makes the material more rigid, resistant to dynamic effects. The panels are made of PVC granules, painted in bulk, so that the material does not fade even when exposed to sunlight. A wide range of colors allows you to create any bathroom design. In addition to monochrome panels, manufacturers offer collections with a pattern. Basically this is an imitation of stone, wood, fabric with an abstract or classic pattern.

The main advantages of plastic panels

Why are plastic panels for the bathroom widely used for repairing urban apartments and respectable cottages? This material has several advantages:

• affordable price;
• simple installation;
• long term of operation;
• high moisture resistance;
• easy care;
• the ability to replace a damaged panel.

Inexpensive bathroom trim with plastic panels is available to all property owners. The price of a square meter of decorative material is noticeably lower than the cost of ceramic tiles and several times more affordable than clinker tiles or mosaics. In terms of installation costs, plastic paneling of the bathroom is also significantly more economical than tiling.

The life of plastic panels exceeds 10 years, the only threat to this material is the impact of sharp objects. Since bathrooms are far from a kitchen, the risk of defects is minimal. If the panel is accidentally damaged, it can be easily replaced.

PVC is resistant to moisture, so the panels are easy to care for. The main thing is not to use abrasive materials that can damage the pattern or smooth surface. All types of plastic panels can be washed with a soap solution.

Where are plastic panels used in the bathroom?

If necessary, or at the request of the owner of the house, the bathroom can be finished with plastic panels in full. This material can be used to clad walls, bathroom screen and sheathe the ceiling. Only plastic panels are not used on the floor due to insufficient rigidity and resistance to shock loads.

For many homes, the ceiling in the bathroom made of plastic panels is uncontested. This material can be used both in large areas and for decorating a small room with a complex configuration.The ceiling in the bathroom is most often created from white panels, but other pastel colors can also be used. This will allow you to design a bathroom in accordance with the author's design project.

Builders and designers are happy to use plastic ceiling panels for the bathroom because of their light weight, excellent geometry and ease of processing. It is easy to embed and install spotlights into such a ceiling, the low working temperature of which does not harm the plastic.

PVC paneling in the bathroom is a great alternative to ceramic tiles. Work with tiles requires highly skilled craftsmen, which makes possible high-quality repairs only on the terms of attracting professionals. This increases the cost of finishing work in 2-2.5 times. Finishing the walls of the bathroom with plastic panels requires only the ability to handle the building level and a simple tool, and this is available to any home master.

It is convenient to use sheet plastic panels for a bathroom when facing walls because of their small width. Thanks to this, you can easily bypass ledges and corners, hide pipes or nicely arrange a niche in the wall. In addition to the panels, manufacturers produce a wide range of plastic profiles, which helps to join the panels, including in the corners of the room.

Often ceramic tiles are cladded with bathroom screens, and you have to make small hatches and doors in them to access communications. If a PVC panel is installed as a screen, then it is quite possible to make convenient sliding hatches with a wide opening. The material is easy to use and allows you to implement the most complex options for finishing the bathroom.

Features of the installation of plastic panels

Self-installation of plastic panels in the bathroom can be done in two ways: on glue and on the guides. In the first case, even walls are a prerequisite. It is impractical and costly to specially dry the surface to the ideal geometry or to mount drywall.

If there are even surfaces, the panels are glued with liquid nails, while the adhesive is applied in horizontal lines. It is imperative to leave a small gap at the top and bottom, it will compensate for the thermal expansion of the material. The gaps formed in this case are closed by a plinth or fillets.

The advantage of mounting plastic panels on glue is the high pace of work.

Among the disadvantages is low maintainability: it is almost impossible and time-consuming to remove a damaged but securely glued panel. It is not surprising that in 95% of cases, home craftsmen and professionals choose to install panels on rails.

The frame of the guides allows not only to make quick installation of panels, but also to align the walls, hide communications. Today in the assortment of some manufacturers there is a plastic profile specially created to create a frame for PVC panels. Their feature is a system of movable clips that easily fix the panel anywhere.

The most common material for the frame is a galvanized steel profile used for work with drywall. Among the advantages of this material are the following:

• widespread;
• high corrosion resistance;
• light weight;
• affordable price;
• tried and tested installation technology.

To work with a galvanized profile, you need a simple hand tool, an electric drill. All this is in every home workshop.

Reflecting on how to sheathe a bathroom with plastic panels, many people consider a wooden beam as the frame material. It is affordable, has a low cost, but has a number of disadvantages. The main one is low water resistance.Even in the event that each beam is treated with antiseptic and water-repellent compounds in a quality manner, in conditions of high humidity, the frame will not stand for more than 3-5 years.

Installation work, regardless of the material of the guides, begins with a study of the geometry of the room. The vertical of the walls is checked with a plumb line, the presence of angles of 90 degrees between the walls is checked using a construction cord, placing it diagonally. If the diagonals are equal, then the geometry of the room is ideal. In the case when they differ in size, you have to achieve the ideal with the help of a competent installation of guides.

The profile is set horizontally, as the panels will be mounted vertically. For a room with a height of 245-265 cm, three rows of guides are enough: 50 cm from the floor, 110 cm from the floor and 170 cm from the floor. With a ceiling height of 3-3.2 meters, it is better to add another row of profile. The panels are attached to the rails or using the clips that come with the kit, or with screws. The presence of a lock in the panels greatly simplifies installation and makes the surface continuous without very noticeable seams.

Wall plastic panels in the interior of the bathroom

An exclusive bathroom interior is also possible when using such affordable material as plastic panels. To do this, it is worthwhile to show imagination and use two or three types of panels. They can be from different collections with excellent patterns or vary in width. In the latter case, it is worth using panels of the same thickness and one manufacturer.

Options for how to decorate the bathroom with plastic panels may include the formation of a complex geometric pattern due to the installation of slats at a certain angle to the floor.

All panels can be tilted or converge at an angle to the center of the wall. Insert with a pattern on a solid monochrome surface and the installation of panels in a horizontal position are possible. In the latter case, it should be borne in mind that immediately above the bathroom panel it is still better to place it vertically so that water and dirt do not accumulate in the seams.

The ceiling of the panels can be either solid or multi-level. The complexity of the design depends only on the desires and fantasies of the property owner. Plastic panels today are deservedly popular not only because of the affordable price, but also due to the unlimited design possibilities.