Finishing a bathroom with plastic panels: how to do it yourself

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

PVC panels in the bathroom - it's beautiful and stylish

Everyone knows that an important role is played by a quality bathroom repair. However, it is not simple, which can be characterized by a small area of ​​the bathroom, where decoration is difficult due to the large volume of communications.
You need to think about humidity, which in such a room will be very high. Finishing with plastic panels in the bathroom is one of the suitable options.
Remember that fungal mold may develop due to the wrong choice of building materials.

Advantages of plastic panels and their quality

In fact, all these aspects must be taken into account when selecting building materials for repairing a bathroom. This is very important for people planning independent repairs.
One of the main indicators that a material should have is its moisture resistance. The optimal solution for price and quality is the finish with plastic panels of the bathroom.
The material for the production of panels is PVC with the necessary coefficient of rigidity, which increases the strength of the panels.
Plastic is the best material for wall cladding in places of high humidity. Therefore, finishing the bathroom with plastic panels will not be particularly difficult and will last a long time.
The advantages of plastic panels are as follows:

• a huge assortment of shades and colors;
• quick installation and availability. All stages of facing can be done with one’s hands without a certain experience and skills in a given situation;
• moisture resistance. Humidity does not adversely affect plastic panels, which is why mold does not appear on the material;
• under plastic panels, various communications can be masked;
• if necessary, the bath can be insulated or soundproofed;
• ease of use and affordable installation instructions;
• relatively low price;
• in a few minutes you can replace a damaged panel.

Wide color gamut gives ample opportunities

In the market of building materials, plastic panels are presented in a large assortment. But on the basis of what indicators is it recommended to select PVC panels?
In the process of choosing panels, you need to pay attention to the following aspects:

• The number of stiffeners at the panel (the more stiffeners there are, the higher the strength of the material).
• Stiffeners must be free from deformation and damage (if any of this is present, this indicates improper storage of the material).
• Panel parameters should be the same in width and length.
• The front side of the panel should have a uniform color, with a clear pattern without blurry edges.

Tip. When purchasing plastic panels, it is recommended to take the material that belongs to one batch.

Beginning of installation work: materials and tools

If the building material has already been purchased, then we must move on to another stage. Now you need to select the necessary tool used when installing the panels.
For such purposes, the following tools will be required:

• hammer drill or drill;
• screwdriver;
• jigsaw or hacksaw for cutting metal;
• level and tape measure;
• construction stapler.

In fact, the decoration of the bathroom walls with plastic panels is carried out using one of two methods: the panels are glued onto the wall or crate with liquid nails. Therefore, if liquid nails were chosen, then you need to purchase them in advance and see the section "how to decorate the bathroom video with plastic panels."
In the future, the necessary volume of building materials is calculated. Calculating them is not difficult.
You only need to know the area of ​​the bathroom room, the panel parameters (width and length) and calculate the number of panels needed to finish the walls with plastic panels of the bathroom.
That is, with a panel width of 0.25 m, a length of 0.27 m, its area will be 0.75 m². To calculate the number of panels, you need to divide the area of ​​the room by the area of ​​the panels.
To calculate the area of ​​the floor, walls, ceiling and room, you need to read the relevant articles.

Set of materials required for installation

Preparatory work

Covering the bathroom with plastic panels begins with preparatory activities. At the initial stage of the performance of these works, the room is freed from unnecessary things and furniture.
After that, the tiles are completely removed and thrown into the trash.
So:

• If the decoration of the walls in the bathroom with plastic panels will be done with liquid nails, the walls should be as even as possible, for which cement mortar and putty are used. True, the optimal solution is wall cladding with moisture-resistant drywall.
• At a low level of wall irregularities it is better not to align them, because thanks to the flexibility of plastic panels, it will be possible to smooth out all errors. Before installing the finishing material, the walls are preferably treated with an antifungal solution.

Tip. If the finish of the bath with plastic panels will include the use of crates, then it is installed on the walls in advance. If the crate is already available, then the walls do not need to be aligned, since in this version the panels will be adjacent to the crate, and not to the wall.

The sequence of installation of plastic panels

After completion of the preparatory activity, if the wall decoration with plastic panels in the bathroom will be performed on the crate, the next step will be the selection and installation of the crate itself.

Tip. Due to the high humidity in the bathroom, it is better to use not a wooden crate, but plastic or made of a specialized metal profile. True, as an exception, you can take a wooden crate, but previously painted.

When installing the crate, certain rules must be observed:

• The distance between adjacent rails should be about 50 cm;
• The battens of the battens should be perpendicular to the placement of the plastic panels;
• In case of wall irregularities, the crate must be mounted with constant level control. When irregularities appear, they can be compensated using plastic or wooden linings;
• All constituent parts of the lathing should be located in the initial and final part of the surface, which is being finished.

Installation procedure

As soon as the installation of the lathing is completed, the finish of the bathtub with plastic panels can begin.
It should be noted that the installation of PVC panels in this room is carried out taking into account the following features:

• from the angle from where the panels will be installed, you need to fasten the start profile using a stapler or screws;
• in the lower corner of the profile you need to get the mounting shelf of the plastic panel. It must be remembered that the wide shelf should be directed towards movement during the work.
  After fastening the panel, it is mounted to the crate with a stapler or screws;
• all other panels are installed in the same way;
• when connecting panels, you should monitor the density of the connection, without the formation of cracks.In this case, the surface joints should only be slightly visible;
• in areas of doorways, windows, etc., the installation of panels must be performed using specialized starting corners. The image of the corners can be viewed above;
• the final stage involves the installation of skirting boards, which are required to mask the compensation gaps between the panels;
• if some panels form joints (the coating is not seamless), then such joints are smeared with sealant, for example, silicone can be used. But with high quality panels and even installation of the crate, this should not be.

From all of the above, it can be established that the independent installation of plastic panels is not so complicated. With their application, the decoration of the bathroom can be completed quickly, while not requiring large expenditures of money and effort for all stages of work.