Wood panelling to bathroom

[a4mative]

Morning all,
I have just purchased a new house and would like some advice. The first room we are tackling is the bathroom and my significant other has decided that she would like it wood panelled to around 1000mm to fit in with the period of the building. She has not specified a design yet. Would mdfmr be suitable? I intend to paint it afterwards.

 

[andersonec]

I would make sure all cut edges are sealed (waterproof pva) and then give it a brush with some Thompsons Waterseal before finishing.

Andy

 

[AndyT]

Whether sheets of MDF would be suitable depends on the period and style of your house, which you have not told us. Panelling in ordinary terrace houses is quite rare - it was too expensive and not suitable for small rooms. You do find matchboarding used in cottages, especially if there was a damp problem. There was a bit of a revival in the 1930s but this sometimes used manufactured panels imitating panelling.

In the Victorian period Lincrusta was developed as an affordable substitute for hallways etc and is still available made in the original way to the same patterns.

The sort of thing shown in your picture - a flat board with a rectangle of moulding planted on - is really more of a plasterer's technique, used to break up large areas of unbroken wall - not the sort of thing most bathrooms have.

If you are in a large, early property which would have had wall panelling, I suggest that you look closely at some period examples before you go ahead with a project that would not look right.

 

[a4mative]

Thank you for your responses. The property is a 6 bed Victorian style villa. I have just purchased it from Nottinghamshire county council who were using it as a daycare centre. As a result, it has been setup for commercial use and alot of original features have been lost. My first job is to reinstate the bathroom on the first floor.

I would sooner half tile the bathroom however my other half wants some form of panelling, hence the question. Something in this sort of style(below) is what I'm looking to achieve. Would I be better off using a veneered ply for the panels rather than mdf mr for grain pattern once it it is painted?

 

[Stormer1940]

Have you looked at a company called panel masters ----> http://www.panelmaster.co.uk . Could be easier that doing it yourself.

Veneers in bathroom - Not sure how long they'd hold up..

I asked this same question about mr mdf because I am skeptical about using any type of mdf in a wet area but that's just me. You will see panel masters use it. They will most 99% have a cnc router which they use to cut the panels.

 

[AndyT]

A few more random thoughts - the panelling in your second picture looks much better - the panels are not at the same level as the rails and stiles - so it could even be genuine mortice and tenon construction.

All bathrooms need extractor fans and a good one will help keep the humidity and condensation down. Let's assume the bathroom users won't be squirting water around, just taking the occasional long hot shower or soak.

An awful lot of commercial bathroom furniture is foil-wrapped mdf, and it doesn't all fall apart, so I think you should be ok with mr mdf and thorough painting.

Assuming you don't want to make proper framed construction, you will probably be thinking of putting up flat panels with thin stiles and rails glued onto the face. Under paint I think that could look convincing enough.

How flat and square are the walls? You don't want thin panels to flex along wonky lines, so you may want to use thicker material (heavier, harder, dearer) or else you will need preliminary battening to give you fixing points all in the same plane.

Plan the internal and external corners carefully - that's where you will have the advantage over pre-made panelling.

And show us what you do!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you are pannelling exterior walls, you could leave a gap for insulation behind the pannels and kill two birds with one stone - better insulation for the room and less condensation around the pannelling.

 

[toysandboats]

Not a problem as long as you don't try and soak the MRMDF. I've had it on my bathroom walls for years and it is well covered with paint which sheds the inevitable splashes of water that happen.
In a previous bathroom (same house!) I used it to make the worktop with two inset sinks. Good paint and a thick bead of silicone to seal the sink to the worktop and it was fine for several years.
Only changed it when senior management got bored with the earlier design.

David

 

[a4mative]

Thankyou for all your replies.

I have looked at the panelmaster website and it would certainly be easier than making them myself. However as the new house now comes with an ample workshop (30m2+) I am aiming to build up my skills and do as much woodworking as I can, hopefully culminating in a handmade kitchen!

I too like the look of the second style and that is what I will be hoping to emulate.

I have been enquiring and Jet Joinery, in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, do 18mm MDF MR for £23 which I didn't think was too bad.

I will probably opt for the fixing the styles and rails to the face. I will batten the walls out could fit some insulation behind them, It will probably help with the acoustics as well as the thermal insulation.

My significant other has chosen a free standing slipper bath so I am not anticipating any problems with water on the paneling.

 

[MG1977]

Did you do this in the end? Would be great to see a pic of the finished room

Cheers

 

[a4mative]

Hi,
As with many things there is no simple answer. I decided to make my own in the end and took some pics.
I have completed 80% however it wasn't long before a few other problems/ Priorities came to light. We had been in the house 4 Months and it became clear that running the central heating/ Hot water was more than my tight natured wallet allowed. I spent most of last year installing a multi fuel boiler to run in conjunction with the Combination boiler, my running costs are now a third of what they were!
Due to the new Hot water configuration there was not a great deal of point in finishing that bathroom as I knew that the feed would have to be changed at some point. So that is how it has been left. Purely functional but a aesthetically not the Best.
In addition to this the Mrs has not made up her mind where she wants the ensuite in the master bedroom if we put it where I want it then all the pipework will pass from the bathroom adjacent to it.

 

[jasonB]

It can be done with MR MDF, there are two options with teh type of pannels you show

One is to use the actual wall as the main "panel" surface and then plant on the skirting, dado and frames, this is OK if you have a good plastered surface to start with.

The other is to batten out the wall and then apply say a 9mm MDF panel onto which the frame can be glued and pinned then skirting and dado added.