bathroom tiles

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fitting panels over existing tiles

If your bathroom decor is looking a little out of date then it might be time for a makeover. Tiles are one the most common forms of wall covering but can look dated after a while and grout has a nasty habit of turning grubby with time and can even start to harbour mould.

In this situation the options are:

• remove the existing tiles and re-tile
• tile over the existing tiles
• paint the existing tiles
• remove the tiles and panel the walls
• panel over the existing tiles

Removing the existing tiles can be quite a task - especially if there are plasterboard walls as the tile removal tends to pull large chunks of plasterboard away. It is possible to tile over existing tiles but then you are relying on the initial layer of tiles being very sturdy (the adhesive on this layer of tiles will have to support the weight of two layers of tiles). It is essential that the right adhesive is used for this type of operation and it might require that the initial tiles are primed prior to the new tiles being fitted.

There are a number of tile paints on the market that can be used to over-coat the tiles but the finish achieved using these products will usually fall short of the smooth, high gloss, glazed finish of the tiles it is overcoating. Any moisture in the grout behind the paint can also adversely affect the finish and lead to blistering.

More and more people are coming around to the idea of panelling the walls as an alternative to tiling. Tiles will be need to be cleaned before the panels are fitted to ensure they are free of any soap residue but the panels are very forgiving when it comes to installation. The panels are basically resting on the floor or bath/shower tray edge and leaning against the wall so the amount of adhesion required to keep them in place is less of an issue than with tiles and each panel helps to hold the next one in place due to the tongue and groove jointing system.