Aquapanel or moisture resistant board behind shower?

[EddyP]

I'm not at the stage where I want my ensuite plastering, had a couple of quotes so far, one is using moisture resistant board on all the room, taping the joints, no skim and aqua panel behind the shower, that comes in at £420, the other is using mositure resistant board behind the shower and normal board for the rest of the room and skimming the lot, that one is £430.
The room will be tiled up to the ceiling.

Does it make much difference using aquapanel instead?
The advantage of the 430 quote is he lives a few doors away and can squeeze it in.

 

[Richard C]

I think it makes all the difference; IMO wet areas should always be either Aqaupanel or tanked (personally I use Aqapanel) & I’d use moisture resistant board for the rest; the difference in cost for the materials is negligible. You don’t want to be in the position where you may end up doing it all over again prematurely because you didn’t use the right materials. I’m surprised that the 2 prices are that close though, especially as the cheaper one doesn’t involve any plastering at all; you might like to consider getting a 3rd quote but specify what you want!

 

[EddyP]

After reading some comments from yourself in another thread i'm now considering doing it myself.
I didnt realise it was ok to tile straight onto plasterboard without skimming first.
In which case I could dry line it myself, just get the ceiling skimmed.

My only concern is how easy it is to dot and dab, I can imagine it might be tricky getting everything square and straight.

 

[Richard C]

Dot & dab is fairly straight forward & I would say within most peoples capabilities; if the walls are fairly flat & straight already, it’s just a question of keeping the adhesive dots a consistent size. Access in a small room is likely to be your biggest problem so you may have to cut the boards to physically get them in but this doesn’t’ present any problems as long as you give the cut edges intermediate adhesive dots for additional support. Tape all the joins before tiling & use a quality trade adhesive & grout.

 

[EddyP]

Thanks for that Richard.
I'll give it a go, as the walls are all new, they're nice and straight and flat.
The only tricky bit might be around the ceiling/dormer window, just lots of cuts to do.

The room isn't too small to work in, so it shouldnt be too bad.

Are there any particular items that will make life easier? I assume a nice long level will help for one thing.

Thanks

 

[Richard C]

Thanks for that Richard.
I'll give it a go, as the walls are all new, they're nice and straight and flat.
The only tricky bit might be around the ceiling/dormer window, just lots of cuts to do.

The room isn't too small to work in, so it shouldnt be too bad.

Are there any particular items that will make life easier? I assume a nice long level will help for one thing.

Thanks

I use a 3ft lump of 4” x 2” to tamp the board’s level; a spirit level is useful to check but if the walls have been put up level & true then the boards won’t be far out.