Wooden wall cladding (bathroom)

[mac10]

Hi,

Im currently looking to clad the walls in my bathroom which is currently tiled. Can I just remove the tiles and attach the cladding? Do you usually use batons in between the wall and the cladding?

I am only looking to clad about waist high around the bathroom as this is the height the tile comes to.

Im quite new to DIY but have to start somewhere after buying my house 6 months ago, any help appreciated.

 

[Tozzy]

Can I just remove the tiles and attach the cladding?

Hi,

I'm new to DIY too, but have have completed quite a few successful projects. Infact, I'm even going to be starting the same job as you; fitting cladding to the walls .

If I were you, I would remove the set of tiles and go back to the bare brick to get a nice easy surface to work with or you could replaster with just a rendered coat (just a 1st coat). Also, this will enable you to save space in terms of wall depth when the cladding is fitted.

Do you usually use batons in between the wall and the cladding?

I think it resides in personal preference. Please note, that from my experiece of boxing in our bath using cladding, it can tend to buckle under certain room temperatures and humidity, so make sure you store the packs of cladding flat until you plan on using them and perhaps even stain them prior to fitting them.

Good luck !

 

[big-all]

ok the way i do it for simplicity

get your wood yard to run up enough 2"sawn batton by what ever you skirting is thick so if your skirting is 16mm
run up 16mm times twice the run plus 20%
so if your cladding has to cover 5m you need 12m this allows you to use the skirting as the bottom batton
take what ever hight you want 1m is good get them to cut 63 lengths at 980 mm [as this example needs 57 lengths as standard ex 12 by 100mm 4byhalf inch comes out at 9mm and covers 88mm with 5 spares]

treat the back off the cladding to seal it avoiding clogging up the grooves

top batton no nails protruding by 3mm abouve the tiles middle batton half way from skirting
line the top off the panels up with the top batton dead level
blind nail in the tounge avoiding the 40mm at the end
affix 9mm quad with flat upwards on the top batton this will give you a platform of about 40 ish so top with a bit of 4x1"planed [finnishes as 21by 96mm] routerd edge and screwed and glued[no nails ] will finnish it off nicley and allow a usefull shelf for your cosmetics

 

[Tozzy]

You certainly lost me Big-all . Well, what I normally do is model the base of the room in 3d using my favourite modelling program, then I know exactly if the wood will stick out, how the final result will appear when the job is complete etc. I can also get figures of how many pieces of wood I'll need too . This is extremely useful for planning out large scale projects like building a log cabin for example.

 

[big-all]

You certainly lost me Big-all . .

you and several dozen others

 

[Tozzy]

you and several dozen others

It's a shame because your advice does sound quite interesting and offers a different approach to the job. Pity you can't make a little video or something . I'll read it again later and see if anything penetrates .

Cheers.

 

[big-all]

you and several dozen others

It's a shame because your advice does sound quite interesting and offers a different approach to the job. Pity you can't make a little video or something . I'll read it again later and see if anything penetrates .

Cheers.

i will quite happily try and explain a bit later if you like

 

[mac10]

Thanks for the advice. Yep you lost me aswell. I think a reread will definately help .

 

[big-all]

ok youll need 3 battons top middle and bottom[game show there i think ]
if you get the battons cut to the same thickness as the skirting you use the old skirting as the bottom batton

you level the top batton at the position you want your finnished top to sit on [in my suggestion a shelve]
assuming your skirting has a minimum of 50mm flat level face at floor level you can get the wood cut 20mm short and just level the top with the top batton
this allows for unevenness in the floor and slight dicrepencys in the lengths cut

avoid the last 40mm if blind nailing in the tounge to stop it breaking off[hence the 50mm battons]

when fully dry position the shelf on the top with glue no nails [if you use screws use no6 by 1.5" so you dont breakout about every meter to hold untill dry
then affix the quad underneath with no nails or wood glue to finnish and give extra support

affix new skirting to finnish the the bottom edge

affix quad to the ends or corners to finnish

you may have to remove the tounge to finnish the edge neatly dependant on how it finnishes and what is next to it



clear as mud eeehhh

 

[Tozzy]

clear as mud eeehhh

I think that is as clear as PVA adhesive !!! I'll let you work out if I mean when the PVA is first applied or after it's dried.... hehe .

 

[mac10]

One minor question as I now get how to affix the cladding. Many thanks again.

The missus wants it painted (white). What would you suggest? Is it best to treat it first or would the whole, primer, undercoat and top coat be enough so it weathers well in the bathroom?

If that is enough doing a normal paint job would it be good to treat the wall (backside) of the cladding thats attached to the wall? Or best to also paint this properly?

I have so many quesitons and so little time!

 

[big-all]

ok no expert with paint
but here goes treat the back [avoiding blocking the grooves ]with primer undercoat and top coat before fixing

then when fitted before you use the bath or shower try and fully paint including an extra top coat

otherwise the wood expand with the steam and may shrink slightly and leave unpainted lines where the t&g joints

as i say no expert at painting so if anyone else would like to chip in please do so

 

[Nige F]

Sounds good 2 me Big-all I might use a sadolin type white paint rather than the old 3 coat job.....ask @ a decorators merchant

 

[Tozzy]

Sounds good to me too Big-all .

so if anyone else would like to chip in please do so

Hey I don't mind if I do . Well I'm no expert when it comes to paint either, but I do have a little experience in painting cladding. All I know is that you have to lay it flat after you have opened and fix it up real quick because it'll buckle if you leave it too late.

Well, with my cladding, I painted before fixing it to make the job easier. And yep, Big-all is right about the groove being blocked if you don't paint otherside. Mine got jammed no end of times because I painted the front . But, then again Big-all, do you mean just prime the back and paint the front? Oh you mean paint the front after it's fixed ? I getcha . Yea, cause I painted before I fitted, not after.

Nice paint to use is Dulux 1 Coat Satin Jasmin white. Stark white can be a bit too 'in your face'.

Good luck Mac10.

P.S. A builder I know advised me to brush on PVA adhesive to seal the cladding . No need to prime if it's going to be painted white . Just use PVA.

 

[big-all]

the good thing about only painting the back first is
you dont need to keep turning the wood onto battons that stick when dry and leave lines on the surface because youve been to impatiant to wait for one side to dry before doing the other