Veritek Shower Walls
|Veritek Shower Walls – Choosing the best shower or bathtub wall surround can often be difficult. Should you install acrylic, a good surface material like Swanstone, or use decorative tiles? Will the standard of these products stand quality of your time? Which one is the foremost match for the budget and tastes? Learn 7 practical steps to determine which wall product is most effective for you.
Step 1 – Determine if you want to look at your existing walls – To spend less it’s nice to place a bathtub or shower wall surround over a preexisting surface. It is possible to use specialized glue or butyl tape to adhere acrylic or Swanstone solid surface materials over existing tile providing the current walls aren’t spongy or bowed. If you have a plastic or fiberglass system it’s not at all possible to put new walls over your existing materials. In these cases the current system will have to removed, new backerboard installed after which new walls placed.
Step 2 – Think through your budget- If you’re similar to most you need to obtain the most value for the money – a top quality material which doesn’t break the bank. If you are looking for a fairly easy to clean cost-effective material acrylic is a great choice. It is warm to the touch, installs quickly and comes with a lifetime warranty.
For an even more elegant appearance (which is accessible in more decorative patterns and styles) think about a Swanstone solid surface wall. Swanstone is straightforward to keep up, doesn’t have any joints to grout or seal and is available in lots of choices. Usually the costliest product is tile (if you do not manage to set it up yourself and save the labor hours- tile is easily the most time intensive to set up vs. sheet products like acrylic & Swanstone). There are limitless choices and price ranges of tile and yes it creates a sophisticated look also.
Step 3 – Select your material, designs, colors and accents you would like – After you’ve selected between acrylic, Swanstone and tile you’re ready to choose your design and color(s). Acrylic wall surrounds can be found in a variety of colors, patterns and finishes. There are solid, granite, metallic and also marble finishes. In addition the walls you end up picking could be smooth, 4″ x 4″ simulated tiles, 8″ x 10″ simulated tiles or maybe a stone look. Acrylic is not really simply a white smooth faced wall.
Swanstone, while it has become famous for it’s strength, color and texture consistent, grout-free quality, and also the fact it will not crack or craze – includes a very broad range of decorative options also. There are over 45 standard, glossy, and granite colors. In addition there are decorative panels to make unique architectural designs named Pebble, Geometric, Beadboard, Tangier and Barcelona. There are also designer trim pieces and rosettes to create a finished look. Tile provides widest product options in terms of color, accents, borders, sizes and thicknesses. Make sure to look for a high density waterproof tile for the bath or shower.
Step 4 -Choose your backerboard. Select material to adhere the wall material along with the truth of tile finish the face from the wall- What you do not see in a very bathtub or shower wall panel project is really as important as that which you do see. Use the right material(s) behind the wall. Here are some recommendations: Acrylic – If the tile walls will be in sound condition install over them by adhering the acrylic with butyl tape and color match sealant. This will save the landfill costs, decrease the project installation some time to spend less. If the existing wall can’t be installed over placed moisture resistant green board or even a cement backer board. Swanstone – Like acrylic if your tile is within good structural shape install on the existing. If not, Swanstone could be installed over greenboard or even a cement board using special glue.
Tile – Poorly done tile installations have caused a lot of wasted money historically (cheap backer board might have been used, poor grouting jobs, poor work in the corners are simply a few from the problems). For tile installations never use green board – use whether waterproof cement board or even a waterproof extruded polystyrene board that way produced from Wedi Corporation. These boards should be glued and screwed for a framing. In addition to using the right backer board consider investing in a very urethane grout. This type of grout doesn’t have to be resealed which is waterproof. Although it will set you back more in advance it’s going to spend less down the road inside the have to regrout, or worse yet the have to redo the shower if you have any water damage.
Step 5 – Fix what’s behind the wall – The best time to fix an inadequate performing shower valve, a shower head which is too low, in order to add backer material to bolster installing your accessories happens when you have the wall opened up.
Step 6 – Identify the bath tub and shower accessories you need to add function and magnificence for a project – Have you always wanted a leg ledge for shaving, most seat, a curved shower rod to hold the water in, a hand held shower, most caddy, a frameless shower door, shampoo or soap niche or even a grab bar? When you’re installing new wall surrounds is the best time and energy to accessorize your bath or shower to make it do the job you.
Step 7 – If the process sounds too difficult call a good contractor which is not a “one size fits all” – Let’s face it, there are a lot of choices and installation details that have to be done right to ensure an effective project. Calling a specialist may be higher priced inside the short run but save you long-term costs. Make sure to select a contractor that doesn’t attempt to push you in the one kind of shower or bath wall surround system you can purchase (for instance a company selling acrylic systems pushes this place solution giving you). Look for a company skilled and competent in multiple systems which will look to understand your preferences, budgets and tastes and provide different alternatives.
Know you’re equipped with 7 steps that may function as good outline to plan your acrylic, Swanstone or tile bathtub or shower wall surround installation.