Labo White bathroom wall and ceiling cladding

We have just added Labo White to our range of decorative wall and ceiling cladding.



This is a a flush fitting panel that is available online in 4.5 mt lengths making it ideal for use on ceilings as there tends to be lest waste with the longer length planks.

At present the product page for Labo White only has the 4.5mt length available but we hope to add to this in the near future by offering the cladding in 2.7mt and 6mt lengths.

Labo White is available in two different shades: Ultra White and Classic White. We have not offered large scans of these panels as they just show up as plain white screens. To help with the selection process we have described the two colours. Ultra White is a bright gleaming white - ideal for use on ceilings if you you have white ceramic tiles. If you have opted for a more organic look in your bathroom such as a limestone effect tile or cladding, Ultra white can be a little too glaring, in which case you should opt for the Classic White finish.

Both panels are available in a gloss finish.

Outasight shower screen reduced in price

We have just reduced the price of the Outasight shower screen by £10 making it even cheaper than before.



If you have not seen this incredible invention before click the Outasight link on the right to find out more.

At this price, the Outasight is considerably cheaper than many two part shower screens or folding "concertina" type screens. It has the added advantage over this type of screen of being extremely unobtrusive when folded away - something that can not be said of traditional forms of overbath shower barrier.

Mineral Turquoise Marble Panel Added

We have added a new panel to our Mineral Range - Turquoise Marble

This is a gloss finish panel available in a 375mm wide board with a flush fitting joint - see our technical section for details on joint styles.



Up until now blue was a very popular colour but the two current blues in the Grosfillex range were not to everyone's taste. This new addition looks like it will be a winner as it is not too dark and, as with most of the Grosfillex range, the marbling effect is very nicely done.

Finding a Tradesman

One of the many dilemas facing modern householders is that of trying to find a reliable tradesman when you need some work doing around the home.

Kevin McCloud, of Grand Designs fame, has a simple method of selecting a builder - look at his van! See his explaination on Chanel 4's site.

Luckily for us, many of our customers fit their wall panels themselves so they do not have the problem of trying to locate a local tradesman (or tradeswoman), although we are starting to compile a list of fitters around the country, who have registered with us.

Bathroom and Kitchen Expo

The next major trade show for 2005 is the Bathroom and Kitchen Expo at the Excell Centre in London's docklands.

Dates and times are published as:

Sunday 8 May 2005
10.30am - 6pm
Monday 9 May 2005
10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10 May 2005
10am - 5.30pm

As well as the usual raft of exhibitors there are a series of workshops and seminars on many aspects of the industry, including one seminar on the recent changes in electrical regulations (which should be interesting as it seems hardly anyone is currently able to comply with them - including many of the council departments who are supposed to administer them!)

ceiling panels

I was having a quick trawl around the internet to see if I could come across anything interesting ideas for ceiling when I came across this site in the USA selling "tin" ceiling panels.

I have never seen this type of product before but it looks ideal if you have an older peiod style property and want to install a ceiling with a bit of character.

It looks like the panels can be installed by nailing them directly to the ceiling or they can also be used as part of a suspended ceiling.

The ceiling panels sold by us are nowhere near as decorative as this, but I suppose they peform the same function (incidentaly our panels can be used on a suspended ceiling with special hangers - speak to our sales office for more details).

Outasight deliveries back to normal

Deliveries of the Outasight shower barrrier are now back to normal.

Outasight experienced some problems over the last few weeks as a component supplier let them down on a dlivery schedule. This would usually be no problem but their reserve stocks got depleted by the extra demand caused this time of year when the Outasight is on display at the Ideal Homes Show. Also demand from the general public is growing as more and more customers recommend this incredible British invention to their friends and family.

If you are unfamiliar with the Outasight it is a concealed shower curtain system designed for use with an over-bath shower. Click the Outasight link on the right to find out more.

Site Search

We have just added a site search to our wall panelling homepage.

We hope this will provide extra functionality to the site and help visitors find exactly what they are looking for.

Just type the subject you want into the box and the system will search tThe Bathroom Marquee site to see what it can find.

We have previously discounted using a site search as they are notoriously difficult to establish but we were pointed in the direction of Atomz Search by a recent newsletter we received and thought we'd give it a try.

Let us know if you have any problems with it as we have only just completed the site update and haven't had time to test it fully yet!

Natural Surfaces

I have just read an article on "natural surfaces" in kitchens and it got me thinking about the same problem in bathrooms.

When it comes to choosing a work surface for the kitchen traditionally man-made surfaces were seen as cheap alternatives to natural products such as granite or marble. Similarly, kitchen units with foil wrapped doors were regarded as inferior to solid wood doors. This situation is starting to change as customers start to look for products that suit their lyfestyle rather than just opting for what is seen to be "the best" . Also, consumers are actually be seeking out different products and want an alternative look to what can be seen as standard/boring materials. Most people would not have even thought of having a concrete kicthen worktop a few years ago, but the effects that can now be achieved using this material pushes them to the forefront of modern design.

Many of the man-made products now outperform the natural ones - foil wrapped doors are more easily cleaned, hard wearing compund worksurfaces can be made much more resistant to heat and staining than marble or wood.

Customers face similar choices in the bathroom.

Ceramic tiles are still the most common form of bathroom wall covering used in the UK, but we know from our enquiries that many people are looking for an alternative, and bathroom cladding is usually the answer. Although there are several panels in our range that emulate the look of tiles and mosaics, many people actually want something that looks a bit different.

And let's not forget that ceramic tiles are not really a"natural" product. The marble effects common on many tiles are exactly the same as the marble effects used on many of our panels - a facsimile of the real thing.

Web Site Updates

As well as updates for The Bathroom Marquee we also look after several other web sites for clients who were after a low cost web design service.

Although most updates to The Bathroom Marquee will be listed here, alterations and additions to external sites will be notified on our new site update page over on the Marx Web Design site.



Recent updates that affect The Bathroom Marquee include a small update to our applications page which will need completely revamping soon.

Easter Opening Times

We will be closing The Bathroom Marquee over the Easter holidays.

Good Friday - Closed
Sat 26th - Closed
Sunday 27th - Closed
Monday 28th Closed

Re-open Tuesday 29th March

Any orders for Decoc bathroom cladding received over the Easter holidya will be processed the following week. Any orders for Grosfillex products will be processed the week after as the UK importers for Grosfillex are closed until Monday 4th April.

Marble for bathrooms

Of all the finishes that are available on our site the most popular, by far, are the Marble effect panels.

The two manufacturers that we deal with Grosfillex and Decos both have a range of different options if you are looking for a marble effect wall panel for your bathroom or shower.

Most UK bathrooms are quite small so a light, almost white marble effect is the one to go for in this situation. Some of our panels can be mixed so that you could decorate 3 walls with a light colour and maybe the fourth with a contrasting or darker version of the colour. Two panels that work well together are Decos Firenze Grey and Decos Orion Carrara.

We quite often get asked if the panels can be used on the floor. Due to that they are made from upvc and are of hollow construction they are not suitable for using as flooring - if you want a marble effect floor you will have to choose ceramic tiles or some form of vinyl. You could also go for the real thing if you fancy www.marbleflooring.co.uk is a good starting point to find out more about what is available.

Woodgrain Panels

I noticed in a recent trade journal a feature on a panel manufacturer that was new to me.

The manufacturer was Caberdecor so I have had a quick look at their site to see if tere is anything that might be of interest.

I was a bit dissapointed as they only seem to make melamine faced chipboard - which is fine for use in offices or bedrooms, but not suitable for use in wet areas. Their website states that it can be used in kitchens but I would have thought that it would need very careful installation here as the MDF would soak up any moisture it came into contact with either through spills or via steam and condensation.

However their range is quite nice and you can order ssamples online.

The whole room or just the cubicle?

One question we get asked quite frequently os "should I use cladding for the whole bathroom or just in the shower cubicle?".

There is no right answer to this.

The obvious benefit to the customer if they fit the cladding to all of the walls is that they will have a totally maintenance free finish around the whole room (they could also fit ceiling cladding to complete the job, to reduce maintenace even further). The only real downside is that it would initially cost quite a bit more than just doing the shower cubicle - which can cost less than £100. I say initially because once this stuff is up it is there to stay. I have been selling this stuff for over ten years and when visiting previous customers (and relatives) who have bought cladding from me when I first started selling it, their bathrooms look as good as they day they were installed thanks to the cladding.

With other forms of wall covering, such as paint for example, you will have to keep it fresh by recoating it every so often. Although paint is quite cheap it is not free - and it can cost a lot in
your time and effort.

When it comes to complete refurbishments bathroom cladding can work out substantially cheaper than other forms of wall covering as there is virtually no preparation required - the walls do not even need to be plastered.

Search Engines

We generate a lot of our business from search engines so it was interesting to see a recent report that showed how people acutally look at a web page. By using special equipment that can track people's eye movements they used a Google search engine results page to see which parts of the page the eye was drawn to.

Not surprisingly the top left area of the screen had the greatest impact which meant in turn that the results shown on the page decreased in "visibility" according to where they were in the list.

• Rank 1 - 100%
• Rank 2 - 100%
• Rank 3 - 100%
• Rank 4 - 85%
• Rank 5 - 60%
• Rank 6 - 50%
• Rank 7 - 50%
• Rank 8 - 30%
• Rank 9 - 30%
• Rank 10 - 20%

Appearing at number 10 on a search result effectively elliminates 80% of searchers - which means we have plenty of work to do to keep ourselves at the top of the search engine listings.

Customers' Picture Gallery

We have just launched our customer picture gallery with the first batch of images that we have had sent to us.

Although we do not have masses of images, as yet, the ones that we have been sent serve as excellent examples of what can be done using our cladding - especially the before and after pictures such as those below:



As more images arrive we will add them to the gallery.

If any of our previous customers would like to send their photos in to us they can do so by getting in touch via our Contact Page. Any rooms that get featured will earn our customer a £10 gift voucher.

Further to our previous post regarding testimonials we thought we would include some on our gallery page - we are proud of the service we provide so I suppose it is the best way of letting prospective customers know what previous clients think about us. And with the images coming from our customers, as well, they just seemed like relevant content for the page.

Testimonials

We do not, at present, have any testimonials on our web site. We have, however, received several very complimentary e-mails from satisfied customers who have been very pleased with our service. This is always greatly appreciated as, unlike may other web sites, we do not actively aks our customers for these plaudits.

It was therefore very nice to receive the following e-mail in our Inbox - especially as it was a Monday morning!

"Dear Sir / Madam

We ordered our bathroom panels last wednesday and was delighted when they arrived on thursday morning! So I just had to write and say a big thankyou to you all for a fantastic service. What a speedy delivery. My husband has fitted them already and they look gorgeous - well worth every penny. We will most certainly be recommending you to everybody we know.

Thanks again for an excellent product."

From Katie Dunmore of Spalding, Linconshire.

This was such a nice compliment that we thought we would include it somewhere on our site, so we will be including one or two of these e-mails on our customers' gallery page which is surrently under construction.

Shower Market

KBB Review recently reported on research by www.amaresearch.co.uk showing that the UK shower market is projected to be worth over half a billion pounds by 2008.

This is the total figure which would include

• shower enlosures
• shower trays
• mixer showers
• power showers
• electric shower
• and shower accessories

Interestingly the majority of sales come from builders merchants which probably reflects the fact that the a large percentage of sales are for new-build properties.

The convenience of showers has meant that many householders are taking out their bath and installing a luxury cubicle in its place. This is fine but it is worth keeping in mind that if you decide to sell your house prospective buyers might prefer a bath - especially if it is a family property. Obviously if you have the room fit both, but this is not always possible.

New Web Site Launched

We are in the process of establishing a new web site.

The initial pages have been launched and can be viewed at www.bogstd.co.uk

As the products that we sell at The Bathroom Marquee are far from run-of the-mill we thought we would look to establish a site that promotes goods that are anything but bog standard - hence the name.

We have added bathroom cladding and the Outasight to Bog Std. just to kick the site off but will be adding a lot more products over the coming months.

It is very early days at the moment but we are off to the Ideal Homes show to try and get a few ideas (and to catch up with Outasight who are displaying there).

Cladding Inside a Shower Cubicle

Bathroom cladding is an ideal wall covering for the inside of a shower cubicle.



It is waterproof, has no grout to turn mouldy and is quite easy to fit. I say quite easy as the only real sticking point is that of the shower mixer used inside the enclosure.

Ideally this should be removed and any supply pipes and wires fed through holes in the cladding but this is not always possible as there is not always enough "play" in the pipework to allow for the extra thickness of the panels (8 or 10mm depending on which cladding you choose).

The options are to either have to alter the pipework or cut the panels around the unit. Cutting around is not ideal as it requires very accurate cutting and it also means that should your shower unit ever need to be replaced you will have to purchase the exact same model to ensure there are no gaps visible.

If you have no alternative, other than cutting around, use a template from an off-cut or piece of scrap to make sure you get the cut just right. Our shower cladding is easy to cut so you should be able to get a perfect finish with a little patience.