Faux Finish Ceramic Tiles

I was interested to read in a recent trade magazine that the ceramic tile industry is moving towards more diverse finishes for their products. Hessian, woodgrain and leather are some of the textures they are trying to capture along with the traditional marble and stone effects that we are used to.

Those involved in bathroom design sometimes overlook waterproof wall panels as they feel they are just an imitation of the real thing. Well, they are right - they are just an imitation but so are most ceramic tiles. They are painted to look like marble and although they may be made from a similar compound to the real thing, they are still just an imitation.



There are some panels that not only set out to emulate finishes such as marble or wood but actually aim to look like ceramic tiles - Beige Tile Marble being the best example above. This panel gives the appearance of butt-jointed marble tiles with the joint line being incorporated into the overall design.

Mosaic panels also emulate tiles but in this case the finish is simply a printed one - there is no relief to the panel. This does make it look a little less convincing but then it does have the advantage of being a flush, wipe-over surface with no grout to keep clean. The mosaic panels are particularly effective when used inside shower cubicles and enclosures although we have had plenty of customers that have decorated their whole bathroom using this type of cladding.

If you are thinking of a new bathroom design for your home then it might be worth giving our panelling a good look - you won't regret it!

More Images For The Gallery

Our customers' gallery has grown again with some recent additions to the site.



There are some new before and after shots from customers around the country with many of the smaller images hyperlinked to large , clear photos of the refurbished bathrooms.

Have a look for yourself to see how bathroom cladding can transform any bathroom.

Christmas Opening Times

The Bathroom Marquee will be closed from Wednesday 21st December 2005 and will re-open on Tuesday 3rd January 2006.

To ensure delivery before the Christmas shut-down we would recommend orders be placed before Friday 16th December.

Any orders placed over Cristmas will be processed on our return in January.

May we take this opportunity to wish all of our customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Good Service

We are always pleased when people thank us for our excellent service. Good service used to be the rule in this country wheras now it seems to be the exception.

We were therefore extremely impressed with the services of a local firm, Protex Security Sysytems, when we needed an emergency call-out for our alarm system. Not only did they fix the problem on the spot, they arrived within half an hour (as promised) and carried out some extra work - all for a very reasonable call-out fee.

So it looks like there are other firms out there that value the benefit of providing good service - it's just a pity that there aren't a few more.

Spaceline and Labo panels temporarily out of stock

Decos Spaceline Beige and Labo 4.5mt panels will be out of stock until 14th November.

The rest of the Spaceline panelling range is unnafected (Silver grey, Blue & Rose) as are 2.6mt lengths of Labo white panels (both Ultra White and Classic White)

The shortage has been caused by a sudden increase in demand and a delayed delivery due to a bank holiday on the continent.

Decos Magic range of wall panels added

We have just added the Magic range from Decos to our growing list of wall panel products.





There are three colours to choose from: white, grey and black. The black panel, in particular can make a very dramatic statement, especially if used as a contrast in a contained area - such as a shower cubicle.

The panels are 250mm wide and are 2.7mm long. They are available in packs of four priced at £53.56 per pack (at time of this post)

Visit our website for more information on the Magic range

Customer Gallery Update

We have had another bath of images in for our customer gallery and the first ones have been added to the site - see our gallery for more details.



Mr Simpson's shower room (above) looks amazing, having used Mosaic Beige Sand panelling for his shower room makeover.

We are also in the process of adding another gallery to our Outasight section showing the concealed shower curtain system in use by our customers.

Outasight closed for one week

The manufacturers of the Outasight shower barrier will be closed for an Autumn break on Thursday 20th October and will re-opn on Monday 31st Otc.

Have ordered extra stock to cover this period but should you require spares etc. your order will not be processed until the manufactuers return.

100% design

We attended the recent 100% Design exhibition in Earls Court to see the latest ideas from the design world.

The exhibition was not purely targetting the building industry but featured design ideas from all market sectors making for an interesting show.

One of the items that stood out that was actually from the bathroom industry was a flat sided perspex bath that gave the impression of a continuous line (click image below for expanded view).



This is a simple yet elegant example of bathroom design at its very best.

Other interesting ideas were wall panelling made from recyled plastic, in which the type and colour of the items recycled form the pattern of the panel, wooden baths and teak wall tiles.

Sapceline Offer Extended

The special offer on Spaceline wall panelling has been extended until the end of October.

The panels are still only £29.96 per pack of 4 (plus carriage) and are available in four colours:

• Silver Grey Marble
• Beige Marble
• Rose Marble
• Blue Marble

Buy Bathroom Cladding Online

If you are looking to buy bathroom cladding online you now have two different payment options via our shopping cart system.

You can pay online whereby you will be transferred over to the Paypal secure payment system to enter your credit card details. You do not have to open a Paypal account, although you can use your account if you already have one.

You can also chose to pay offline. You will be prompted to enter a daytime telephone number which we will then use to contact you and arrange payment. You can pay for your cladding by credit or debit card (we will process the payment ourselves) or you can arrange to pay by cheque.

Labo wall panel

We have been selling Labo wall panels from Decos for some time now and they have proved to be very popular with our customers.

Initially we sold the 4.5 metre length panels in two colours Ultra White and Classic White, but we have have now added a new size to the range - 2.6 metres.






The new panels are £38.12 for a pack of 4 panels plus carriage. They are ideal for use on walls and ceiling and are ideal if you want to clad inside a shower cubicle without adding any extra colour to your overall bathroom design.

shower wall panel

If you are thinking of installing or upgrading a shower cubicle in your home you might want to consider installing shower wall panels in place of ceramic wall tiles.

Each shower wall panel slots into the next one using a tongue and groove system ensuring a completely waterproof surface. They are easy to fit and can work out very cheap - in fact, you can cover two walls of a standard 760mm shower cubicle for just £78.90 - all you need is two packs of Spaceline wall panels and a corner trim (the above price includes carriage)



And once the panels are up, they stay looking good for years, without any need for scrubbing, bleaching or re-grouting.

Spaceline wall panel special offer

Spaceline wall panels are now on special offer.

These superb quality waterproof wall panels were already on of our best value products - and now they are even cheaper.

They were £9.85 per panel but have now been reduced to only £7.49


See our special offer page for more details.



Offer ends 30.09.05. Spaceline panels are only available in packs of 4 (£29.96 per pack)

Stock Levels

Stock levels for both Grosfillex and Decos waterproof wall panelling are now back to normal following the Summer shutdowns by both manufactuers.

Although the UK importers did an excellent job of trying to pre-guess the stocks needed to see them through the shutdown, there are always one or two products that get cleaned out unexpectantly, and consequently some of the panelling orders had to go on back order.

There have all been cleared and we are all now raring to go.

Outasight - height issues

The Outasight concealed shower curtain system is suitable for use in conjunction with an overbath shower.

One problem that some people ask about is whether the unit is easy to operate if you are below average height.




Opening the unit is easy as the gas strut opens pushes the arm up automatically, and the curtain is pulled out from the middle, not the top. Shorter people sometime find it easier to close the unit while still standing in the bath, as this will give you an extra couple of inches of reach. The overall height will be 1.4mt (about 4' 6") plus the depth of your bath.

An additional, natural looking panel

We previously posted regarding panels that give a natural stone effect - one of the most popular current trends in bathroom design. We have recently added a third panel suitable for this type of scheme - Tinto Desert.




Although the above image shows the Sky Blue and Glacier options it is also available in Desert which gives an extremely pleasing, light beige stone effect.

DESERT

SKY BLUE

GLACIER

Along with the Beige Stone and Naugeux Beige panels from Grosfillex there is now a comprehensive choice of panels for those looking to acheive a natural stone look in their bathroom.

Finishing Off Ceiling Cladding

A lot of our previous posts have been about ceiling cladding - and so's this one!



A couple of people have asked about coving trims to use with our ceiling cladding products. At present we do not have any of these profiles available via the web site but they are available from the manufacturers. We will be adding these to the site soon - in the meantime please get in touch by phone or e-mail if you are interested in these products.

One of the reasons we held back on coving trims is that some of them cannot be fitted to ceiling panels - they have to be used in conjunction with wall panelling. If you are not installing wall cladding this is a bit of a problem. The coving trims can be used if you remove the tab and stick it in place with adhesive, but this rather defeats the object, and you could just as easily use any other form of coving.

Grosfillex do offer a solution with their coving as it comes in two parts with the backing put in place before the ceiling cladding is fitted, and the finishing trim is clipped in place after installation.



Grosfillex's Multi-Trim can also be used as a clip on edging and, again, is a two part product, enabling the finishing profile to be fitted after the ceiling is installed.

Any colour, as long as it's white

Despite having many different colours and finishes in our range white still seems to be very popular. It is the perfect choice for use on ceilings but many customers opt for white when they come to selecting wall panelling as well.

For this reason we have quite a few different white wall and ceiling panels in our range to try and ensure we have something for everyone.



The current list of white panels include the following:

• Evol 3000 White Wood
• Evol 3000 Satin White
• Ambiance White Wood
• Ambiance Gloss White
• Topline Gloss White
• Mineral Brilliant White
• Belmont White Ash
• Labo Classic White
• Labo Ultra White

There might even be a few more added to our range soon, including different lengths of our popular Labo White panels.

Ceiling Panels

Many ceilings in older properties can prove problematic especially in bathrooms where the moist conditions can lead to damp patches or mould growth.

All of the panels sold by The Bathroom Marquee are suitable for use on ceilings but some look better than others, there is a list of panels that we think work well at the bottom of our ceiling cladding page.

If you have an older, Victorian style property some of the white panels that we offer can look a little to stark in colour, so luckily Decos produce a Classic White panel in their Labo range that is ideally suited to the sympathetic refurbishment of period style bathrooms.

There is a comprehensive section on period styling on the BBC site.

Price Reduction

Since introducing the Ligno 10 range of waterproof wall panelling we have been offering a 20% discount off the list price of £3.24



We have decided to make the offer price permanent so that you no longer need to enter a voucher code to enjoy the lower cost.

Click the image above to visit the product page for Ligno 10 and find out more about this panelling.

The new price is £25.90 per pack of 10 panels - making this panel less than £10 per square metre.

New Panelling Added

We have just added the Tinto range from Decos to our inventory.

There currently three colours in this range offered by The Bathroom Marquee: Desert, Sky Blue and Glacier.

This offers our customers a little more choice for those looking for a matt finish wall panel as most of the other panels tend to be a gloss finish.





The colours lend themselves well to the modern bathroom setting but, being matt, they are also perfectly suitable for use in other rooms around the home, as can be seen from the bedroom setting in the photo.

As with all of our wall panels they are totally waterproof and can be used in shower rooms, wet rooms and shower cubicles.

Bathroom Windows

You've installed your new suite. You've fitted out your bathroom with waterproof wall panelling. You've fitted new bathroom accessories. Now, what do you do with the window? Roller blinds? Venetian Blinds? Curtains?

There are some ideas over at UK TV Style on their "ask the expert" section.

There is also some good information on bathroom window dressing on Creating Better Homes with the article "window ideas for bathrooms"

When using our decorative wall panelling in bathrooms you might have enough off-cuts left over to line the window reveals but it is always worth allowing at least one extra panel for this (you will also need an external corner trim for the joint between the walls and the the reveal).

Any blinds, curtains or screen that you then put up can be fixed through the panels using one of the fixing methods shown in our installation section.

Concealed Shower Curtain System

We have just finished a complete revamp of the Outasight section of our web site, now branded as a concealed shower curtain system.

The initial landing page now has images of a white Outasight displayed on some of our Ambiance White Wood bathroom cladding.



The image on the left shows exectly how neat the Outasight is once installed, with the right hand image showing the neatly stowed shower curtain.

All of the pages have had a "makeover" with plenty of new images added to try and give potential customers a better view of this amazing product in action.

Bathroom and Kitchen Expo

I attended the Bathroom and Kitchen Expo show at the Excell Centre in London's Docklands last week.

Overall it was a bit of a disappointment, as there was nothing that really caught my attention. I think the main problem is that there are just too many of these events and the cost to exhibitors is too high. You therefore just tend to get the big, market leading companies displaying with many of the samller (and usually more interesting) exhibitors shying away.

As usual most of the displays looked exactly the same with everybody opting for the clean/geometric/organic/stone/white look although I did hear a new word used to describe this attractive but rather bland trend - volcanic(?)

Although there were quite a few bathroom and shower manufactureres displaying their wares bathroom wall and flooring manufacturers were thinner on the ground.

All in all not the most successful of days out but you have to attend these events just in case you miss out on something!

Bathroom Colour

Your choice of bathroom colour might not just be dictated by the overall look you are trying to acheive - psychology might also play a part in your colour scheme.



The BBC Web Site has a page on the psychology of colour, listing how colour can affect mood and the "feel" of a room. There are no real shocks with regard to bathroom colours - blue and lilac being singled out as the ideal choice.

Most of the current glossy images of bathrooms veer away from colour altogether with very muted shades being used in conjunction with a white bathroom suite (see our previous blog for details)

Natural Stone Effect

On a recent visit to a trade show I was only too aware that most of the bathroom displays had moved towards a more organic, natural look. The image below is typical of the design most of the manufacturers were trying to promote - natural stone effect ceramic wall tiles coupled with rounded, clean lines of the basins and the chrome heated towel rail.



There are currently two panels in our range that will help you with your bathroom design should you be looking to emulate this type of effect: Evol 2000 Beige Stone and Mineral Naugeux Beige



We hope to be adding some extra options in the near future with the addition of some more panels in our Decos range.

Outasight updates

We have made a few changes to the Outasight section of our web site.



As the Outasight is a direct replacement for shower screens and shower curtains we have including some new diagrams to illustrate the advantages of the Outasight over the traditional overbath shower barriers (as seen above). The following pages have been upgraded accordingly:

• shower curtain
• bath shower screen
• bathroom shower curtain
• bath screen

Bathroom Marquee closed Tuesday 10th May

We will be closed on Tues 10th May as we will be attending the Bathroom and Kitchens Expo at the ExCel centre in London.

Please leave a message on our answering service or via e-mail and we will get straight back in touch with you on Wednesday.

There are a lot of exhibitors this year as can be seen from the exhibitor list (it looks as if this is now seen as the premier bathroom event in the calendar - I don't know if it's the same for the kitchen industry).

We will give a brief outline of how the event went next week.

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.

Photo Gallery CD

We have just upgraded our photo gallery CD with some extra images and improved graphics.

Quite a few people have ordered the CD but have not yet received it as we knew that the new, improved version was going to be available.

We apologise for the delay to those who have been waiting but we hope it will be worth the wait.

If you would like a copy of our CD picture gallery featuring the whole of our bathroom cladding range then click the samples link on our homepage or click here

Ideal Homes Exhibition

The Outasight bath shower screen will once again be on display at the Ideal Homes Exhibition.

The show runs from the 3rd to the 28th of March at Earls Court in London.

We are hoping to visit the show ourselves and catch up with the inventor of the Outasight, Lee Brown (you can read an interview we did with Lee on our site - click here to read it). We will publish any news and photos we have after our visit.

Silicone Sealant

When using cladding in wet areas, such as the bathroom shower room, there are always a number of areas where you need to seal:

• the join between the panels and the rim of a bath
• the joint between cladding and the rim of the shower tray
• internal corners if you are not using trims
• inside corner trims in wet areas
• inside joints between panels if using a power shower

We have long recommended Dow Corning silicone sealant on our website as, in our experience, this provides the best anti-mould properties with excellent adhesion and flow. To obtain a long lasting job, you should always follow the manufacturers instructions - the most important of these being thorough preparation and ensuring the surfaces are bone dry. When silicone turns mouldy this is usually caused by moisture behind the joint - most of the surface moisture evaporates, and as a consequence will not harbour mould spores.

Rather than having to find a local source for this product, our customers can now buy this silicone sealant via our web site.

Brick Effect Panels

I was asked this morning if we sold brick effect" wall panels for someone wanting to renovate their kitchen.

Unfortunately we don't - but I was sure I had seen a product similar to what this chap was looking for in a tradeshow (probably Interbuild).

After a quick look through my files I came up with abrochure that I had picked up in the show, and sure enough there was a brochure from a Spanish manufacturer Old Stones.

I had not taken my enquiry with them any further as they did not have a UK distributor at the time, but I am going to fire off a quick e-mail to them later to see if the situation has changed since I saw them at the show.

Bamboo Wall Panels

All of the bathroom panels and cladding sold on our site are made from upvc. At present we do not sell any of the wood based systems as they are difficult to transport and not as easy to install as the plastic versions (they are also a lot more expensive).

We are always on the look out for new products and while surfing the net we came across a very interesting product bamboo wall panels.

I will look a little further into this as I am a great fan of bamboo both for its aesthetic qualities and the fact that it is enviromentally friendly. Click the following link to see the site I came across bamboo wall panels .

I had previously seen bamboo flooring and had been impressed with what I saw - especially as it was suitable for use in wet and humid areas of the home such as bathrooms. I hope the wall panels are also suitable as they look stunning.

Shower Panels Used on TV

ITV's 60 minute makeover shower utilised waterproof wall panelling as part of their overhaul of a property in Banbury.

Although they used a wood based system rather than the UPVC cladding that we sell, it still demonstrated the speed and ease with which this type of product goes up.

60 Minute Makeover used the panels inside a shower cubicle where the lack of grout and waterproof qualities are really appreciated.

Refurbishment work such as this can sometimes be tricky if there is an existing shower mixer valve that needs to be removed and replaced - the pipework supplying the valve does not always have enough "slack" to allow the unit to be moved out by the ticknoess of the panels which can be between 8 and 10mm for upvc panels (wood based panel thicknoesses vary according to the manufacturer).

It would have been nice to see the plastic version used as theyt are cheaper and generally much easier to fit but at least this form of bathroom wall covering got some exposure, which up until now has been quite limited.

New Cladding Designs

As posted previously, we are going to be adding more cladding designs to our range in the next few days days.

We haven't decided which range will be first but we it might well be the Labo panel from Decos - a plain white available in two shades (the uniquely titled "fridge white" and cream white).

We are in the process of updating Marxwebz, our low cost web design site, at present, so as soon as this is completed we'll move on to The Bathroom Marquee.

The Bathroom Market

I read an article recently that stated that the bathroom market has risen in 24% over the last four years and that this growth is expected to continue - which is good news for those of us in the bathroom sector.

Another interesting statistic that jumped out at me was that refurbishment accountes for over 60% of sales with balance being made up by new build. This is also an encouraging situation as the bathroom cladding that we sell is ideal for use in refurbishment - its main benefit being that it can be installed over existing wall coverings such as ceramic wall tiles without the need to remove them first.

Caldding is also suitable for use in new build where walls will not need plastering prior to its installation, saving time and money in the process. We have had several forward thinking property developers purchase our cladding as they know their clients will love the visual impact of the product while increasing their bottom line at the same time.

Low Cost Bathroom Cladding

In order to offer our customers the best value bathroom cladding we have decided to reduce the list price of our Spaceline range of panels.



This range was already one of our cheapest but in order to satisfy those looking for low cost bathroom cladding we have reduced the price even further so that each panel is now available under the £10 price point - at just £9.85

Click the above image for details of this stunning cladding that will transform any bathroom, shower room or cubicle.

You can also click the folllowing link to go directly to the product page for Spaceline where there are scanned view of the panel, very detailed images of the cladding and our online order form to enable you to purchase Spaceline directly from the web.

SPACELINE

If you have never seen this type of product before you can also order a sample pack to see the panels "in the flesh"