alternatives to tiling a bathroom?

Question

currently the tiles in our bath area only come up 3/4 of the wall so the top part is just painted wallpaper,we have a shower so obviouly the top part of the wall gets wet everyday which cant be doing it any good!
Does anyone know are there any other ways to waterproof this area without having to re-tile it all???
our budget is minimal!!!!!!

Answer 1

we had the same problem when we 1st moved into our house 5 years ago and do you know its just as cheap to get some of B&Qs white tiles in a box of 50 / 100 and some tile cement / grout and with a £10 tile cutter from plasiplugs (wilkinsons is cheaper if you have one ) you can do the job yourself for just a few pounds. So what if it does not match once you got some £'s behind you get the whole thing redone later on

Answer 2

There are all kinds of tub surrounds that can be bought at home improvement stores, like Lowes or Home Depot. Or, there is a certain type of sheet rock, called green board, that is made for wet areas that can also be used there and then painted with waterproof paint it should be okay. Another option is to buy some tiles that coordinate with your existing tile and break into smaller pieces and do a mosaic with them on the top part. You can buy different colors and textures of tile for really cheap if they are on closeout at your home improvement store. Hope this helps! R

Answer 3

Painting the walls is probably the least expensive solution.

When my sister repainted her bathroom, due to water leaks, she used Behr Premium Plus Interior Satin Enamel, from Home Depot. One night, when I was visiting, she called me into the bathroom to look at the ceiling. There was a bubble in the paint over her toilet, and it grew over the next couple of days. Finally, curiosity got the best of her (by this time, the bubble was eight or nine inches across, and at least an inch deep), and she pricked it with a pin. It was full of water, but not one drop had leaked out! Since the paint prevented water from getting out, I'd imagine it would also prevent water from getting in, and would do a good job of protecting your walls from moisture.

You can bring a color sample, and they'll custom match the paint, if there's a particular color you want. Or, you can do what I did and create your own color, and paint it onto a white index card (the side without the lines) for sampling at the store. As I recall, there's no charge for this service, although I might be wrong. Of course, there are lots of colors to choose from at the store, so you might want pick one of those.
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Answer 4

There is a fairly new product , Tiles on a role , The pattern resembles tiling and I am sure you would get a colour to match / contrast with the existing tiles .
I think it is waterproof , but you also might need some sealant between this and the tiles
Ask at local DIY for advice.
I think you can also get special paints which would work as well.

Answer 5

I've just painted over tiles at college for my P&D course, we cleaned and sanded the tiles down so that the paint has something to grab on to (keying) we then used a white oil based undercoat (resistant to water) then re keyed with fine wet and dry and painted over with oil based colour of choice. You could then get a grouting pen and go over where the grout lines should be if you want it to look like tiles again. Have fun!

Answer 6

Buy any tiles the same size to fill the gap. Then paint the lot to match with tile paint. I have just used this (ronseal one coat) in my kitchen and the results are impressive.

Wilkinson sell tile paint for £11.99 per tin.

Answer 7

you can buy the adhesive stick on tiles cheap,or gloss paint it,or emulshion it an then go over in clear varnish,or the pvc wall sheets (all colours) or simply wallpaper with a waterproof paper

Answer 8

Buy some of this paneling and cut it to fit between the tiles and the ceiling. Use some construction adhesive to glue it to the wall then caulk the edges with tub and tile caulk.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100389836&marketID=63&locStoreNum=3313.

Answer 9

As previously suggested you can use paint specifically for bathrooms, vinyl wallpaper, or tiles depending on your tastes.

Answer 10

clear perspex from your local diy store, stick to the wall with clear silicone. no need to even strip wallpaper or paint. u should be sorted for about £20