{"id":372,"date":"2019-05-01T07:49:54","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T11:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/?p=372"},"modified":"2023-07-18T09:08:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T13:08:54","slug":"eliminate-tile-bathrooms-showers-new-home-remodel-laminate-wall-panels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovatebuildingsolutions.com\/dealers\/2019\/05\/eliminate-tile-bathrooms-showers-new-home-remodel-laminate-wall-panels\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons You Should Eliminate Tile Bathrooms and Showers in Your New Home or Remodel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019ve eliminated tile in my homes (even in the bathrooms). My building process has been revolutionized with laminated wall panels and flooring.
If you\u2019re still using tile; you need to stop right now!\u201d <\/em><\/h4>

This quote from David Profenno, President of Home Town Builders<\/a> (a production builder in Central Florida) may shock you. Eliminating tile in your bathrooms, may seem as sacrilegious as skipping a roof to new home builders and remodelers.<\/p>

This quote begs the question, why would a successful builder (David\u2019s been building first-time home owner production homes and large-scale custom homes since 1999) have the guts to eliminate tile from his bathrooms and showers?

\"David<\/p>

Why would David do such a crazy thing even though his target market is largely the Florida Hispanic community who loves ceramic tile?<\/p>

Does this sound crazy to you?<\/p>

If you said yes, I\u2019m betting you\u2019re like most builders, remodelers or homeowners who see tile as the gold standard. The tried and true. You\u2019ve gotta have tile, now don\u2019t you?<\/p>

The answer is \u2026maybe yes and maybe no.<\/p>

In this article I\u2019m going to dig into why a sane builder (and trust me, David is not only sane, he\u2019s doggone smart given the sales success, improved margins and faster building turnaround times he\u2019s achieved using laminated walls and flooring instead of tile) give up on tile in their bathrooms.<\/p>

I\u2019m going to give you 5 reasons David would challenge you to have the guts to blow up tile in your bathrooms and choose laminate floors and a disruptive new technology (at least in the United States), laminated bathroom panels<\/a> as well. But before we do that I\u2019m going to step back and explain what laminated wall panels are (I\u2019ll assume everyone knows what laminate floors are).<\/p>

What is a laminated shower, bathtub and bathroom wall panel? Where are they made? <\/strong><\/h2>

Laminated wall panels are 2\u2019 x 8\u2019 x 3\/8\u201d thick units which click, lock and seal together in a 100% waterproof system. A high-pressure laminate surface is applied onto a marine grade plywood with a moisture backing. They\u2019ve been used in European bathrooms (and manufactured from Norwegian wood \u2013 yes, the same Norwegian wood talked about in the Beatles <\/em>song back in the day) and wet rooms for 25 years. They\u2019re used in place of tile, but give the real look of tile, while eliminating the grout joint.

\"What<\/a><\/p>

While they\u2019re not a new technology internationally (in Norway, these panels make up over 1\/3 of wall coverings in bathrooms), they\u2019ve only been in the U.S. for one year. U.S. contractors, builders and developers are asking, \u201cWhy should we use a laminate covered wall system when tile is \u2018tried and true\u2019 way of doing things? It\u2019s the ways things have always been done.\u201d

\"What<\/a><\/p>

In this article, I\u2019ll dig further into this question and see why David has found it makes sense to chuck the \u2018old-school\u2019 tile method and embrace a new solution (laminate bathroom panels<\/a>).<\/p>

5 Powerful Reasons David eliminated tile and uses laminate flooring and laminate wall panels in his homes<\/strong><\/h2>

The case for laminate flooring is not hard to understand. After all, you\u2019ve seen click and lock flooring systems before. You know it\u2019s hard to tell a laminate floor from the \u2018real thing.\u2019 You know how quick they install. You know they\u2019re cost-effective.<\/p>

\r\nHowever, the idea of a laminated shower or bathroom wall<\/a> system (which is a laminated covered wall covering over a marine grade plywood with a moisture backing) may seem kind of (or more than kind of) crazy. Using a wood based product in a wet space goes against everything you learned in shop class. It goes against what the Job Superintendent who mentored you back-in-the day when you started this crazy career (and had more hair and NONE of it was gray!). He said, \u201cDon\u2019t use any wood backed products in a bathroom.\u201d \u00a0\r\n