What materials to use for tiny home reno?

[Bek79]

Hi, I have bought this little cabin and my dad and I are renovating and turning it into a tiny home.  We are pretty much stripping the inside including flooring and wall panels and will enclose the patio and turn it into the bathroom.  The floor plan will be different, with a window being changed into a door for access

I am on a budget (cheap cheap) and would like some advice on options for the following:

- wet area sub-flooring (considering Particleboard Green Tongue)

- wet area walls (considering Plywood Hardwood Marine AA Grade...not sure if you can tile over the top though for shower/vanity splashback etc.)

- regular sub-flooring (considering Particleboard Yellow Tongue)

- internal walls (would love VJ, but something cheaper would be good, another option was Plywood Hardwood Marine AA Grade)

- exterior cladding (plan on painting the existing exterior Colourbond Ironstone, so a contrast maybe with a vertical line would be good.  Am considering Custom Orb or Mini Orb)

- other cheaper options to tiling in the bathroom

- we are also thinking it might be easier to leave the sliding glass door where it is, meaning it would be the bathroom door.  If we do this, we would obviously need to make it private.  (considering frosted glass spray or frosted window film)

Thanks heaps for your help. 

. . 

[EricL]

Hello @Bek79

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's fabulous to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about your tiny home reno.

Would it be possible for you to post a sketch of your new floor plan and its wall measurements? This will give our members an idea of what you have in mind. We can then make recommendations about your renovation. If there's one place you shouldn't skimp on is the integrity of your wet area. Using green tongue panels is perfectly fine, but I suggest adding James Hardie 1800 x 1200 x 6mm 2.16m² Ceramic Tile Underlay Flooring and waterproofing the entire area. 

Once you've waterproofed the entire area, you can then tile or clad the area in Wet Area Wall Panel. I'm afraid these are only the two products I would trust to secure the water integrity of your bathroom. I'm aware that you're after an alternative to tiles, but if planned efficiently you'll see that the use of tiles is actually quite affordable. 

Once we see your floor plan we'll be able to give you better advice.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[TedBear]

Hi @Bek79, this sounds like a fascinating project (I have subscribed to the conversation to read how it unfolds). My thoughts at this stage are around the fact that one drawcard for tiny houses is that they can often be moved when/if circumstances change. If you add ceramic tiles to walls or floors, you will have cracking issues if you need to move it. I suggest that you consider tile-like surfaces that are flexible and water proof if there is any chance of wanting or needing to shift the house in future.  Looking forward to seeing how you develop it.

[Jason]

Hi @Bek79,

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We are looking forward to seeing how you can transform your tiny home (with a little bit of help from our clever and creative members).

I trust the replies you received so far have been helpful. Let us know if you need a hand sharing a sketch of your floorplan and measurements as per Eric's reply so we can assist further.

Thanks,

Jason