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Bathtub Wood Panel Cover

You know I love moldings. I also love the look of panels, so I decided to give a plain bathtub a dressed-up treatment.

For many years this is what I have seen every day (picture below), this is my kids' bath, but my bathroom is nothing different.


Boring :(

Once I started thinking about this bathroom makeover, I was determined to build a wooden cover to hide that plastic tub and to give style not only to the tub but to the entire bathroom.

The way I wanted to build it required me to use a router, and guess what...

I bought one  :)

First time using a router.

Scary at the beginning, but for nah.

It was so easy to use!

I just clamped the pieces of wood to the table.... no measuring......no aligning.....  just holding the machine with both hands ... and ... there I went!!! 

Well, the first two inches didn't look that pretty but after that  ... perfection! :)

These rabbets I was making on the wood, were the little indents where the panels were going to be housed.


This is the tip I used:


Here you can see the proof.


After routing the long pieces, they were cut to the dimensions I needed.

This is a project where a Kreg Jig is fundamental to putting it together.

Drilling the holes for the 3/4" material.


With the two pieces of wood clamped together I drove the 1-1/4" screws to tie them together.


After assembling all the pieces, it was time to nail the 1/4" plywood panels on the back.

The rabbeted pieces kept the plywood panels in place and flush with the rest of the boards.

A small molding was added around each panel. This is the profile of the molding I used:

A coat of primer was applied, and all the gaps were filled. Sanding and cleaning well afterward.


Finally, paint was applied, again the same brown I used to paint my kitchen Island and Vanity.



With the panel cover ready, it was time to put it in place.

I took off that piece of plastic molding or strip? (I don't even know what's the name of that ugly thing at the bottom of the tub), cleaned the area well, and began applying the Liquid Nails.



Then, the adhesive caulk was applied to seal the seams around the panel.



And ta-da!! Here is the new bathtub!













I really like it! It dresses up the bathroom a lot more!



06-08-14 Update:
After two years of regular use, the wooden cover is still strong. It hasn't even been re-caulked, though I should do it pretty soon, especially the top seam, just to be safe.



Click HERE for the complete bath makeover.









49 comments :

  1. What a fantastic transformation!! I love this tutorial and I'm pinning it to convince my husband to do this. :) Megan

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  2. Girl, you are totally a rock star! I am super impressed with your carpentry skills and now just need you to come on over to my house and do this! :-) Thanks for sharing this at Inspiration Friday!
    Vanessa

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  3. Wow you are one talented lady! I'm so impressed with your skills, amazing!

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  4. I love it! AWWWESOME!!! I had been thinking about doing this for some time but didnt know where to start! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  5. Wow, you are my hero!! I wish I knew how to do that.

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  6. I totally need to do this! You are so talented. It turned out beautiful!
    ♥Linsey

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  7. Cristina- GREAT job@ I love that you are such a hands on kinda gal! It looks wonderful and changes the looks of the whole room. xo Diana

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  8. Wow! How awesome are you? Very savvy result! I love the before and after.
    XO Cindy

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  9. Amazing skills! This turned out fabulous! :-) Have a great weekend!
    Sharla

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  10. Wonderful!! Pinning the idea for use in my bathroom renovation!

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  11. You are really something with those tools! I love what you did to the bathtub, your right it really dressed the room up!

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  12. I have been wanting to do this forever!! OK When are you coming over to help with ours?
    XO
    Kristin

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  13. Wow! That is awesome. You nailed it!!

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  14. That looks absolutely amazing! I LOVE it! Great job!

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  15. The is a fabulous idea. Thanks for sharing!!!!!

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  16. You rock! Love a girl who knows how to use power tools. Glad you linked to "Cowgirl Up!"
    :) Samantha @ Crafty Texas Girls

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  17. First of all, I would have never thought to do that in a "guest" bath...I've only seen it done in master bathrooms but let me say WOW!!!! That looks so, so good! Holy smokes, I am just really impressed. That bathroom is on a whole new level now.

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  18. Wow! That is pretty amazing! Looks like a whole new bathroom! Great idea!

    Mary

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  19. You are awesome, my friend! So talented!!!

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  20. You rock! I wish I know how to use these power tools.

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  21. This is so amazingly awesome that I pinned it. And you go girl with those power tools! I'm impressed ...

    :)

    Linda

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  22. I saw this and wanted to write "you rock!" again, but I think I wrote that on your last post! I guess that's what I think of when I see your projects! Another totally awesome one!!!

    --Katie
    linking this to FB today.

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  23. This transformation is awesome! I so want to do this. I am like you and find the outside of my bathtub UGLY! Girl, you have got it going on!
    I'm a new follower.
    craftymeldesigns

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  24. That turned out fantastic! I never would have thought of that. Nice work. I pinned it for my future house.

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  25. What a transformation. My husband would love it if I knew how to work power tools and build like you. I let him do the building and I do the finishing. Thanks for sharing this at Wow.

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  26. Wow, awesome job...I absolutely love the transformation. I definitely need to do this for my guest bathroom. I'm now following you and would love if you could follow me back. Tx

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  27. Great job. My husband did one for our bathroom and it made such a huge difference. I love that you used the router. I was too chicken after giving it a try.

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  28. Awesome! I have thought about doing that on one of our old tubs too- thanks for sharing at Feathered Nest Friday!

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  29. its absolutely awsome! feel free to come and do one for me too!!!

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  30. Wow, WOW!!! You are great! If I wasn't moving I would have you come over and do this for me!!! Love it, and LOVE the color. XO, Pinky

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  31. It looks great, but how does it stand up to water?

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  32. Simply amazing. It looks like a completely different bathtub in someone else's home. It's always impressive to see someone who can do such amazing DiY projects.

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  33. Awesome!!! I want to make one for mine! You are inspirational.

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  34. Superb! Generally I never read whole articles but the way you wrote this information is simply amazing and this kept my interest in reading and I enjoyed it.

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  35. You have so many great ideas! Now that you have had the bathtub panel for a while how is it standing up to moisture?

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  36. Thank you so much every one! The answer to how does it stand up to water/moisture is: Great! This is the bath my kids use, my daughter loves to use the tub to take her baths while my son prefers only showers. Now, they are "grown" kids 10 and 15, that most of the time, keep the water where it is supposed to be, inside the tub. Sometimes water comes out while showering, but it hasn't been an issue at all! I have done nothing to it since I installed it and paint, caulking, liquid nails, and of course wood are still in perfect condition.
    Caulking is fundamental to prevent water from seeping through the gaps.

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  37. It is the simplest type of saw. It is a thin metal plate with teeth gear that serves as a cutting tool at one side. When it is used, the saw must be moved manually.

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  38. Awesome. Really nice work! :)

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  39. Great project. I love this look. I am featuring it at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com.

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  40. Fantastic! Thanks for the tutorial- I've pinned it to reference it later. :)

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  41. WoW! By the way how do you keep your white tile so clean and white? neshag1234@yahoo.com

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  42. I think you can get router "tables" or "jigs" to hold the router while you move the project wood or laminate or Corian stuff around. This might make it easier for some to get into using the router who might be a bit put off by holding it and trying to see where everything is going.

    I don't think any of this stuff is too spendy and you can always see if your local rental place has them before you buy one or ask friends and neighbors--also Craigs List.

    Great bath and just wish my 1977 "textured finish" read--weird odd molded plastic finish that grabs soap and dirt out of the air and never lets it go---tub n shower surround was "worth" doing this too--cause it looks gawgeeeous!!!!!

    And why oh why do we HAVE to resort to "aftermarket" tub bottle and soap holders? Even in high end bathrooms there NEVER seems to be the RIGHT places to actually put a shampoo bottle; conditioner; washclothes; shave foam; razors; soap or body wash---do these people think we survive on those One A Day bars n micro bottles from hotels???? And what about showers like mine that cannot HOLD a suction cup add-on?????

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  43. Cristina, first of all I want to let you know that I love everything you have shared with us, it is inspiring. I am in the process of remodeling my guest bathroom and would like to put paneling in the tub, I was thinking of bead board but I don't know if I should get a special kind that it is moisture resistant? Thanks

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  44. Thanks Pilar! In a bathroom is always better to work with moisture resistant materials. I think there is a moisture resistant bead board, but I haven't worked with that. For the trim always use solid wood instead of mdf or fiber board and prime everything pretty well.

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  45. Awesome Job. Love all your home improvements. So rdi aka Ready to start some of mine...actually start completing some of mine.
    Thanks for all your post.
    Maryann

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  46. Could you tile that panel rather than paint?

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    Replies
    1. Ha, great question Hollie! I think that's sure possible. The tile is even better at making it waterproof. Mine is still holding strong after five years!

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