Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Tub surround panel kits

Hello,

I am keeping my existing cast iron tub, but need a tub surround for showering purposes. The wall is currently finished in greenboard.

I've looked at some of the tub surround kits, the five panel jobs, but they all look like cheap and thin pieces of plastic. Actually some of them are not so cheap, some of them are going for two to three hundred bucks.

Is it just me, or do they actually turn out looking nice once they are installed?

Optionally, I'm looking at a "Barker Panel" board from one of my local home improvement stores; about $150 for the panels and glue, and they seem more solid than the thin plastic panel kits.

Thanks for any advice on this!

They look cheap when installed, also. Consider a solid surface material, Corian, Swanstone, etc(quite a few to choose from), will transform that tub into a decoration plus, and will probably outlast you. Those cheap plastic surrounds also don't last long. You have a tub that should last 100 yrs, why install a surround that will last 3-5 yrs.

I agree, the surround kits are cheap and do look cheap. So do the barker panels. Bill had some good alternatives. You can also tile the surround.:)

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I was really hoping to be able to find an affordable and quality panel system, but I'd rather find out now instead of later.

The corian and swan systems are nice, but too far out of my budget.

So the Barker panels are cheapish? They looked nice/thick in the store, maybe it's a post-installation issue?

And tile, I hadn't considered tile, but it looks affordable. I'd have to rip out the greenboard and put in the appropriate backer though. Dunno how my first-time tile job would look though....