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How to install villaboard in bathrooms

An indoor room with bare walls lined with insulation

Overview

Installing villaboard yourself can help cut the cost of renovating a bathroom or laundry. We'll show you how to install the boards as well as how to cut them properly. You will also see how to reinforce internal corners with metal angles and make holes for plumbing and electrics.

Steps

1Before you begin installing villaboard in a bathroom

Make sure the studs in your walls are properly level. Some regions require bathroom walls to have a minimum thickness. Once you are sure your wall is level and conforms to regulations, then you are ready to install the villaboard.
An indoor room with bare walls lined with insulation

2Mark the horizontal line where the top two rows of villaboard will join

The best way to install villaboard panels is by working from the ceiling down to the floor. Villaboard is 1200mm high, so measure down from the ceiling and make a mark on each timber stud at 1200mm. This horizontal join line will come in handy in a couple of steps from now.

3Mark the lines where two villaboard panels will be next to each other.

When your wall is longer than one sheet of villaboard, you will join two sheets together. Sheets are joined in the middle of a wall stud for greater strength. To find out which stud to join them on, measure 2700mm from the edge of the wall and work back to the closest stud, and mark the middle of it. This gives you the measuring point for both boards.
A pencil and tape measure being used to mark a villaboard join on a wall beam

4Build a nail ledge to rest upper level villaboard panels on

Full-sized villaboard panels are quite heavy. To make it easier to hold the higher ones on the wall before you install them, you can make a nail ledge support. Hammer nails halfway into the joist about 10mm below the horizontal join line you marked out in Step 2. 
A nail being hammered into a wall beam as part of a ledge for villa board panels

5Install the top row of villaboard in the bathroom

Get another person to help you lift the villaboard and hold it in place. Rest the panel on the nail ledge you made in the previous step. Then slide the panel up into place and begin nailing it to the wall. Put a nail in about 20mm up from the bottom of the board for each stud. Once the bottom row of nails is in, work up the board putting in a row every 200mm. Drive your nails in until they are flush with the surface.
A top panel of villaboard being secured into place on a bathroom wall

6Insert internal angles into the internal corners of the bathroom.

Before you install the villaboard, install an internal metal angle as reinforcement wherever two walls meet in an internal corner. Nail the angle to both sides of the corner using the same nails you have been using for the panels. If the corner is higher than one length of metal, use tin snips to cut an extra length and butt it up against the rest of the angle.
Internal angles being nailed into place on a bare wall

7Install the second row of villaboard in the bathroom

Install the second row of villaboard by nailing it into place below the first row. Where you can, stagger the first and second rows so the vertical joins don't run the whole way down the wall from floor to ceiling. This will make the whole wall stronger.
A second row of villaboard being marked out for installation

8Cut and install the short panels of villaboard in the bathroom

As Step 3 says, panels joined in a row should meet in the middle of a joist. Measure the length your short panel needs to cover and mark it up on a fresh piece of villaboard. Have someone hold the board steady for you. Then use your fibrocement cutter to cut a panel to size and nail it into place.
Short panels of villaboard being cut with a fibrocement cutter

9Make holes in the villaboard for plumbing and electrics

Any panel being installed over plumbing or electrics will need to have holes in it. Measure where the holes should be and mark them up on the panel. Then place a hand behind each mark and gently knock the hole out with your hammer. Sit the panel in place on the wall to check your holes and make any adjustments. Then nail the panel into place and you are done.
A hole carefully being hammered through villaboard to make room for plumbing lines or electrical cables
Health & Safety

Asbestos, lead-based paints and copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber are health hazards you need to look out for when renovating older homes. These substances can easily be disturbed when renovating and exposure to them can cause a range of life-threatening diseases and conditions including cancer. For information on the dangers of asbestos, lead-based paint and CCA treated timber and tips for dealing with these materials contact your local council's Environmental Health Officer or visit our Health & Safety page.

When following our advice in our D.I.Y. videos, make sure you use all equipment, including PPE, safely by following the manufacturer’s instructions. Check that the equipment is suitable for the task and that PPE fits properly. If you are unsure, hire an expert to do the job or talk to a Bunnings Team Member.