Lock-In: Multipanel

We didn’t always understand Multipanel. In fact, Nick, LNPG’s Founder, was a self-proclaimed tile-man for years.

This all changed when we bumped into Multipanel at a housing conference last year when our Account Manager at the time bet Nick his travel expenses that one trip to the factory would change his mind.

Our webinar guest for this week is Michael Dobson, Director of Key Accounts at Multipanel, the man who made and won that bet.

Here’s what you missed:

They’re Not Plastic, They’re Fantastic

The first thing we get asked whenever Multipanel gets brought up is usually is that the nasty plastic stuff? I could put my elbow through that!

And panelling has developed a bit of a reputation thanks to shoddy imports for a cheap and easy method of covering up the cracks in properties.

But that’s not Multipanel, which is made from marine plywood. If you need an indication of how strong that it is – if a tenant tried to put their elbow through it, it’ll end up in a sling.

If you had the ability to time travel, say fifteen or twenty years into the future, our advice would be not to do it in a bathroom kitted out with Multipanel wall panels – because you won’t notice the difference. It’s not just the material, but also the hydrolock joints between the panels. This makes them easy to install with a seamless connection, whilst importantly not compromising aesthetics now or in the future due to their invisibility.

Don’t Tile it. Multipanel it.

The main issue with tiles is their maintenance. Every other weekend, you find yourself on your hands and knees grouting with the closest blunt object you can find – and the cycle repeats. In contrast, the laminate surface of Multipanel means they’re much easier to clean and that dreaded maintenance cycle disappears. Easily cleanable with a cloth, this can even be left to your tenants.

Let’s get this straight though, Multipanel is not just a cheap alternative to tiles. Whilst the initial price of tiles may appear attractive – that’s just the starting point. It’s the labour bill you get from your builder that you need to look out for.

A day and a half of waiting for tiles to be fitted is pretty standard, but as so often with property management – time is money. That extra time is an additional labour cost,  and think of the amount of cups of tea you’ll have to be making for the fitters! Multipanel can be fitted in just over a third of this time – that’s half a day of work and – it’s job done and onto the next one.

The Tools for Success

Ensuring a property is aesthetically pleasing should be a priority for any landlord. It probably hasn’t skipped your attention that in this series, we’ve been putting a fair bit of focus into this area.

Installing anything new in your property is always a bit of risk – even more so when you don’t visualise and plan properly. Fortunately, Multipanel have an online bathroom design tool which allows you to mix and match your decors and experiment prior to purchasing any panels. Every bathroom is different, but with three different room types available – it gives you the opportunity to view the designs in a bathroom as similar to yours as possible.

And once you have designed your bathroom, you can export a hi-res image as a guiding point for when you process your order. However, stay tuned – this isn’t quite on the LNPG website yet.

Anyway, what colour did our expert Michael go for in his live design? Grey, of course.

This is even with the knowledge that Linda Barker, the famous designer, has her own Multipanel collection. Linda was namedropped a few times in the webinar and in our promotions during the build-up.  And why not? It’s a fabulous endorsement to have – especially for all of you looking to boost those all-important aesthetics.

How To Order

You’re now set on the panels – but make sure you don’t go through the hassle of ordering the wrong ones and start a premature installation. There’s a few different factors to consider, so we recommend following the step-by-step process below to decide on the type of panel. The panels are all the same height, but the key is the varying widths that are available – check out the profile installations guide on the Multipanel page for that specific knowledge.

Another hurdle is ordering from the correct place and making sure you’re not paying above the odds. To get that exclusive LNPG price, you need to ensure that you’re ordering from Wolseley – the price and product list is available to view on their page.

Leading The Way

To impact markets, you have to break the mould. And that’s what Multipanel have quite literally done! Wall panels are rapidly disrupting the tile market, and Multipanel are leading this charge with a current wall panel market share of around 45%.

So what does the future hold? It can take a while to break tradition, but as the word spreads of the advantages, we’re sure to expect even more success. We hope this webinar has opened some of your eyes who were previously unaware of the advantages of wall panels.

More specifically, the warranty is doubling from 15 years to 30 years. The panels are so durable, you’ll most likely not need it – but you never fully know. Most likely, there won’t be any damage to the panels unless one of your tenants really, and I mean really tries.

And that’s your lot! You can learn more about Multipanel here.