I'm sure those more experienced with beadboard in bathrooms will chime in here. I assume you are going to paint it, and if so, I'd use a paint with mildew protection in it. But make sure you have a good exhaust fan, you have to get that moisture out of there as quickly as possible to prevent mildew.

You could use aquatile as another option for cost savings. It is a panel with water resisitant front. Looks like tile and comes in different looks. Super easy to install, cut and adhere to wall. Caulk/paint the top edge when painting the room.

Lam - That's a good point about paint with mildew protection. Unfortunately, I'm also trying to keep any toxic products out of the remodel and that would disqualify mildew resistant paint. I'm thinking tile would probably be better protection from mildew with the tile.

Vithdude - That's an unusual product, that I was unaware of. I think my interest in the Beadboard was because I like the look. If I went for a tile 'look' I'd probably go with real tile.

For me, it's always about finding that sweet spot between paying attention to the budget and still managing to find quality, long lasting materials and ending up with something you are happy with and that will stand the test of time.

I think I was originally thinking of doing this in a half bath which would not have the same exposure to moisture, but we are turning the half bath into a full bath, so I think I should consider putting the Beadboard somewhere else. Maybe a hall way.

Thanks!

Here is a link to the Aquatile for anyone interested.

Aquatile @ Home Depot

I have had beadboard in my bathroom for about 11 years. My current bathroom was built in 1990. It came with lovely floral tiles around the tub.

Not having the budget (or time) to rip them out, I covered them with beadboard. And then to make it look intentional, I continued the bead board all around the room, stopping at the shower door.

11 years later, no issues. The tub doesn't get used much, but the few times I've used it, it's stood up to the water. For the rest of the room, it's no different than just leaving the sheetrock painted like the vast majority of people have in their baths.

Yes, I can see how that could work in a bath that doesn't get used much. Or a half bath. Our bathroom gets used sometimes multiple times a day, every day. So keeping it dry and mildew free is a challenge.

Mine is used twice a day. The tub itself isn't used much. But this is our primary bathroom.

Do you mean you use the shower twice a day?

We might be ultra conservative on this one, but we use PVC beadboard exclusively in bathrooms. It holds paint nicely, it will never rot and it doesn't expand and contract with changes in humidity the way wood does.

Yes. Between my husband and I, we shower twice a day.

Note that the OP has specifically asked about using beadboard OUTSIDE the shower. I have a wall with tile on the left half, and beadboard on the right. There is a shower door on the tile, a couple inches from the edge. So there is beadboard a couple of inches from the shower.

Amberm -Ok, I think I'm following you about where the Beadboard is. That's good to know that it is tolerating the moisture of daily exposure. Do you have anything to attribute that to? Do you have a very powerful fan or some way that is removing the moisture quickly?

DRHomes - Thanks for that information. Unfortunately, I am also trying to remodel green and using plastic is something I'm trying not to do. So in that case, tile would be the better choice for me.

I had wanted mahogany beadboard, but it was too damn expensive for the material (not to mention the lead time from the mill), so I went with white subways instead, and am very happy with it.
Casey

Thanks Casey - I'm just getting started thinking through this remodel and I'm trying to only persue realistic ideas, but, I suspect when we start hearing some prices, what I think is realistic now may change. [g] So white subway tiles, bright and clean, sound pretty good too.

Like someone up thread we have beadboard wainscot outside our primary bathroom. It is small, and the vent fan is not ideal with a few kinks along the run. We get a little mildew on our ceiling every couple of years, our tiles get a little mildewy if I don't keep up on the tilex.

With that said, our beadboard that we painted with a gloss exterior paint looks just fine! No mildew, no rot. We even had an area where it swelled a little bit before we had the shower glass door up, and that has stayed fine since it stopped getting pelted with water.

We didn't use any fancy product, it was the ready to assemble strips from menards. they were some kind of engineered material, but not anything special water resistant composite.

Katya - Thanks. Bathrooms are the most difficult room to maintain if you ask me. Give me a kitchen any day.

:-)

Thanks Oaktown. :-)

If you haven't considered it yet, put in a vent/exhaust. That was the number one reason I eventually remodeled a bath. We painted beadboard with a kitchen-bath paint and it's been fine for 8 yrs.