How To Cut Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic Textured Wall Paneling

Frp looks like it should be really easy to cut but the fiberglass component makes it much harder.

How to cut fiberglass reinforced plastic textured wall paneling.

A drill and hammer are required for installing rivets. How to cut a fiberglass wall covering for bathroom paneling. Use handheld electric shears to trim or cut thin panels. Do not push the blade along the cut this will damage the frp panel.

Put on your safety glasses and dust mask to protect your eyes and lungs while you work. Try swivel head shears sheet metal shears or table shears. Aline the jaws of the blades so they can bite down on the edge of the frp. You will need to cut a rectangular hole in any panel that needs a light switch plumbing pipe or other opening.

Measure the wall area where you plan to install your fiberglass panel. For a better cut use a clamp to hold the panel in place. The jigsaw will work better than some other saws if you need to saw curves in the panel. Draw the opening on the panel with a pencil and mark the center with an x.

Put a swivel head shear blade into the hole and cut the opening out. Scribe and snap in a pinch you can just slice into the panel with a good sharp knife and then fold back and forth along the slice. Fiberglass is hard and will quickly dull any wood cutting blade. Leave a 1 4 inch expansion joint at the top and bottom of each panel and a 1 8 inch expansion joint.

Lay panels next to one another on the wall. Sometimes referred to as a skill saw the circular saw works well if you re cutting a straight line and if you re using a blade with fine teeth. Place the sharp edge of the utility against the cut edge of the frp tilt the blade on a 15 degree angle and drag the knife along the cut to remove any burr remaining from the cutting process. Panel adhesive can be applied with a notched trowel included with some adhesives or a homemade notched trowel cut from a scrap of frp.

Moldings can be cut with aviation snips or a miter saw. An electric stapler speeds the installation of molding on drywall. Drill a hole into the x. Cut the panels to fit the space with a fine toothed saw or a pair of shears for small areas.

Don t try to cut the frp all the way through.