can I have wooden flooring in my bathroom ?

[christine1]

Knowing almost nothing about DIY have rather rashly bought a house that needs completely gutting - whoops! Tackling the bathroom first as tiring of washing with a plastic jug. Am trying to sort out the flooring but can't find out whether it's ok to have a wooden floor in a bathroom. Everyone looks horrified when I ask about it and recommends laminates. The current floorboards are solid but not good enough to sand down. Could I lay some new ones and put some special stuff on to make them waterproof or is that just crazy talk ? Could I lay some hardboard on top of the old ones and just put some new ones on top of that ? If your answer will involve any technical terminology please bear in mind that my current DIY vocabulary only includes the terms 'tongue and groove' , 'jigsaw' and, my own personal favourite, 'architrave'. God alone knows what '2 x 4' is. With thanks and apologies for my profound lack of knowledge. Christine

 

[big-all]

heeelllooo christine1 and welcome

have you got a game plan do you need to rewire replumb do you need central heating installed ect ect if you have any other work to do best get that done before closing up your floor

 

[kevplumb]

2x4 is what you hit hubby with on saturday morning

 

[JIM456]

Hi Christine,
Definitely don't use laminate flooring, it is very unstable and the joints open up and rise when they get wet.
If you really want a timber floor then lay 4mm or 6mm construction grade plywood onto your existing floor, and then lay your new timber floor on top. You will still have to be carefull though re spillages and this is an expensive option.
One alternative is to use a vinyl flooring in a wood effect, cheapest option is a cushioned vinyl which is a nice surface for a bathroom, then there is the higher quality vinyl planking with Amtico being the most expensive. The Amtico looks like a real wood floor and performs better in wet areas. Remember though that none of these materials are slip-resistant!

 

[WoodYouLike]

Like Jim says: don't use melamine laminated flooring (core of mdf/hdf to unstable for wet areas). Wood-Engineered flooring with high quality pine core is suitable 9 out of 10 times.
Install the floor before installing toilet-pan, wash-basin and skirtings and apply (transparent) silicon around bottom of pan, basin and bottom and top skirtingboards.

 

[Kilgore]

I have decked out the floor of my small bathroom with some left-over laminate of a friend. It was a bit of a bodge as I used two different types (but hey it was free!).
It looks ok, but I am concerned about water getting under the boards - I don't think it will be a long term fix.

 

[chappers]

bambboo flooring is suitable for high moisture/humidity areas.
laid some in my bathroom about a year ago made sure existing boards were well screwed down. screwed hardboard every 4-6" and then stuck down floor using parquet adhesive. No problems so far.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Yep, and you can choose if you want solid bamboo or W-E bamboo with high quality pine core. Solid bamboo (plain-pressed) is a 'composed' floor and normally exist out of 3 solid layer pressed glued to gether.
We have a wood-engineered version
(for details see my profile or ad under find a supplier; flooring in TN24 area)

 

[Martin g]

Oak flooring is generally not too good for a bathroom area. If you really want to use it make sure its well sealed and a good expansion gap is left around the outside edge.
Generally an engineered board is more stable and the look should be exactly the same.