Laying Solid Oak Flooring - Bathroom

[wibbit]

Hi All

I'm currently going through the process of renovating my bathroom, and am looking to put down some solid wood flooring (http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?isSearch=true&fh_search=03501085&x=0&y=0).

It's a first floor room, on a suspended floor (traditional beams plus floor boards on top).
Dimensions 2.6m * 2.3m

There will be an extractor fan that works off of the air's humidity level.

I've layed laminate (click lock or some thing similar) in the past, and understand that this could very well be different

My questions are...

Underlay
Do I need to use any underlay? If so what type?

Floating floor or not?
I read the "Wood you like" pages which seemed to suggest it was very much a question of personal taste. I'm better equipped (a bottle of wood glue) to do the floating floor as opposed to hidden nails.
Considering the environment is there a benefit of one over the other?

Gaps
Based on the "wood you like" pages, it appears that a my dimensions would equal around at most 7mm, but a minimum of 10mm is recommended, around all fixed bits (bath, toilet, shower tray, walls).
I'm looking to have floor to ceiling tiles (marble), what's the best way to hide/disguise the gaps around the bits and bobs?
As an aside, we are having a table based vanity cabinet that the sink will be sitting on, based on the possible movement of the floor, is that better to be put on the floor boards, and the flooring cut around, or rested on top of the oak floor?

Sealants
What is the best sealant to use over the wood to keep the water out.
Based on a few posts on here, varnishing is out, and waxing/oil makes more sense.
Are there any specific products, how do I account for the edges around units, and try and keep those as water tight as possible?

You help/ comments would be very much appreciated.

 

[WoodYouLike]

also on the "wood you like" page you would have read that solid flooring is rather a no no in bathrooms
You would be much better of (in the long run) with proper wood-engineered flooring.
Keep 10mm gaps around everything. You can install floating, using foam underlayment (no DPM!) and normal pvac wood glue for the T&G's.

 

[wibbit]

also on the "wood you like" page you would have read that solid flooring is rather a no no in bathrooms
You would be much better of (in the long run) with proper wood-engineered flooring.
Keep 10mm gaps around everything. You can install floating, using foam underlayment (no DPM!) and normal pvac wood glue for the T&G's.

Thanks for your comments, Wood You Like

Based on your feedback and things we've read else where, we are returning the solid would and will be replacing it with an engineered wooden flooring.

To be honest I had no realised that there were those two types, I only thought it was either laminate or natural, as opposed to a mix.

Now, next question

looking around it appears that ideally we need the wood flooring underneath to be level to within 1mm per m. The current floor board's are far from ideal they are stable, but of different hights.

What would be the best way to try and level the floor, would tacking down hardboard on top be sufficient? is it a real big issue?

On the engineered wood, do we still need to leave the 10mm gap?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Hardboard or even better for bathrooms, plywood to level out should do the trick (a local existing board that sticks up quit higher than the rest could be sanded down first to make the leveling easier).

Yes, 10mm is the gap you need all around the perimeter of your wood floor. (don't forget to leave some gaps between the hardboard/plywood sheets though!)

 

[wibbit]

Hardboard or even better for bathrooms, plywood to level out should do the trick (a local existing board that sticks up quit higher than the rest could be sanded down first to make the leveling easier).

Unfortunately based on where i've placed outlet pipes on the wall for the taps, i can't raise the floor by too much, so plywood is out of the question, but hardboard and planing/sanding down any excessively sharp ridges.

Thank god for 2m spirit levels!

Regarding the gap around the edges, I'm assuming that this gap needs to be unhindered, so I would not be able to put a line of silicone sealant around the end of the room right?

I'm just paranoid about moister (especially around the bath) getting down between the wall and the flooring.

We will be tiling down to the floor, so I think I can hide most of the gap under the tile, but that doesn't account for the water that may slide down there. Is this just the devil I'm going to have to live with, when having wood flooring in a bathroom?

 

[WoodYouLike]

You could use transparent silicon where the tiles "rest" on the floor and/or where the skirtingboards sit on the floor (and both should cover the expansion gap)

 

[mac391]

Solid Oak not realy recommended for bathrooms but if you are to proceed i would use a single plank "engineered board", oil finished and fitted first with a 5/6mm expansion gap that your ceramics will cover. a lot depends on how you use the room, 2 adults for instance would be fine but 10 kids jumping about in a bath would be different.

Pesonaly, i would use karndean or Amtico on 6mm ply. No real expansion problems, wet it as much as you like and it looks great. Also you could lay this after the wall tiles ore on and fit tight to them with no gaps and a thin bead of clear silicon to seal.

 

[joinerjohn]

As you seem quite set on having a solid wood floor, why not remover the floorboards and replace them with the solid wood flooring? I know it's a bit of a hassle but at least you won't be altering floor levels.
I did this a few years ago for a client, Luckily they were having a complete new bathroom suite so there were no fixtures in the room at the time.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Thanks for your comments, Wood You Like

Based on your feedback and things we've read else where, we are returning the solid wood and will be replacing it with an engineered wooden flooring.

To be honest I had no realised that there were those two types, I only thought it was either laminate or natural, as opposed to a mix.

Reading the whole topic is not that much of an art

 

[wibbit]

You could use transparent silicon where the tiles "rest" on the floor and/or where the skirtingboards sit on the floor (and both should cover the expansion gap)

I think I've miss-understood the expansion gap, or the restrictions associated with it.

So, it's "ok" to seal the gap between the tile (resting above the level of the wood), and the wood flooring with silicone?

I had assumed that it would need to move freely, and that the silicone would obstruct that movement.

If that's not the case then it's not nearly as much of an issue

Around the shower base I'll be trimming the flooring as opposed to placing the shower on top, where we have the gap there, is it also possible to fill it with silicone or would I need to use a border of some sort?

 

[WoodYouLike]

The silicon is flexible, will prevent water/moist going into the gap and under your floor but will allow for movement.

Doesn't your tray come with a raised edge where normally a "plinth" is? install the floor just a bit under this "edge", cut the plinth to new height and seal with silicon

 

[wibbit]

The silicon is flexible, will prevent water/moist going into the gap and under your floor but will allow for movement.

I understood that, but had thought it would not be flexible enough. we live and learn

I take it, that using normal PVA glue to stick the tongue and groove and making sure that we mop up pools of water will be sufficient to seal the the planks?

Doesn't your tray come with a raised edge where normally a "plinth" is? install the floor just a bit under this "edge", cut the plinth to new height and seal with silicon

The tray is some sort of solid material, similar to concrete with a white surface, the main base of the tray is at the same level I believe) as the edge.

It's being put directly on the plywood underneath, so it won't be raised.

I suppose it may be possible to raise the tray by the depth of wood, when placing the concrete level underneath?

 

[wibbit]

also on the "wood you like" page you would have read that solid flooring is rather a no no in bathrooms
You would be much better of (in the long run) with proper wood-engineered flooring.
Keep 10mm gaps around everything. You can install floating, using foam underlayment (no DPM!) and normal pvac wood glue for the T&G's.

Quick question, is there a reason why you say not to have a DPM? I'm looking at a few noise reducing underlay and all of the ones I've looked at so far say that they act/have a built in DPM.

 

[WoodYouLike]

If I understand correctly, you have a wooden subfloor (with a void underneath it?). A DPM would prevent the normal airflow/ventilation of this subfloor and could cause condensation underneath the dpm and even rotting of wooden subfloor.

Have you looked at Timbermate? The Duratex should suit your needs IMHO

 

[wibbit]

If I understand correctly, you have a wooden subfloor (with a void underneath it?). A DPM would prevent the normal airflow/ventilation of this subfloor and could cause condensation underneath the dpm and even rotting of wooden subfloor.

Have you looked at Timbermate? The Duratex should suit your needs IMHO

I thought it may be related to preventing proper air flow and allow moisture to sit on the wood sub floor in that manner.

I'll check out the Timbermate stuff.

Again (or if I haven't) thanks for you time and help on this.