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Bathroom: Hardwood or tile ?

9K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  dholmes 
#1 ·
Gonna be finishing a master-bed & bath floor soon.
Have a friend who does hardwood floors and of course he wants to do everything hardwood ( :yes: ) .

As for the bathroom i do like the idea of not having to deal with cleaning the grout but the consent water on the floor (showering) is a conceren.
He said we can put some kind of sealer and it wont be a big deal.

Also i plan on tiling the vanity top (plan on making it myself) along with the shower walls so i think a hardwood floor would also look nice in contrast to the tile elsewhere.

Anyway, any opinions about hardwood in the bathroom ?
Will have radiant heat under floor if that matters.

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#4 ·
although hardwood will look real nice no mater how much sealer he puts on it is still wood which will absorb moisture and at some point you will end up replacing it I would stick to the tile you can always match what your putting in the shower or contrast it you have many choices
 
#5 ·
although hardwood will look real nice no mater how much sealer he puts on it is still wood which will absorb moisture and at some point you will end up replacing it
Well it depends on how you take care of the floor. If you have good control, things will be fine. Clean up the water.
Tile is best if you just wanna splash around with no worries.
Your gonna replace everything eventually anyway...
there is wood on the east coast that have been in Bath's for decades upon decades people!
 
#6 ·
If you do go hardwood, make sure he installs unfinished, sands down to make all butts flat, then stain and seal. If you install pre-finished, no matter what you do, it will end up looking nasty (especially if the toilet overflows). Don't ask me how I know. :whistling2:
 
#8 ·
I'd do tile. For contrast, do a different color and size than the walls. I'd do the vanity top and floors the same color. For some added interest, you can run the floor tiles at 45* rather than perpendicular to the wall.

I thought about doing wood floors in my bathroom for about 2 seconds...
 
#10 ·
It all depends on how careful you are with the floor. Solid wood flooring can and has been done successfully in bathrooms all over. It just takes some attention to keep it nice.

Finished on site and prefin both have strengths and weaknesses in this situation. The finished on site will probably be a little more resistant to moisture, but when enough moisture gets in it to actually cause movement, the finish will crack along the joints. Prefin. may also move, but it will be less apparent.

The important thing to realize is that even nailed / glued, the floor will move. You just need to make sure the movement isn't destructive to the floor. Don't run the floor flush to the walls, make sure you leave some space for the base / shoe to cover.

Small moisture changes aren't ideal, but deal able. Just make sure you take care of any standing water that gets on the floor. A floor can recover from smaller movements, but cupping and crowning are a lot more iffy.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for all the opinions, its great.

Something just popped into my head...
Would "your" opinion change any being the wood will be quartersawn ?
From the little i know about quartersawn it will expand and contract vertically, not horizontally (which is why its best for radiant).

How will this effect the sealer ?
And brings this question, would it be better to stain and seal while the floor is rather warm (causing it to expand a little and seep deeper into the wood) ?


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#13 · (Edited)
Would "your" opinion change any being the wood will be quartersawn ?
Not really. Given enough moisture even R/Q will cup. It's more stable, but not impervious.

I think the big things to take into account here are that:
a) The manufacturer will not stand behind a product damaged by moisture
b) if you do decide to go with solid hw in a bathroom you need to make sure ventilation is good when the moisture is high
c) you need to clean up any standing water that finds its way to the floor (asap)
d) be prepared for some movement even after doing all of that.

It's wood. It will move. The trick is to figure out how much it'll move and try to plan for it. More important that it being R/Q is the width. You definitely don't want to get a wide width in a bathroom.

It's hard to compare a motor home bathroom to a regular home bathroom. Just the nature of how they are constructed leads to difficulty's that make solid wood much less ideal.
 
#12 ·
My motorhome has a very nice hardwood floor that extends into the bathroon. It's several years old, but being a motorhome with part time usage it has not nearly had the traffic a bath in the house sustains. The bath floor needs replaced, and is on my to-do list...

I would not recommend wood floors in a bathroom...

Vince
 
#14 ·
Hardwood floors in a bathroom is okay. It's like anything else, if you dump alot of water on anything it's going to cause problems. Do like jasoncw says. I mean a sealed floor is not going to swell up and flip your house over if you spill some water on it . I have seen some homes with wood floors in the bathrooms and that is what I will be doing soon. I would not do it if I had 5 kids and a wife!
 
#15 ·
Depends on the type of wood. For instance Cypress is used to build boats. It will not rot. It will swell and contract. I suggest you over buy the material by 25% for replacement. I doubt it comes in tounge & groove, you can do that yourself with a dado setup on your table saw. underlayment such as "Blue Seal" @ Home Depot for 49.95/ gal) with concrete backer board if on peir and beam foundation. You can seal the wood with Auto/marine grade clearcoat after staining.
 
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