OT: Flooring for bathroom

I"m looking to put in a new floor in a bathroom. Don"t want ceramic nor laminate but would prefer a type of wood composite that is waterproof and has the "warmth of a wood floor". Any experiences out there for such a product?
Thanks

I put oak hardwood in our half-bath about ten years ago. Beautiful!

Glenn

A wood floor should work - depending on how you take care of it and if you have young ones. I"m convinced I should have encased the boys bathroom in seamless vinyl and put a hose connection and floor drain in there for maintenance.

Water that hits the wood should be fine as long as you don"t let it sit too long. Natural wood should fare better than composite as composites do funny things when wet and can act like a sponge. A detail I like is to get a piece of remnant marble or granite maybe 12"x24" and use it as a base under the toilet - looks classy and keeps the wood away from the toilet which is prone to sweating.
Another thought - depending on the style of the bathroom and it"s use is to go with a thin, stained, concrete topping. There"s some images on the internet for these (not stamped concrete, but stained). You see it a lot in retail and restaurants.
If you want actual warmth, consider a heated mat (may not want that under wood though). These have been coming down in price and are electric with their own programmable wall mounted thermostat. I"ve heard they can actually make a house quieter... that familiar noise "its cold in here!" goes away!
Good Luck

Tony

Never used the composite flooring because I didn"t like the look/feel of it.

Don"t be afraid to use real wood/laminatess as long as your family members keep the floor dry after using the shower...have used laminates and solid wood floors for years in my current home and they look as new as the day I installed them.

Most laminates and soldid floor systems are not recommended to be installed in bathrooms...they should add the disclaimer "unless you clean up after yourself after using shower, etc."

Tim

This would be the time to install an electric heated floor.
You can turn down the stat in the rest of the house and enjoy a warm bathroom floor and room. The bathroom floor can be put on a programmable stat to warm the floor a few hours before rising in the morning.

If I were going to use a composite floor for a bath I would use the exterior flooring. I've seen a lot of interior flooring buckle at the seems due to the water. You might want to look at a product called Konecto flooring. It is a rubber product that has a woodgrain pattern and is completely waterproof. Excluding abuse it would probably last in a residence for the rest of you life. Walmart uses it in their clothing department and my Walmart has had it for at least ten years and it still looks new. It's real easy to install. It is about the size of a roofing shingle and has self adhesive tab to attach them together. You just lay them on the floor without any adhesive and just put a piece of quarter round or other trim around the edges.

If you have a good solid floor, tile with the electric mat under it would be a real treat. You don't have to heat the room with the mat, just have it on enough that the tile has a little temperature for comfy feet. Prolly money and time ahead for you also......

That's what I have. Ceramic tile floor with electric mat underneath in two of the bathrooms.
The warm floor feels so good on the feet.

There's really only two kinds of flooring that you want to use in a bathroom. Use sheet vinyl or ceramic. Anything else is pretty much a waste of time as it will not handle the moisture.
If you have a little half bath with no tub or shower then some of those laminate floors like Pergo might be worth your while to use.

None of the "wood composites" are good for a wet area. They are mostly just pressure formed saw dust. They will eventually get moisture in them and swell.

Real wood flooring will stand some water but if you real soak it you can have problems with warping.

My youngest son and his family lived with us a few years ago. I think that they where all half water buffaloes. When any of them showered there was water all over the whole bathroom. The old tile in the bathroom was not water tight. I had to replace the flooring. I found a great product at Home Depot. It is called "Allure". It is a vinyl flooring that is a double layered product that had ! inch tabs with adhesive strip. It over laps like ceiling tile and the adhesive sticks it together. It took less than three hours to do the whole bathroom and hall. I did use a heat gun on the adhesive seams. The instructions did not say to do that but I have found over the years that heating up adhesive makes it bond much better. I left a 1/4 inch cap around the edges and I sealed that with silicone and covered that with a 3/4 quarter round while the silicone was wet.

We love this flooring. It is holding up well and is water tight. I had to work on the commode and I was able to just roll up that part and replace the mounting ring. Wife likes how it cleans and holds its shine. I am going to install it in the kitchen this summer. You can get it in many different colors and patterns. It is tough. It is way better than vinyl sheet flooring. I used a few of the left overs under the washing machine. You can slide a heavy washer on it and it does not mark the flooring.

Here is a video showing a fellow installing it in his kitchen after taking out laminated wood.
Home owner installing Allure flooring he just posted it No money ad

You might want to look into Ipe, Mahogany or Brazilian Redwood. The rain forest hardwoods will hold up under the most adverse conditions. Wood that's commonly used in a wet environment holds up better. I would not use N. American hardwood in a bath because it damages easily. That being said, its all about the user. If you treat it with respect and keep it dry, it may do what you want. The rain forest hardwoods are twice the price, but baths are small and don't use much material so the additional cost shouldn't add too much to the job.

I have hardwood flooring and love it EXCEPT my toilet sweats. after much research it was determined that my upper tank wasn't vented. venting allows the water temp of top tank to adjust to room temp. also we are buying an insulated toilet. our toilet starts sweating when our world famous nebraska humidity get rolling in the summer and lasts until thanksgiving. talk to me next dec., i'll have alot more info!

There is also a vinyl plank/tile that clicks together without any adhesive needed. It is called Linkwerks. I have read good things about it. The only reason I did not use it was that at the time I wanted to use it no local supplier had it in stock. Plus The prices I have found are about 25% higher then the Allure.

One thing to remember with both the Allure and Linkwerks flooring is keep installation cost/time in mind. Ceramic tile is not much higher for the base material but the installation labor and time is many more times greater. I would reall not call Ceramic tile a do-it-yourself product. It takes a lot of skill to do correctly.

put red oak 3/4 t&g pre finished flooring in master bath and kids bat in 2007. So 5 years so far holding up great. Do pick the rug up and hang it up to dry if wet. granddaughter always has a pile of wet towels laying on floor in hers.
good luck
Ron

The easy answer is wood is not a good idea in a bathroom.

Others have mentioned the warping and rotting dangers, but keep in mind that's only half the problem.

The other half is that if it's an upstairs bathroom, and water gets on the floor, it can very easily find its way down to the ceiling of the floor below. (especially if you have plank style subfloor, but even with plywood)

That could creat a messy repair job you might want to avoid (every time it happens). But even if it doesn't go that far, you trap water in a floor like that and you're almost surely going to start getting mold in there, and that's something else to consider. You could also be creating a rot problem in the joists that you don't even see until the floor gets squishy.

If you still feel it's worth the risk, rot resistant woods are your best bet - teak etc. instead of hoping to seal the water out with a top finish.

If you were to go with a more common hardwood, oak, ash, maple, etc it IS going to rot out eventually.

But one way to think about that is how long has the current floor lasted? It's not uncommon to redo a bathroom floor every 15 years or so. And there's a good chance it'd last that long well enough, provided you keep it dry, the toilet doesnt leak and condensation isn't bad.

Engineered floors might be marginally better, especically since the groves tend to all have a lip that would help trap water to keep it from flowing down and through (though not a sure thing at all - and you still have end joints)

Personally I'd avoid it.

It's tempting, but there's a lot to be said for a good quality tile and a mesh heater. Then it's care free and if you do it right, the only reason to ever change it will be if your tastes change.