I'm thinking of just sanding and varnishing the existing floorboards in the bathroom of my victorian house. Is this a good idea in a room which is going to have high levels of humidity? Could the boards warp or get spoilt by water? Anyone done this who can reassure me that I won't regret it?
I`m not an expert, but friends have renovated their Georgian house which has a substantially-sized bathroom (approx 12X15ft) with sanded/varnished floorboards only, with a bath , seperate shower area, 2 sinks, and they have no problems. I`m guessing though, that room size is a big factor along with adequate ventilation, but a Victorian house such as yours should have a generously sized bathroom??
I always wonder why people say that bathrooms have high humidity. In our experience (including thirty years when we had up to five children) our bathroom hasn't been especially humid - except during and for say half an hour after someone has a bath or shower. Certainly the floor has never shown any warping. The compost in the plantpots dry out as quickly as everywhere else in the house.
The floorboards are there all the time even if covered. It could be argued that they have a more constant level of humidity if covered than if open.
I know lots of people with old houses and bare, painted or varnished floors in their bathrooms. None of them are warped. Not even the people.
Mary
Oh come on! It's silly to make a bald statement like that without giving reasons. Why would he regret it? and how do you know? He might be made of sterner stuff than you ;-)
I've never known anyone who's regretted it.
Mary
No, because of the difficulty of sealing _between_ the boards, mainly because of spills.
Finishing the boards themselves isn't so bad - most good floor finishes are also fine for bathrooms.
IMHO, the only floor finish to use is Rustin's Floorcoat (acid cure formaldehyde). Google for more and why.
You'll regret it.
I think that would be my first concern, without adequate sealing between the baords any spilt water is in danger of finding its way to the lath and plaster ceiling below in very short order.
Out of curiosity and not related to the op's question, *BUT* why did you precede the op's question with "It was somewhere outside..." blah blah bollox? You are the second person that i notice does this.
I regretted it ;)
(what are we talking about?)
Mary Fisher sent this:
30s house ? nice big airvent on barthroom wall ?
That doesn't mean that wossisname will.
Don't ask me. You'll only regret it.
Mary
Nothing special, just the usual - looks about 10"square. No fan. No opening window.
Mary
Mary Fisher sent this:
Which would be about 10" bigger then most houses have :-)
I thought it was a legal requirement in rooms without a fireplace?
Mary
What was the question? Ah yes. I have just painted the boards in my bathroom (which is the world's smallest but has an extractor fan when the light's on but which faces north with a solid wall). I also have long-showering overspring (well one is).
Why not paint or varnish the boards? - if it doesn't work or suit you just cover over them. It must be the cheapest and most non-invasive thing to do. (I think they look nice painted myself, but then, I would). I can't see on what grounds, therefore, anyone would regret it even if they did do something else later.
Damn ;o)
Eee you're a hard woman
I agree. With everything.
Make the most of it.
Mary
...
I know.
MAry
Hunter S Thomson. Read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and you'll understand. He won't, because as of last week, he's dead.
That's true. But even if I were it wouldn't follow that the OP would regret sanding and varnishing his bathroom floor.
Sanding doesn't take much off the infrastructure of a house!
I agree that Our Glorious Leader might just possibly have overstepped his nannyism with Parts A - Z but please don't give him the idea of banning sanding. He's banned enough, we're not going to have any pleasures left :-(
Mary
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