bathroom floorboard dilemma

[Stephen]

Hello,

There were floorboards missing from under my bath and a few of the other floorboards had been hacked by the previous owner, so I want to get new floorboards. I'm undecided whether to just get new ones to replace the missing and damaged ones or whether, as it is such a small room, to do the lot.

I know chipboard was recommended to me in another post but I don't like the idea of that in a bathroom.

In my old house, the floorboards were 16mm thick. I went to a local timber merchant and they planed wood down to that size for me. It did not have tongues and grooves, but I never had any problems.

This new house has floorboards 22mm thick. I am finding it hard to find anything that thick. Places like Wickes sell 18mm thick floorboards and some builders merchants I have contacted sell 20mm ones.

Jewsons were advertising a 22mm but when I got there it was a nominal measurement; I presume that means before it was planed? They were actually 18mm thick. They do a 25mm nominal one that is really 20mm thick.

I am thinking I could do the whole room in 20mm thick boards and the

2mm drop from the 22mm boards on the landing would not be noticeable. I am unsure whether I could "patch" the room with 20mm boards alongside the 22m ones without it being noticeable. 2mm doesn't sound a lot and it might be hidden by whatever I cover the floor with (currently undecided) but I am not sure. Particularly in a room where you will be barefoot.

I suppose I could try and find a timber merchant and get them to plane something to 22mm and not worry about the tongues and grooves. Is that a better idea? I know the tongues and grooves are supposed to strengthen the floor and prevent draughts but are they that important? What would the group recommend?

Thanks, Stephen.

[Bill Wright]

Put hardboard over the floorboards.

Bill

[Brian-Gaff]

Well there are boards missing fromour bathroom under the bath, and apparently this is how it was built. I guess it made the plumbing easier.

Brian

[stuart noble]

I'd use moisture resistant 22mm chip (grade P5). I've seen that stuff almost floating in water for days without degrading. Failing that, use 19mm (or whatever) wood and pack it over the joists with hardboard (or whatever)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yes - easiest way is to get the nearest thickness under and pack it up level. Decent card can be good for this. Once you've got the correct thickness by trial and error, use tacks to hold it to the joists.

[Chris French]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Yes, if it's just a few boards I'd patch it.

I did that in my bathroom - I packed the boards out with plastic packers. Having bought a bag for a job last year I much prefer them to faffing with bit of card, hardboard etc.though I probably wouldn't bother for a couple of boards :-)

I certainly wouldn't want to leave some board lover than others. Though worth deciding on the flooring. If it something that will require overboarding with something might be worth just putting down a new floor anyway?

[Stephen]

That did cross my mind but I wondered about using ply since this is a bathroom and it might get wet.

[Stephen]

That's what I was thinking, that if I could get it all level, I would not need to overboard.

Granted it's not a common occurrence, but I think it's also nice to have access to the floorboards if you need to lift one to get to a pipe or wire, which is difficult if overboarded.

Thanks, Stephen.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd not, unless you need a super smooth floor for vinyl tiles etc.

Far better to do a proper repair.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's really not difficult to replace a few floorboards and get a level result.

It is likely more of a problem finding decent timber that won't shrink if there are hot pipes etc underneath. The ordinary stuff you'll buy from a shed etc will.

Probably worth looking at a re-claim yard for original if you have one handy.

[DICEGEORGE]

I like a bit of slope on a bathroom floor so when (not if) there's an accident the water has a route to go which is the least bad...

[g]

[tabbypurr]

what would be the upside of replacing the good ones with more good ones?

So you can readily get 22mm.

What a lot of pointlessness.

If there's any likelihood of the boards being on show, get used ones to match existing.

[Chris French]

In message , Stephen writes

Depends on what's the floor covering on top is as to what diference that makes though. Some flooring does really want overboarding though.