Floor covering for a bathroom?

[Aldrich]

Hi

We are considering a replacement for our upstairs bathroom carpet, which covers floorboards. An easily washable covering is favoured for the sake of children and we would like a laminate flooring. However, there are pipes and wiring under the bathroom floor and I am reticent to put down flooring that can't be fairly easily removed for maintenance of these. The existing boards are quite uneven, so I guess that a hardboard or plywood layer will be required before laying laminate or vinyl.

I think that means that carpet is the best solution.

What are people's opinions about the practicability of laminate and vinyl flooring from a maintenance point of view?

David

[Lobster]

Not if your kids happen to be small boys it doesn't!

I've never used laminate flooring so won't comment on that. If you're using vinyl, putting down a layer of 6mm WBP ply (NOT hardboard, which doesn't like getting wet) sounds a good idea. You can always incorporate 'a trap door' in it (small removable areas to enable you to access removable floorboards underneath) if you're really worried about anything specific, but personally I wouldn't bother. It wouldn't be a big deal to lift the whole vinyl floor followed by the ply, in the event of any maintenance needs - totally different ball game to having ceramic floor tiles, for example.

David

[Jonathan Pearson]

Why is it so important to access the pipes / wires, as they only really need to be replaced every 50 years or so?

Jon

[Mike Dodd]

Tried carpet, twice. Not nice in the bathroom, especially after those long cold walk/runs home from the pub mid-winter.

Put laminate down last time, after a disastreous affair with ceramic tiles, been down for the last (xxx) years and still looks as good as the day it went down. Okay, if I need to get under the floor then the laminate comes up - but in my case [new house, small bathroom] the material cost to re-lay if I ripped everything out is sub-£30. With any uneven floor you're gonna have to lay a plywood subbase down anyway.

Just my 2 penneth worth... don't use carpet - consider laminate as a reasonably priced alternative.

[Jim Scott]

I must confess I like carpet. Its warm.

[Stuart]

Why not get the boards sanded and sealed .

Stuart

[Guy King]

The message from "Aldrich" contains these words:

Quick layer of hardboard will only take an hour to neaten up. Vinyl on top.

Carpet in bathrooms is vile.

[DJC]

Carpet seems the worst possible solution. How often do you need to lift floor boards to get at plumbing. I am sure you will have redecorated the bathroom several times before you need to get under the floor,

[The Natural Philosopher]

Thats my take as well. Just in the throes of building pipes into the walls and totally encasing the bath in a tiled surround..I thought.. "suppose I ever need to get to the traps on the shower and bath'

and I thought 'well I'll have to rip the whole effing thing out' And remembered that my parents house did 50 years on its original bath and trap and taps too..with three kids. Bath needed replacing 30 years ago frankly..

[SarahEmmm]

I am putting down cork tiles in all our (3!) bathrooms. Its cheap, warm, waterproof, and can be painted/stained before final varnish finish. Or you can leave it au naturel.

[nightjar]

I've lived in a house for 20 years without needing to lift the floorboards. I wouldn't worry too much about needing access, particularly if you inspect everything before finally sealing it in.

Personally, I would replace them with water resistant flooring quality chipboard, although you will get others on here who think that is the spawn of the devil.

I like cork, for its warmth and ease of cleaning. Vinyl would be the next choice, but most laminates are not water resistant enough for a bathroom.

Colin Bignell

[Tim S]

And as slippery as hell when wet - I really would never put laminate in bathroom...

Cheers

Tim