Wainscoting and water

Paint

I assumed he had it painted.

I'd probably paint the new wainscoting before installing it, then use a waterproof clear sealer.

You must have children.

I have towel racks and the walls beneath them have never gotten wet, in 30 years. Nor have the towels been so wet that they dripped. If I had a towel** that wet, I'd wring it out and hang it over the shower rod, with the larger part inside. That is, so that the wet end was inside the tub.

I guess my hands aren't dripping by the time I leave the sink and go to the towel, and what water there is gets absorbed by the towel and evaporates later.

What kind of finish did the wainscot have? Paint, natural appearance? Either one can be water-resistant. Maybe when finished spots were unfinished where the water got in, or maybe shellac was used??

Is the door hollow? You need some extra efforts to mount to a hollow door.

This is the pre-finished white stuff. I assumed that whatever the coating was, it would be water resistant. The grooves seem narrow enough that paint would pretty much fill them in. What's more, I wouldn't be surprised if the existing finish wouldn't "take" paint.

Perce

You cant be using real wood, wainscoting. It's probably that hardboard paneling with the printed finish. If it was the real wood, you just scrape/sand off any loose stuff, and paint it, and I would probably paint all of it so it matches. But that paneling crap is pretty much ruined once it soaks up water, and replacement is all you can do.

If your towels are so wet they drip down the wall, then someone in your house dont know how to use a towel..... In that case, maybe you should tie a rope over your bathtub to hang the towels, like a washline!

Or just insist they always toss towels in the wash machine after use.

| This is the pre-finished white stuff.

You mean the particle board panels? They're very sensitive to water. You might consider replacing it with real wood. Either way, I'd suggest Sherwin Williams Pro Classic oil base satin paint. (Don't get the acrylic/alkyd. It isn't.)

The oil is available in quarts and as far as I know it's the only good quality oil paint still available. Water-base paint won't hold up to moisture. The stuff on the junk panels, probably melamine, isn't much good, but it will take paint.

Another option would be polyurethane over wood. Home Depot used to have some very affordable, thin wainscot pieces that could be glued onto a backer and toe-nailed, then stained and poly-ed. It actually looks pretty good and works well with a maple trim.

Yes, hardboard with a white finish that I *assumed* (I know!) would be water resistant.

No, the towels aren't wet: it's water dripping from the hands before they get to the towel, I'm sure -- especially as the towel rail is right opposite the basin in a narrow (half-)bathroom: in swinging around with wet hands to reach for the towel, water probably gets flung against the wainscoting.

Perce

If you mean this product, then the "prefinsh" is just primer and it is expected that it be painted. It's primed MDF.

Well, we can be pretty sure that your assumption about the water resistant feature was incorrect. Based on that, how confident are you in your "won't take paint" assumption. ;-)

No. This:

"Prefinished surface allows the panel to be installed as is, or it may be painted to match decor"

So I was wrong about it perhaps not taking paint, but it's not simply primed.

Perce

Can you rub a top thin layer of some sort of wood oil on it to water proof it?

THere is no nice way to say this. That stuff is garbage. OK, it works fine in a living room or bedroom, but not in a room with lots of moisture and water. They sell a white plastic material that would work but dont lool like wainscoating. Either replace all of it with a better product, or just keep repairing it. What about ceramic tile?

Then that stuff is worse than I thought. All you can do is replace it with something more durable. Bathrooms are small so it should not be a major expense...