Help me choose new bathroom flooring with some good ideas!

[stuart noble]

Yes, I meant to say chip, not mdf

[Lee Nowell]

I replied earlier but my message seemed to vanish... Sorry in advance if this is a duplicate.

We had the same dilemma. Tiles are cold and without under floor heating not really for us. As I recall there is matting you can use if you wanted to tile your bathroom given the floorboards. I think it was called something like vitromat

We didn't want vinyl so surprisingly went for laminate. My wife saw some nice walnut look which was suitable for bathrooms. I was a bit sceptical TBH so we got a sample and submerged it in the sink for a day. Net result was no impact to the board itself.

[Lee Nowell]

I replied earlier but my message seemed to vanish... Sorry in advance if this is a duplicate.

We had the same dilemma. Tiles are cold and without under floor heating not really for us. As I recall there is matting you can use if you wanted to tile your bathroom given the floorboards. I think it was called something like vitromat

We didn't want vinyl so surprisingly went for laminate. My wife saw some nice walnut look which was suitable for bathrooms. I was a bit sceptical TBH so we got a sample and submerged it in the sink for a day. Net result was no impact to the board itself.

[Tim Watts]

Good vinyl is actually OK stuff - it's the cheap rubbish where the pattern wears off in short order.

Some other ideas:

Slate: It's actually not so slippery when wet.

Wood effect ceramic tiles - I have these in my conservatory - actually look really good and not obviously "fake" (although it is obvious if you actually look at them)

I'd stay well clear of engineered woods or laminates as bathrooms are very unkind to these (there is "waterproof laminate" but I cannot vouch for that).

[Tim Watts]

20mm of Marmox under my ceramic tiles sorted out the comfort factor - the tiles and their adhesive bed do not feel cold and the thermal mass is small.

[Tim Watts]

+1

[Chris French]

In message , JimK writes

Not sure what your problem is here Jim, he is asking here for peoples expereinces/suggestions re the flooring. Kind of thing we often talk about here.

I certainly wouldn't just rely on the flooring retailers, they have a vested interested in what they sell.

[Dave Liquorice]

High heels (stilethoes) will damage almost all floorings. The pressure stilethoe heel exerts is enormous, a petite 120 lb (8 1/2 stone) on say a 1/3" square, thats 1080 lb/sq inch or about 1/2 a tonne.

[Brian Gaff]

I had to get rid of the cushion floor du to it kind of stretching and bubbling between its fixing points. Vinyl seem to curl if in tile form.

I don't actually feel there is a good answer on wooden floors cos they move. Also need to watch weight as the items like baths etc, can be heavy to start with, so flooring based on stone or tiles can cause issues. Brian

[Chris French]

In message , Eusebius writes

My inlaws had one of the good quality vinyl type floors installed in their bathroom some years ago (Anmtico I think, BICBW). It still looks as good as new. My parents have a more standard vinyl floor in thier - about 8 years old and that also still looks fine.

I redid our bathroom last year, much umming and ahhing, and we ended up with Bamboo. I was and am still a bit skeptical of this :-) Bot been in quite a year yet, but so far it is doing fine. And that includes 2 kids leaving water about the place and a minor flood when the service valve on the HW supply to the handbasin popped off the pipe one day about 6 months after installation.

[sm_jamieson]

We had some textured vinyl designed for bathrooms to reduce slipperiness in the wet. It works to some extent. Simon.

[matthelliwell]

I've got laminate in the bathroom and toilets. No problems with it even with a damp daughter and a minor flood so don't rule it out.

[stuart noble]

That Polyfloor stuff referred to earlier is virtually indestructible. Used in hospitals etc

[rick]

Issue is ... how watertight do you need it ?

Fully watertight over wood is best done with a single sheet thick vinyl floor the type with standup at edges, professionally installed with welded corners.

Bamboo flooring not suitable if it is going to take a lot of soaking ... OK for odd splashes.

Tiles over wood .. again OK for splashes .. but grout will crack (even 2 part flexible) so no good it you want a wet room.

[Rednadnerb]

We fitted waterproof laminate in a bathroom and kitchen in a rented flat five years ago and it now looks completely crap. I haven't looked closely so it might actually be waterproof but just rubbish in every other respect.