Is it possible to lay laminate flooring in a bathroom - even if it's not recommended for use there?

Water has a habit of getting anywhere and over time in the bathroom the edges will start to rise. A person I knew wanted the glueless laying in his kitchen, I advise him not to but he went and done it disregarding my advice.

His wife was forever mopping the kitchen and the edges as stated started rising(bulging) and it looked absolutly awful. General laminate is not made for areas of a wet nature

I laid expensive stuff in our batroom. It looked very s**te very quickly.

If you don't mind mopping up every drop of water very quickly you may be OK, if you think there is a danger you might ever leave a spill on it then don't bother.

Have a look at Amtico. It's vinyl, waterproof, and they make some very convincing fake finishes.

it isn't cheap, though.

Alternatively in the line of fake finishes, have a look at Cotto d'Este ceramics. They do some convincing "wood" as ceramic tiles. A local restoration of a castle used Cotto d'Este to replace a floor made from oak strips and tile which wasn't coping well with modern use. Most visitors are convinced that the "wood" is wood. As well as antique effects they have parquet and several modern 'wood' finishes.

OTOH Cotto d'Este makes Amtico look cheap.

Common sense?

Owain

You shouldn't plunge your hand in a pan of boiling water, but there's generally nothing preventing you doing it. Just don't whinge to us (or Quick Step) when you realise why you shouldn't have done it.

MBQ

Ah, 'expensive stuff' - there's your problem ;-> I laid cheap stuff in a bathroom 7 years ago and haven't had any problems whatsoever. It's quite a small room, but I wasn't especially careful. I used a PVA glue, and removed and refixed skirting after laying the laminate. It does get wet when baths are had, but doesn't receive any special TLC beyond a weekly mop. I certainly haven't suffered from curling edges.

Andy

I boughty stuff that said 'bathroom' on the packaging, you are lucky, mine looks like s**te, in places there are gaps of about half a centimetre.

You do suprise me, I mean if you did use PVA it would have still opened up a gap between each piece of laminate...why because the boards flex when walked on and would seperate the laminate gaps just enough to for water to penetrate.

So in a nut shell...PVA is usless in bathroom laminate flooring

It was certainly PVA, perhaps we are back in the realm of cheap is cheerful. It almost certainly was laid on a thin compressed paper liner (IKEA circa

Andy

Laminate floor isn't recommended for anywhere, but it's especially unsuitable for wet areas.

You can lay it, but it will swell and disintegrate quite quickly if it gets at all wet.

The appropriate surface for a bathroom floor is tiles, or at a pinch if you must, vinyl sheet.

I laid a hard-wearing (AC5) click-lok system with PVA, which was left over from the toy-room (computer room), probably 4 years ago. Been fine, even with a wife that likes to splash a lot in the bath.

I was concerned when I laid it but figured as it was spare I might as well try.

The wife or the laminate?

As an alternative to Amtico, you could consider Karndean

I have posted several times on the subject - have a look at

Regards, Simon.

If I was proposing simply laying a laminate flooring in a bathroom when this wasn't recommended, I would indeed be lacking 'common sense'.

However, the second half of my posting - which you seem to have missed

- mentioned using a waterproof wood glue to prevent ingress of water through joints. In other words - not laying the laminate in the conventional way, but using a method which could be effective for flooring in bathrooms etc.

And from the replies I've received, it seems at least one other contributor to the group has found this method to be successful...

Nigel

Wouldn't dream of 'whinging' to you or anyone else - it simply seemed to me that what prevented the use of laminate flooring in wet areas was that most types use a glueless, 'click lock' system to make the boards easy to lay.

Provided one was prepared to properly glue the joints and seal the ends (as well as using a sealant between the boards and skirtings placed on top) - it might be possible to create a suitably waterproof floor.

I hadn't realised this was broadly equivalent to self-mutilation - but thanks for your considered reply...

Nigel

Not by you, no.

or at a pinch if

In your (not so) humble opinion, maybe.

MBQ