I am sure this has been discussed before but I can't find the messages .....
Anyway, trying to decide whether to put down tiles or laminate boards in bathroom. Bathroom suite is about a year old but we couldn't afford to have the floor done as well. Up to now we have lino which is quite tatty.
The subfloor is chipboard (pre new regs). For laminate flooring presumably I need the "vapour barrier" sheet. I see that all the stores offer laminate suitable for bathrooms, slightly more expensive. It's a small floor area, about 1.5 sqm so cutting around the fittings will take a bit of extra work. Anything else I need to think of?
Tiling the floor isn't a popular option (wife & kids .....).
Standard laminate boards are a total no-no. The edges of the laminate will lift up in no time from water. There is a laminate which looks like tiles once laid and claims to be ideal for bathrooms and kitchens. I don't know how good this stuff is and I suspect upon close inspection of the instructions it's more likely splash-proof and you need to wipe up any spills ASAP. Probably your best bet if you really want to avoid proper tiles.
Contrary to over views expressed here, I've laminated the bathroom exactly the same way as you have done, and on the same chipboard flooring on a 1st storey bathroom.
Bit of history: Did originally tile, but rather than suffer a 20mm step by laying a ply base first I risked it and tiled onto hardboard ontop of the chipboard. Lasted 2 days before I ripped it out and binned it (unstable base, cracked grouting, and yes, I'd nibbled the outline for the bathroom furniture out of each tile).
Out of desperation (and I was somewhat dishearten by the above) I knew we had some AC3(? - 10 year stuff, anyway) laminate in the attic (as you do) left over from when we did the home/office (aka "toy room"), together with the remainder of the underlay (3mm green spongy material, shiney plastic surface on one side - presumably some form of moisture barrior) - that had also taken up residence in the attic.
Thought "What the hell" - since I (thought*) we had enough to cover the tiny bathroom, and repeated the process with the laminate. Note - not bathroom grade! Anyway, best part of 5 years later its still there without any signs of wear / damage, and SWMBO is a bit of a splasher in the bath.
Regarding the slipping on wet laminate, well, if your 1.5m2 is anything like my 1.5m2 then there isn't much floor space left once you have the bath mat down and the obligatory 2 days of dirty underwear strewn across the floor. (In all honesty, no-one's slipped as yet!)
You'll recognise that a laminate solution is a cheap solution, I'd suggest trying it - trust me - worst-case outcome is a nowhere near as bad as worst-case outcome with tiles.
I would recommend lifting the bathroom furniture 1st, I did what you're talking about - cutting around them, but on reflection I think it would be easier to remove and refit.
thought = before I buggered the first 4 sheets up by laying them the wrong way (groove first, rather than tongue first - resulting in knackered tongues from the effect of hammering them into place
If you do go for laminate, make sure you use PVA glue on the joins without any gaps, even if the boards are "click" types. Otherwise, the water gets in and damage results. You need to be really careful to mop up any spills, too. You can't just leave large puddles on the floor.
Perhaps if the wife and kids don't like cold tile, you could put down some electric underfloor heating. You would only need about 150W (assuming it wasn't the main room heating) and it would seriously take the edge of the cold floor.
Laminate on the floor will be fine, IF you get a laminate specifically rated for bathrooms & kitchens, and follow their instructions for fitting.
I laid Richard Burbidge stuff a couple of years ago in the flat that we rent out, and it's still as good as the day it was laid. This particular one was guaranteed for a certain length of time (can't remember how long) but only if I used their recommended underlay, vapour sheet, etc. Think it was called Profile II or something like that.
Didn't need glueing (in fact specifically said not to glue it), and if I were laying on top of a chipboard floor I would welcome the opportunity to be able to lift the floor if it became necessary to investigate what was underneath.
If I were laying tiles, I'd probably look at replacing the chipboard with decent thick exterior-grade ply before tiling it, to stiffen things up considerably.
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