Wood under bowl/ basin in bathroom?

[Rebecca]

We are desiging our new bathroom and want a bowl style sink sitting on wooden bathroom cupboards.

I have rung numerous bathroom places and asked about wood in bathroom and keep getting different opinions. Some say it needs to be revarnished/ sealed (?) every few months, other say fine forever, others refuse to commit to an answer.

Can any of you pls tell me the pros n cons of real oak vs veneer in bathrooms? Does oak/wood warp in this high moisture/ humidity room? Do you permanently have to clear up water spills from the sink? Would it be advisable to put a stone work top under basin to keep wood dryer to prevent damage? If so, what would be the most practical stone top to use apart from marble or granite? Are there cleaning implications? Where would you get one?

Aaargh. Can anyone tell me pls!!

Beccie

[dom]

Think what a wooden boat goes through. With modern high quality stains/ coatings well applied on top of durable timbers, good joinery will stand up to many years of bathroom exposure.

[robgraham]

Rebecca wrote "We are desiging our new bathroom and want a bowl style sink sitting on wooden bathroom cupboards."

Can you explain that a bit better please as I don't have an image of what you are trying to do. What I have is what I would call a bowl style basin set into a marble top which is set on top of a wood cabinet with cupboards. All the joins round the marble are sealed with silicon such that no water gets into the structure. The marble projects beyond the cupboards so that drips fall clear to the tiled floor.

Rob

[The Natural Philosopher]

Wood that gets puddled needs - veneer or not - an impervious layer of sufficient thickness to make it look 'plasticky'

Its up to you whether you want two coats of polyurethane twin pack yacht varnish and a finish like an electric guitar in your bathroom.

Otherwise mop it up. Every time.

[meow2222]

Theres your answer. Opinions vary, and ti cant be relied on to be ok. Oak is a durable species, so with sensible care it should do ok. With tenants, no chance.

NT

[Mary Fisher]

There's lots of wood - oak and pine - in our bathroom, the sink is on an oak cupboard.

It won't warp but why is the room wer? Fit an extractor fan. The oak ledge round our bath began to grow mould after at least twenty years where it accumulated water. That was a design fault, the replacement drains water into the bath.

We don't - but we should.

I don't understand that. If you put any kind of solid cover over a piece of wood water will get between them and the wood will rot.

Mary

[Pete C]

Hi,

I'd try to get a worktop offcut from a local kitchen fitter or off Ebay, this sort of thing:

A kitchen fitter might even cut it to size and finish the edges for a little extra.

I'd then seal it on all sides with a couple of coats of microporous/ breathable wood stain in a light shade.

Bear in mind soap is pretty caustic and a wet bar of soap can strip paint, varnish etc over a period of time.

cheers, Pete.

[mail]

Dear NT Fair comment if you are using the word colloquially but in this context it would be better to stick to the proper technical terms as specified in BRE Digest 429 "Timbers: their natural durability and resistance to preservative treatment"April 1998

There are five categories and all refer only to HEARTWOOD as all sapwood is perishable. They are Not durable (0 -5 years) slightly durable (5 - 10) Moderately durable (10 -15) Durable (15 -25) Very durable (25 onwards) Very roughly this equates to the number of years a 2" by 2" stake of heartwood survives in ground contact (see figures in parenteses) English oak IS very durable but American red is non durable, American White is durable, Turkey Oak is Non-durable and you need to be pretty sure of what you are buying these days sold as "oak"! Chris

[mail]

Dear Beccie All wood is hygroscopic and will absorb water from the atmosphere. There is no particular pro or con between veneer and solid oak PROVIDED that the substrate on which the veneer rests is compatible and durable - which is unlikely but possible All woood veneer or solid should be heartwood and kept at the same moisture content - say about 8 to 10% w/w and so must be sealed completely with a non-vapour porous suiable sealant. Suitable means it has to deal with not only water but other bathroom hazards mentioned by others. Were it mine and if it had to be timber I would use the best marine resin I could find but were it mine I would not use wood! Chris

[Martin Bonner]

If the bowl is a hemisphere, Rebecca wants the plane surface to touch the bottom of the hemisphere (the bowl sits on the wood). You have the plane surface level with the top of the hemisphere (the bowl sits IN the marble). They are currently very fashionable.

[Mary Fisher]

That means they'll go out of fashion.

Mary

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[Rebecca]

Thats right Martin, well explained! Must admit, still a bit undecided, but it took me 3 weeks to choose a shower enclosure, so that nothing new!

[Andy Hall]

If you're going to spend a fair bit of money on it and live with it for a long time then this is reasonable.

I've just take almost two years over planning and implementing a cloakroom. This has the issues that you describe, in a way. I wanted stone in part, some natural wood and a surface mounted basin

There is oak joinery in the rest of the house, including doors, floors, stairs etc. and that is all oiled and waxed. This would not be suitable for surfaces in a bathroom that will be regularly splashed. While the wood won't warp, this finish will show splashes of water as white marks. it's very simple to remove those with a rub of polish or oil but that isn't practical several times a week.

I haven't implemented cupboards below the basin but did want to hide the plumbing. To this end, there is a small worktop for the basin and all of the plumbing runs horizontally immediately below it including a HEPVO trap to limit the depth. The worktop is granite, shaped for the application and then there is a skirt of about 120mm depth below it. That can be implemented with oiled oak like the rest of the joinery because it won't be splashed.

For a horiizontal surface, one would have to use a fairly substantial varnish to achieve reasonable maintainability. The problem is that all of them look plasticy to a degree, which I hate. If you don't think that there will be much splashing - i.e. no kids - then Danish Oil can be a reasonable finish. It's wipeable but not heavy weight durable like a boat finish. It remains reasonably matt and natural in appearance.

[Owain]

Yes, in 20 years time people will probably be ripping them out and putting in tasteful pedestal washbasins in Pampas and Avocado.

Owain