[PopRocks]

Hi there,
Long time reader, first time poster. We've just bought a house (late 80's) that we are going to renovate prior to moving in. It's double storey and all downstairs will have floorboards apart from the laundry.
Just wondering if anyone has floorboards in their powder room. We have 3 kids under 4 years of age so the powder room will get used quite a lot.
TIA

[Amanda_R]

From a waterproofing standpoint, any wet area you're better off having tiles/lino etc rather than timber. While there isn't anything totally wrong with timber floors, in a wet area if you do get a leak, you're more likely to encounter problems with the board cupping and warping. Even if that happens a lot of the time they will settle down after a few months when they are totally dry, but they sometimes don't go exactly back to normal.

Tiles and other more impervious floor coverings (tiles themselves aren't perfect either, just a lot better if properly prepped - waterproofing - and grout sealed once laid, etc) are generally better to lay in any area that is going to have a lot of water, or more prone to leaks. But leaks or floods aren't a given, many a home has had a timber floor in a wet area and it's just fine.

In terms of daily issues with water damage, you'll not have as much in a toilet as you would a shower and bath. If you never suffer from any leaks your main problem would be wear, but that wouldn't be overly different to the hall or however you accessed a tiled powder room anyway. The traffic would still flow there regardless of whether your powder room was timber or tiles or whatever.

[Madnesscraves]

I have seen timber floor boards in a few hotels in Europe.

They have rubber things between the joins to prevent slips.
It's possible and had been done. I just don't know what they do to protect the timber in a wet room.

[trishalishous]

personally I wouldnt, in a wet area

[PopRocks]

Thanks everyone. Amanda, your comments are exactly the info I was after. I would really love to have tiles in the powder room but just have to convince DH. Hopefully he will agree with me.

[Amanda_R]

I think you are better off going with tiles. In the event of a flood or water leak it really just makes clean up a whole lot easier. Waterproofing plus tiles plus sealer and your life is much easier if an accident happens, and your home is better protected structurally too (water penetration into the frame for example).

Timber can be just fine if no accidents occur, but if they do the clean up and damage as a result is harder to deal with. If the boards don't dry out and flatten back down after a few months then you're looking and sanding back and resurfacing, which is a hassle if you don't need it done elsewhere.

If you do go with tiles, just ensure you tile before the fittings go in, if for whatever reason you need to remove the toilet it's harder to do if you have tiled around the pan instead of underneath. Plus putting the toilet and anything else on top of the tiles means you have less fiddly tile cuttings and you are more likely to have a floor that is a little more impervious to water.