Bad Star Wars references aside, my family has been without a floor or fixtures in our upstairs bathroom since we moved in (back in June). We've been busy taking care of bigger problems until now, but the time has come to finally lay a floor, seat the toilet, install the shower and spend the next few nights without sleep — but little did this Lowes associate know — he wasn't cutting our sub floor!
Over the coming weekend we'll turn these inexpensive pressboard panels into our bathroom floor. Wood?! In the bathroom?! We must be crazy! Well we are. We also know that to install tile in our small little space would still run around the $300 mark and that money could be used towards other things in our renovation process — like hiring an exterminator.
Assuming the weather stays nice, we'll be able to lay the floor and seal it up this weekend. The only question now is should they get a wash of color first, before they're sealed? Orange? Grey? Yellow? All of the above?
We've had the fixtures purchased but have been working out kinks in the plumbing (like the fact that there wasn't any), so this is a big weekend! We'll have photos for you early next week on the process — the process that will cost us a whopping $45 from start to finish.
Are you into a wood floor in the bathroom? Do you think it's the worst idea on the planet? Sound off in the comments below!
Image: Sarah Rae Trover
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I'm not sure I'd have the guts to try that, but I'm excited to see how your experiment works out. As for color...a wash of gray might be lovely.
Good luck!
I think there is no worse idea than having rug in the bathroom... at least this flooring you are doing will be sealed and can be wiped off - how do you wipe male leaks in a rug - don't get me started on that.
I think your idea is brilliant as long is sealed with marine grade poli, so it doesn't rot. you save money and create a warm ambiance - I would paint it a light white/grey wash.
Yikes- I'm curious to see how this turns out. I would suggest you paint both sides of the wood. Sometimes it warps when you only paint one side. I can't imagine pre-cutting a floor since most rooms are not plumb. And if you do try to tile later, those small boards might present a problem if they don't fit exactly with the floor joists. Best of luck.
Oh I've been thinking about this for so long!
I love OSB, everytime I see it around I always think about wrapping my whole place with it.
I've been doing reserches about it but finally came to realize it wasn't suitable as a finished flooring for various reasons, one of which was that, expecially in humid ambients, the edges tend to expand a lot, cause water has got many more ways to get in than with a regular wooden floor.
But if you heard different things, then please tell me, as I still haven't given up doing it! And tell us how it goes.
There's tile out there that retails in the $1-$2 square foot range - and at some tile outlets you can get it for even less.
Considering a typical bathroom floor isn't that large (5'x8' with a 30" wide bathtub = 27.5 Sq/Ft) - you could pay as little as $100 for tile, mastic, grout and the weekend rental of a tile saw...
...or you could go the vinyl self-stick tile route for $1 square foot: $40, tax included.
Bepsf- thanks for looking out for our budget but there is nothing "typical" about converting a room that used to hold ceremonial robes for the church into a bathroom. Those are the joys of flipping a space that is a bit different.
If you're just careful to keep a little bath rug to catch any drips coming out of the shower, I bet you'll really extend the life of that floor.
I know bath rugs can be annoying but they're a must with semi-porous flooring!
I did the wood floor thing in my kitchen and as long as you do layers and layers and layers of varnish/acrylic (probably spar varnish is best) you are good to go.
Clever use of material. Bet it will look great. A clever modern painted pattern underneath the marine grade spar varnish would help hide future dirt, stains, and wear. It will certainly work and last for years, properly finished. Remember, boats have been made from wood for centuries. And engineered is actually more stable than dimensional lumber.
I'm very curious how you plan to seal this, particularly given how uneven the surface of this material tends to be. It could look really great if you have a viable plan to protect it from moisture, dirt & uneven wear and guard your bare feet against splinters, but it seems to me like that could be a big "if."
Mom's a realtor in the Hamptons and a couple of years ago she took me to an amazing "inside-out" house (ex:shingles inside the house in the hallway off the bedrooms). Anyway- the entire kitchen floor was plywood. It was really cool and house was on the market for over $6mil. Who would have thought.
I realize that my comment may be a bit late. However, another good option is to have them cut the cement board to look like large tiles. Then, you could seal that nicely. I think that I even saw where a person used a color stain with a sealant. In any case, good luck.
Seal with oil based primer first, then paint whatever color you want, then seal it. It makes a great floor, I had it in another house for several years, and it was really cool.
sarahrae, Are you blogging your house projects anywhere? I'd love to see it. I keep seeing snippets and I would like to see more. Thanks.
I'd vote for orange and yellow floors - unless you're going for the naval look, grey doesn't appeal to me.
Oh Oh...this is the second reference to "Star Wars" I've found on AT in 5 minutes of surfing...is that a trend?!
I once saw it painted a high gloss black. It looked amazing because with the high gloss you could still see the texture of the board from the different angles of the wood chips reflecting the light.