what finish for bathroom floorboards?

[scubadoo]

Hello,

I've finished all the other rooms with water-based dye, sanding sealer and wax as described by Toby Newell and want to get the same look in the bathroom but need something that won't be marked by water. Any suggesions? I don't really want to use a varnish.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Essex]

Great question, just what I wanted to know too

 

[scubadoo]

No answers though sadly!

 

[Ian Bond]

I will need to finish my bathroom floor in the next few weeks, so have been wondering about this myself.

I don't like the idea of varnishes either, and the floor is currently untreated bare boards. This product came up when I searched the site of my local supplier:

http://www.womersleys.co.uk/pdfs/aquasolhardwax.pdf

I've bought lime products from them in the past, but have never used this Aglaia Natural paint. I note that it's made by Beeck, whose mineral paint we discussed on another thread...
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9106

The PPUK Shopping button takes you to the 'Old House Store' which is also selling something along the same lines - might not be suitable for bathrooms though - hard to tell from the limited info.

http://www.periodpropertyshop.co.uk/acatalog/Woodwork_Treatments_and_Finishes.html

Might be worth giving them a call and asking?

I'm a bit skeptical that any floor treatment is going to provide perfect, long lasting protection in a bathroom. I'm more inclined just to clean the floor up, wax it, protect it with a mat and accept minor stains and blemishes that are bound to accumulate as part of the patina. My main concern is repairing the damage done to the floor over the years by careless plumbers, saving as much of the flooring as possible and stopping up some of the gaps particularly around the bath.

I suppose if I really want a flawless and easily cleaned floor I could reinstate the vinyl-on-hardboard that my predecessors left :wink:

Strange noone else has replied to this question, it must be a common problem - unless they've all got carpets in the bathroom!!!

 

[Ian Bond]

Just been looking through my folder of building products, and found a leaflet for this Nutshell stuff. My better half discovered this on the web, and thought it might be worth looking into. Not got 'round to it yet.

http://www.nutshellpaints.co.uk/docs/Herb & Resin Oil.pdf

Their Floor and furniture wax page says 'Not suitable for areas where there is standing water. For worktops, window sills etc, we recommend the use of Nutshell Herb and Resin Oil, or Nutshell varnishes.'

Sounds delicious!

Looks like you can put wax onto the resin oil treated surface too. It all seems to be based on boiled linseed oil, wax and lead free drying agents.

And there's this stuff too, from Holkham. I've used their linseed paints for windows, so might try the wax for my floors...
http://www.holkham.co.uk/linseedpaints/o_linseedwax.html

I'm not going to fork out money on all of these products, and my instinct still tells me to go for a simple wax finish. It also depends on how expensive these things are - would hate to spend a lot on a product and find out it's no better than a cheaper wax finish anyway.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

Those who have read my floor related posts before will not be surprised when I recommend Osmo PolyX wax-oil for your application. The advantages of this product are very easy application, excellent water resistance, and very easy maintenance and repair. It doesn't seem to crack or chip, being relatively flexible. Small areas of damage can be touched in invisibly, and when the time comes for recoating it's just a scotchpad clean up and brush on another coat.

When I put my oak bathroom floor down about 3 years ago I used a 2-pack pU varnish. Big mistake. It's now cracking up, and will need to be sanded off completely. This time I'll be applying Osmo.

Being naturally wet and splashy places I'd say that the bathroom is one place where you really need something a bit more durable than a simple wax finish.

 

[Ian Bond]

Sounds reasonable Andrew.

I agree that PU varnish is not good for old floors - from my own past mistakes and what I've read.

Will have a look into the Osmo wax as a possible finish and alternative to continual waxing and polishing.

Thanks

Ian

 

[scubadoo]

Thanks everyone.

I want to match the boards in the bathroom to those that i did in the hall with shellac sanding sealer and wax. Could the osmo wax be used over the shellac?

Dave