I'm not so sure about chipboard bathroom floors!
AL_n
The house I bought recently has chipoard floors instead of floorboards.
It's the first house I've owned with such floors. In most of the rooms, the
chiboard isn't a problem, but I'm learning that it was probably not a good
choice for the bathroom. I mean, if you cover the floor in lino or vinyl
tiles, and then you get a leaky tap connector that starts a little
occasional drip, before you know it, the chipboard under the vinyl has
become soaked and you've got a big ugly problem. I've finally cured all the
little leaks in the bathroom (courtesy of the previous owner's dodgy
plumbing skills) and dried the chipboard floor out after removing the vinyl
tiles. I will now replace all the tiles, and just hope I don't get any more
leaks. My last house had its bathroom downstairs, where the floors were
solid. There's a lot to be said for that arrangement!
I was thinking of painting the chipboard with thin varnish or something to
make it waterproof, but I fear it would still get soaked, via the joints,
and then it would take forever to dry it out, due to the varnish sealer.
Anyone got any ideas/tips/comments on chipboard bathroom floors?
Al
Gio
"AL_n" <fgdf...@fghfghfg.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9E04E032...@130.133.4.11...
We use the green moisture resistant variety throughout. Why folk fit
standard stuff is beyond me. Cost is not that different and it does not
swell or crumble. We had some off cuts laying about the garden for years
following our self build extension. The children used it for bike ramps etc.
The colour faded but the board retained its integrity.
No doubt removing and refitting is not something you want to do ? Would the
'Waterseal' type silicone fluid 'proof' your existing boards ? It is thin
and searching.
Gio
The Natural Philosopher
Only one. The bathroom MUST be puddle free, whatever technology you
cover the chip with.
I got mine that way, with tiles, and its just FINE. before I did, it
pushed all the tiles off one corner.
I fixed the leak, let it dry, used a thicker layer of flexible cement,
and grouted to save my life.
> Al
The Natural Philosopher
Oh yes it does.
Just marginally slower.
Gio
"The Natural Philosopher" <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:i85l68$jo4$4...@news.albasani.net...
in water all the time. The clue may be my reference to 'moisture resistant'
and not saying it was waterproof. ;-)
The Natural Philosopher
Basically an unseen small drip from the loo coupling collected where the
tiles sloped very slightly towards he wall. soaked into the grout,
through and blew the tiles off.
>
Gib Bogle
I will be facing this issue when I finally get to redoing our bathroom, which
currently has small ceramic tiles on chipboard. There is only one very small
area next to the shower where water has got to the chipboard and caused half a
dozen tiles to come adrift. As a temporary measure I made sure it was dry and
applied a couple of coats of a low-viscosity two-pot epoxy. My current plan,
when we lift all the tiles, is to apply at least two coats of polyurethane to
the chipboard before retiling. I know that polyurethane isn't totally
waterproof, but I don't think it needs to be. The main thing is not to allow
water to lie on the floor.
The Natural Philosopher
Or to make the floor TOTALLY waterproof. Tiles are. Silicone is. Grout
is NOT...normally.IIRC additives can make it so, though.
One tip is to e.g. seal round edges of shower trays and baths with
flexible silicone BEFORE you tile. that avoids the 'slight flex, grout
cracks' problem by and large.
Tim W
>
> Anyone got any ideas/tips/comments on chipboard bathroom floors?
>
Plywood screwed to the joists is a better floor, even shuttering ply is
alright.
Not much help to you I know,
Tim W
The Natural Philosopher
Both will swell when wet.As will MDF. Or any wood based product.
Unless you want to go to the level of purely mineral based sub flooring,
in which case the problem is likely to end up rotting the joists
underneath, instead, the issue of making a semi wet-room inside a wood
structure is perfectly simple: Namely at one level or another there
needs to be a completely impervious membrane or barrier wherever water
may collect.
That could be a waterproof plastic sheet under the tiles or it could be
a sealed welded vinyl covering of the floor carried up to the appliances
and skirtings, or it could be a well laid tile floor, with any likely
crack points sealed with flexible silicone before grouting, and a water
proof grout.
That, and sugfficient heat and ventilation, will hold pools till they
evaporate.
Anything else is substantially a bodge. If water does collect under a
not well laid impervious layer like tiles or vinyl it will cause mould
and stink and possibly stain, eve if it doesn't swell what's underneath
or rot it.
> Tim W
>
>
stuart noble
green stuff really was. If you've used it as a bike ramp after numerous
wet/dry cycles, I'd say it's very different to the standard chipboard,
which you can easily put your foot through if it ever gets wet.
Strikes me that if you have a long standing bathroom leak you're
probably going to have to replace part of the floor up anyway, whatever
it's made of.
stuart noble
> Tim W wrote:
>> "AL_n" <fgdf...@fghfghfg.com> wrote in message
>> news:Xns9E04E032...@130.133.4.11...
>> [....]
>>> Anyone got any ideas/tips/comments on chipboard bathroom floors?
>>>
>> Chipboard is a rubbish material. It has no virtues other than being
>> cheap. Plywood screwed to the joists is a better floor, even
>> shuttering ply is alright.
>>
>> Not much help to you I know,
>>
>
> Both will swell when wet.As will MDF. Or any wood based product.
>
more water resistant than any of them.
stuart noble
> "stuart noble"<stuart...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:dHBpo.9320$kL4....@newsfe29.ams2...
>> On 02/10/2010 02:42, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>> Tim W wrote:
>>>> "AL_n"<fgdf...@fghfghfg.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:Xns9E04E032...@130.133.4.11...
>>>> [....]
>>>>> Anyone got any ideas/tips/comments on chipboard bathroom floors?
>>>>>
>>>> Chipboard is a rubbish material. It has no virtues other than being
>>>> cheap. Plywood screwed to the joists is a better floor, even
>>>> shuttering ply is alright.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Well, exactly, so you might as well use green chip, which is probably more
>> water resistant than any of them.
>>
>
> dry to very wet, will shrink again when you mend the leak and won't lose
> it's strength (until rot sets in). Chipboard/mdf will swell to twice their
> own thickness, lose their structural strength and never be any good again,
> moisture resistant or not. Quality plywood probably is better than anything
> but quality costs although even cheap ply is better than chipboard.
>
> Tim W
>
>
Might be easier to just replace the wet timber/chip/ply rather than
waiting for it to dry before you can re-lay the floor.
Sounds like you don't have any faith in green chip. My limited
experience of it suggests it is virtually waterproof, being of a totally
different construction to standard chip.
The Natural Philosopher
not really. It's still a wood product.
ANY standing water on ANY wood product will degrade it.
So it doesn't matter really waht you use. ALL have to be waterproofed by
something else, properly.
green doesn't fall apart when wet, thats all really. But neither does
marine ply etc.
The Natural Philosopher
simply let it dry. That's what I did. The green shite went back to its
original size. More or less. Good enough to tile anyway.