Greetings FHB braintrust,
What is your take on using a wood floor in a bathroom…specifically a teak floor? I am intrigued by the casual coolness of teak. I understand that I would not be able to finish the floor with a building finish like poly unless I was particularly fond of slip-induced broken bones and concussions on a wet wood floor. My idea was to use teak with whatever minimal penetrating finish that would be required that would still leave the surface with some grip but still enhance the natural water resistance of teak.
I would not care about water spots or stains, thinking that these would add to the character of the floor.
I would not be that concerned with the longevity: as long as I could get several years out of the floor I would be okay with this. The bathroom is pretty small and the material cost wouldn’t be that bad.
Any other wood species you would suggest?
Should I get tongue and groove and take a stab at creating a water resistant layer or should I get straight edged boards, face nail(stainless steel screw? brass screws with retainer cups?) them onto stringers that float over a membrane or something to provide the water resistance.I saw something like that in a FHB article once that looked stunning.
Many older homes such as mine used to have painted wood floors in the bathroom. Why not teak?
Thanks,
Phil
Replies
Hi Phil,
Sure, teak will work fine. There are wiping oil finishes called "teak oil" that will give the effect you want. Have at it.
Bill
I have put wood floors in baths and used h2o based poly with no problem concerning slipping a good bath mat will take care of that.
The problem with teak is the amount of oil in it presents compatibility issues with finishes adhrering so finishing it your self may be tricky. Though I did know some one that refinished a teak parket floor with a water based finish no problem but that was a twenty year old floor and pretty dry.
Lumber liquidators http://www.lumberliquidators.com/home.jsp has several specis of prefinished teak flooring . I've put oak and maple in baths. Just about any solid wood would be fine I would stay away from engineered wood and only go solid. even using prefinished flooring I might consider top coating it to seal it well between the boards.
Wallyo
Use caution.LL and probably others are foot loose and fancy free with naming woods.All TEAK is not TEAK..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Yep, there's AnnTeak also.
Forrest
Don't forget Miss Teak
<Don't forget Miss Teak>
Yeah, Miss Teak was a mistake - I mistook her in Mystic for my steak.
Forrest - what was the question?
what was the question?
I think it was what wood is appropriate for a Tiki bar'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
Now you have me thinking Mia Tia's at Don The Beachcommer's at The Royal Kona Hotel in Kona, the best in the world. How am I to get any work done this winter, now?Wallyo
Hey I know that hotel! The turnaround point during the Ironman swim is right next to it.Now you've got me thinking of Kona instead of running in 30 degree weather. LOLIf the bar's that great I'll have to check it out the next time I'm there.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
Wonderful view especially at sunset, the bar almost hangs over the water. Hotel rooms are not too great from what I heard but they are in the process of updating. Never stayed there we just went to a laua there, I was told the Mia tia's are the same both places. Try them next time.Wallyo
The kids' bathroom has an old heart-pine floor; careful sanding and a couple coats of oil-based poly (it was 15 years ago).
Has held up fine.
Big spills will run down through, though (hall ceiling).
Forrest
Thanks for all of your responses. I didn't factor in the natural oily-ness of teak. I guess I had always seen it on boats that had been exposed to alot of sun and had, as a result, dried out quite a bit. The teak also was a nice grey brown colour with that semi smooth feel under foot. That is what I was going for with the bath. I guess that, short of getting a whole lotta teak from a boat salvage yard, the nice grey brown teak look is likely not an option.I guess I will have to start sourcing out some suppliers in my neck of the woods (Calgary, Alberta, Canada).As for water proofness, the bathroom already has a tired vinyl floor in place. I guess I could just lay the teak right over that and rely a bit on the water resistance of the vinyl. I realize that the vinyl will have a few hundred more nail holes in it after the teak install. I cannot glue down as the dry conditions here really cause wood to shrink. Anybody slotted together a wood floor without actually nailing anything down? I know that this is done with laminate and cork floors but what about solid wood? The floor would be restricted on all floor sides walls so I doubt it would move. It may need the odd nail here or there but probably not very many. I know that I would have to make sure the ends were tongue and grooved also.Phil
Teak in a bathroom will work fine.I did two teak and holly bathroom floors for a friend who is a yacht broker. I'd go over his house and snag a pic, but they since divorced and the house was sold. But they looked totally cool.Don't worry about the oils in the wood. I have teak countertops and a teak tub deck in my own bathroom, finished with a film finish. No worries. I did teak countertops in my kitchen as well, but used mineral oil on those.My master bathroom has a brazilian cherry wood floor over radiant heat. No worries, no problems after 10 years.Mongo
This would eat up some height, but you could frame the floor on sleepers and allow gaps, then use something like EPDM sloping to a center drain under a floating floor of teak (built like pallets and just laid on the waterproof membrane over thiset to provide drainage slope over plywood over joists). The teak planks could be gapped slightly for drainage and I would not coat it or treat it with anything--although it may eventually oxidize and turn gray--though this would be a very slow process inside a house where it wouldn't be exposed to UV. Or, you could go ahead and varnish it and add silica to the varnish to prevent it from being slippery.
I know a guy who loved to sail and had teak on his boats and he put a teak countertop in his bathroom. I think he just used polyurethan varnish over it, but as another poster said, teak is naturally oily, so you have to wipe it down with naptha or something before applying the varnish.
Edited 1/23/2008 6:59 am ET by Danno
Teak and Holly floor in a bathroom would be great. What do you think they make the sole on a boat out of?
A few years ago, the word from those concerned with deforestation of tropical areas was to not buy any teak. However, there are now some teak sources from sustainable plantations. I have no idea how much of the current teak production comes from laying waste to rainforests, but if you have any environmental concern, you might want to check on the source of any teak you buy.
I should have mentioned that there is a fake teak laminate out there used on boat decks. Flexi Teak I think is the name. I did have it saved on an old computer. Might be a great look for not a lot of coins.
Very interesting stuff. I am going to blast them an email and check on the cost. Thanks for the heads up.Phi
I noticed that there are a few green teak suppliers that I have found. I'd pay the price premium.