Hardwood Floor in Full Bath?

10 years ago

We are in year three of a 1900s Victorian house remodel in Wisconsin where we are refinishing all of the original hardwood floor in the house. Maple on the first floor, Fir on the second floor. We are converting a 2nd floor 1/2 bath into a full bathroom and would love to keep the old Fir floors into the bathroom.

We will be putting in a tub/shower, toilet, and double vanity. We have a 15 month old, so we need the tub (don't have one in the house).

Currently the T&G Fir floors are nailed directly to the joists with no subfloor. The gaps between the boards in the two rooms that have been refinished are very minimal, even in the winter.

My thoughts are to rip up the floor (have to anyways for plumbing and moving walls), polyurethane all sides of the boards, lay T&G Plywood, tar paper, then relay the old Fir floors with silicone between each T&G joint.

With a properly sized exhaust fan and general clean up of standing water, I think I should be ok. Any thoughts?

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Comments (3)

Olychick
10 years ago
I put oak floors in my bath remodel to match the rest of the house. I figure if they can make boats out of it, it can handle the moisture in a bath. Not as sure of the durability of fir and moisture, tho'. If you finish with a waterproof finish...(Swedish, poly, etc.) I'd think it would be fine and would look lovely. Not sure about poly on all sides of the boards tho'...wood seems to need to "breathe". Maybe someone will know about that aspect of your idea.
metzgerb
Original Author
10 years ago
I've heard the old growth Fir has such a tight grain structure that it should be ok. My thought on poly on all sides is to ensure it doesn't absorb any moisture... you may be right though.
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User
10 years ago
I might do that, and then put down some vinyl over that with just some quarter round and caulk holding it down at the edges. A 15 month old doesn't cause a bunch of issues----YET----just wait until a few more years have passed. . I'd certainly do wood floors (if you designed the tub area correctly to contain the moisture) for an adult inhabited space, but for a bath that a child is going to use, NO WAY!