Hardwood floors in bathroom?

[hol]

What's the consensus regarding hardwood floors in bathrooms? Good idea, bad idea?  I like the look, but worry about durability with water all around...

[cajungal]

I would think that is a terrible idea. I'd do the wood looking tile instead. But, I do have two kids, and my bathroom floors do not stay dry for long.

[kaylie]

Ummm, very bad idea. The constant change in moisture level would be hard on them as would the fact that they would constantly be getting wet. I think installing them in a bathroom would void any manufacturer warranty. Maybe in a powder room, but even then I wouldn't risk it. Have you seen people who actually have hardwood in their bathrooms?

[kaylie]

May 2, 2013 11:06:04 GMT -5 @crackhabit said:

Put down tile, or if you must have the HW look, vinyl plank like that Allure stuff.

Yes, I think those are the two best options if you want that look. Laminate flooring is also not appropriate for bathrooms.

[Susie]

Tile is the only thing I'd consider putting into a bathroom - full or half.

[munkii]

Wood-like tile is available everywhere and is beautiful in every application in which I have seen it used. Go that route and skip the real thing.

[IIOY]

We have had HW in our powder room for more than 8 years and it has done just fine, even surviving an overflowing toilet. I would never in a full bath because of the moisture. I think a kitchen would be iffy. If you can stay on top of water spots and clean them up immediately it might work, but we have tile and I feel like there are constant water spots. I could spend all day cleaning them. Friends of our have HW in their kitchen and half of it is greyed out from water spots.

[sierramist03]

We have tile and its the only room there is tile I'd hate to see all the water spots a hw floor would have beside the fact of buckling

[mrs.jacinthe]

We have hardwoods in our downstairs bathroom. Not our doing. It looks awful and is all water-damaged. Don't do it.

Go with the hardwood-look tile.

[InBetweenDays]

We have hardwood in our powder room and it's fine. But I would never put it in a bathroom with a tub or shower.

We also have hardwoods in our kitchen with no issues at all. It's been 4 years and we don't have any water damage or water spots (and we have two kids and two big dogs that drool and tend to carry/drip a quart of water around after they drink).

[simpsongal]

Ditto - it's fine in a powder room but not in a room w/shower or tub. We have hardwood in the kitchen and I LOVE it. (convert from no-hardwoods-in-the-kitchen position).

[mollybrown]

We have hardwoods in our powder room. The rest of the first floor is wood, so it never occurred to us to use anything else. I'll just have to kill the first person that overflows the toilet

[adhdfashion]

HD carries that tile that looks like wood.

[mollybrown]

May 2, 2013 12:06:55 GMT -5 @crackhabit said:

May 2, 2013 12:05:47 GMT -5 mollybrown said:

We have hardwoods in our powder room. The rest of the first floor is wood, so it never occurred to us to use anything else. I'll just have to kill the first person that overflows the toilet

HAZARD: POOP AT YOUR OWN RISK

I seriously just made a mental note to tell H to start handling his business upstairs.  He's going to think I've lost it.

[april37]

We had wood floors in our bathroom in our first house. They were original to the home (built in 1972) and I actually loved them. I loved how warm it was on my feet (think cold midwest winters). They looked beautiful. We never had problems with leaking toilets, etc so I could see how that could be a problem.

[wawa]

May 2, 2013 13:30:23 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

May 2, 2013 11:59:55 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Ditto - it's fine in a powder room but not in a room w/shower or tub. We have hardwood in the kitchen and I LOVE it. (convert from no-hardwoods-in-the-kitchen position).

We have hardwoods in our kitchen right now too.  We've had them in there for 7 years.  Never had a problem.

I admit I am confused by the water spots comment.  Damage from leaks - yes.  Water spots?  Huh?  

I feel like you'd have to have a pretty shittastic sealer on your hardwoods in order to see water spots.  Maybe I'm just not understanding what is meant by that.

[mrs.jacinthe]

wawa - we have both shittastic finish on the floors and crappily installed floors. It's a real pleasure to go in there and I don't even want to *think* about the ick in the crevices between boards.

However, yes, we have water spots - big patches of grayishness on the finish, near (but not in contact with) the shower. Apparently when the previous owners used the shower there, they just left water on the floor instead of mopping it up with a towel. Or something. It's a real joy (and yes, we're tearing the floor out at some point and putting in something else.

[hbomdiggity]

Our (full) baths have hardwoods. Its weird.

I can't think they were original in the original bath, but they must have done a good match job at some point. We took the hardwoods out and put down hex tile.

Our second bath used to be a bedroom so it is original hardwood. When we redo the floor plan (including this bath) it will not have hardwood. The kitchen will also be redone and we are undecided whether to keep hardwood.

[ssmjlm]

We put wood looking tile in our master bath. Sorry to post and run, but here's a blog post with a few pics.

www.wivesunscripted.com/2012/03/27/master-bath-before-after/

[hol]

Thanks for all the replies! We are putting hardwood in our master bedroom and i want to replace the vinyl floor in the master bathroom too, and I was considering just doing it all hardwood, but sounds like that's a bad idea. I'm loving the wood looking tile idea though!