Laminate floor question!

[northender]

We've acquired some laminate from freecycle which we were going to use for the bathroom floor but it says unsuitable for bathrooms. Presumably this is because the moisture will warp it? Can you treat it with floor varnish to stop this does anyone know?

I doubt it. It will swell really bad if wet. Perhaps someone else will have experience of treating laminate.

glue it together to give it more waterproof protection

you must live in preston saw the lam on freecycle

i guess if its free you wont lose much but your time. I am sure warping is an eventual inevitability. If you go ahead prolong its life by making sure drips/wet patches are celeaned up quickkly, and trying to open windows or the door to improve ventilation and stop humid build up

We've got laminate flooring in our kitchen. I think the reason why it's not recommended for bathrooms is more to do with the fact that it's extremely slippery if water is spilled on it.

You can also get sealant (not glue) that you can put on the tongue and grooves to make them more watertight.

nooka
prob what i was thinking about
we got lam from b&q the other day just for bathrooms

small world dmo! Wherabouts are you? I guess we'll give it a try then. We only need it to last a couple of years until we change the bathroom completely. Thanks all.

i'm Garden Walk in Ashton near lane ends
hope floor works for you

i have spare green underlay for lam floor if you want it, as i have just had my b/room done

Yes please dmo. I'll CAT you if that's OK

Don?t do it!!! I know it is free so not wasting th ewood giving it a go - but there is a reason why some laminate just doesn?t work in a bathroom beyond slipperiness. My sister put a load down and glued it. Within 6 months it needed ripping up and re-doing. Water got underneath it somehow and it warped/rotted in places and was VERY nasty - also smelt badly when they lifted it up. If they had not redone it when they did, I would not have been surprised if it started to pool water underneath and mark the ceiling below.
You can?t seal the edges of laminate as wood naturally expands and contracts hence the "floating" bit of space under the skirting board to allow for expansion. This means it is very very hard to prevent moisture and water seaping in. The stuff designed for bathrooms is on a similar line to marine ply - specially treated and correct wood to cope with the damp and wet. That is also reason why certain stuff is better for kitchens than others.
Don?t waster your time laying stuff that you know will probably not see out a few months of wear - especially if the bathroom has a bath in it rather than just sink and toilet and is used by kiddies.
Sorry - prob not the response you want.

Thanks lemon tart. That's what I wanted, to know what could go wrong. Think we will do it for the room with just a toilet in and then use the rest for the hall and porch. I'm always cynical with these sort of things and think they're just a marketing ploy and couldn't find anything on the internet but as usual MN has come up trumps!

if you want underlay e-mail me
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