Bathroom flooring wwyd

[Chubfuddler]

We have an old higglty pigglty cottage. The bathroom floor isn't square or flat. As such the cheap geometric pattern vinyl in situ looks crap. I don't think ceramic tiles would work due to higglty pigglty nature of floor.

What would you do? Carpet no no obviously. Would you sand, paint Nd seal the floorboards or replace vinyl with something less crap (in which case I'd love you if you made some suggestions).

I'd try doing the floorboards first. I love painted floorboards.

are the floorboards rough, uneven and gappy? do draughts and dirt come through the gaps? Do you mind?

I would use ready varnished cork tiles, as they are warm, easy to lay and you can wipe them clean, plus the cork is flexible so the higgely piggely nature of the floor may not matter

Thanks for responses. I haven't inspected the boards, there is chipboard under the vinyl, but I suspect they are draughty gappy and varying widths. Cork tiles may be best.

you do get cork tiles - make sure you do not get natural but get the varnished ready done - as otherwise it takes bucket to varnish the tiles and you need them varnished in a bathroom - otherwise the cork will soak up any liquid.

Gappy boards will not look good if you try to sand and paint them, and they will usually be dirty and draughty.

If there is chipboard under the vinyl (it is an awful material and falls apart if damp) then I would recommend ripping it up and putting down WBP ply instead. It is waterproof and will give a smooth surface that will not wear holes in whatever you put on top. If you want to you can stain and varnish it and it can look quite presentable (like the deck of a boat).

If you are tiling, you need 18mm ply which is strong and rigid enough not to make the tiles crack, but for other surfaces 9mm will do, to bridge any unevenness. It is available in sheets 2440x1220mm so you will not need many joins unless it is a huge bathroom. Don't stain, varnish or paint if you intend to tile later, as the adhesive will not stick properly.

I'd do the floorboards if they're not awful.

If they are... how about rubber as a "less crap" alternative to vinyl. It would still end up uneven but that's not necessarily an issue as long as you don't choose a geometric pattern. It's thicker than vinyl so would cushion any uneven edges iyswim.

I suspect cork tiles might crack if they are laid over an uneven floor.