Waterproofing Bathroom floor - MDF floor under Bath!

[DungunGirl]

Hi there

People that we bought our house off seemed to do everything on budget!

Even though there is hardwearing lino flooring in the bathroom, remove the bath panel and there is bare MDF floor under the bath tub.

The bath and the wall are not flush so as soon as the bath sealant starts to age a bit, we start getting water escaping down the wall and seeping into the floor.

Is there a cheap/quick way to waterproof the wall/floor around and under the bath tub? I was thinking about painting it with Weatherproof exterior paint OR Garage floor paint....OR....try and get hold off some Epoxy industrial floor paint....

Any ideas? or suggestions? Or lessons how to do this properly?

Could you replace the sealant? -

The MDF floor underneath may well be moisture resistant MDF.

If you are going to do the house up at some point, just replace the sealant. When you eventually do up the house the wall can be skimmed to hold the bath better. I am not sure doing anything else will really benefit you as opposed to just ripping it out and starting again.

Clare

Source - Husband is a tradesman, I am his secretary! lol

LikerabbitsBX

Thanks for the response, unfortunately, we have changed the bath sealant several times. We've been in this house a couple of years now and I have to change the sealant every 4-6 months because it starts to leak.

The MDF floor underneath.....I think isn't moisture resistant...as the moisture has already seeped through to the kitchen ceiling and the paint is peeling along what I can only assume is the line where the MDF pieces join.

We have had water dripping from the ceiling on some occasions!

We do want to rip it all out eventually and re-do the whole bathroom - new suite and tile the whole room floor to ceiling BUT I am on maternity leave and we cannot afford to do anything right now.

Thanks for the tip though....

we have marine plywood around our bath, which seems to be ok. we are saving up to tile it !!

also, there is stuff called mermaid board which is waterproof and you can buys rolls of stuff to waterproof/tank the area.

best to get an expert opinion , just to advise you on what to do yourselves

This is from diydoctor.org about installing a bathroom suite -

"The floor had undoubtedly been soaked on more than one occasion, but it was laid in sections and the water had just run through the joints. We checked if it was solid and not rotten by pushing (or rather not pushing) a screwdriver in and then absolutely soaked the floor in Cuprinol 5 Star wood preserver. This protects against Rot and Wood boring insects and is very effective. Wear a mask for the application, and open the window. Go and have a cup of tea while the smell and fumes wear off"

Hope this helps.

Should have added that they are qualified tradesmen who wrote that piece not a DIY person!