Home DIY

On a similar bathroom floor question, does something nice exist that absorbs water? Because I hate bathroom matts that just get visibly grotty then washed then repeat.

I'd like something with natural (possibly even antibacterial) properties that can absorb water and dry feet out of the shower so people (my messy wife) don't traipse water through the rest of the (bare wood board) house/slip and kill themselves. If it comes in tiles or small liftable sheets for cleaning (a soak in the bath, can stand a vigorous scrub), great. Perhaps there could be some sort of draining system underneath for excess?

Or she could just use a towel properly etc.

Think I have a natural wood one from Habitat. Does the job well enough.

What would it be called? Like... "a wood bath matt tile"? I'm thinking of literally tiling the whole bathroom floor in it for clarity. I'm not thinking that hard obviously. It's not something I'm used to doing. Hence the idea.

I'm installing some alcove cupboards, with bookcases above, in our bedroom against a party wall. Is it worth adding some soundproofing material to the backs of them (which will be 6mm MDF)? I'm thinking about using the type of sound deadening material often used in vans.

OH SORRY BRO. Thought you meant a bath mat replacement....

http://www.habitat.co.uk/papua-natural-wooden-bath-mat-23489

That to me just sounds a bit like bodging something that should probably just be done right.

If you're going to re-do the shower, then putting down some waterproof floor matting and tiling over the top of it at the same time won't be a huge additional expense and will be a proper job.

I'm not really sure what you're asking here...

What alternatives there are to bath matts?

Maybe. I did think about putting down tiles but I like the way the boards look and feel. Can we work on the assumption that I want to keep the floorboards and the question is how to permanently waterproof them?

I suppose the proper thing to do if we want to keep the wood is to fill with wooden wedges, plane, sand and varnish/paint the whole thing.

I just wonder if that will be any more leak proof than what i've already done, especially if I just shore up the flexible rubber draughtex filler with colored silicone and repaint.

I did a pretty tidy job with the filler if I do say so myself. Used two different sizes and filled even the smallest gaps. No loose ends and it's all tucked away under the skirting.

What alternatives there are to bath matts?

I'm sure James Dyson already has his top team on this day and night.

Yes - but with soundproofing it's only worthwhile doing it if you do it properly. Some say that a well stocked bookshelf absorbs some sound, but that's more about absorbing reflections within your room to make it less echoey than preventing sound from coming through from the other side. Do you have cupboards at the bottom of the alcoves or are they currently empty?

If they're empty then to do a proper job you should remove the skirting and then fit new plasterboard (&skim) in one of the following configurations (in increasing order of both effectiveness and depth lost):

1: Dot and dab 15mm soundbloc board
2: Batten the wall with 1x2s and install 15mm soundbloc board
3: batten the wall with 2x2s and install high density rockwool insulation topped with 15mm soundbloc board
4: batten the wall with 2x2s and install insulation topped with a double layer of board.

The above only works well if you fill seal every gap with acoustic sealant and if you don't have bare floorboards. If you have bare floorboards it's pretty pointless doing anything to the party wall, as sound will just come up through the wall from under the floor!

You could lift the boards, lay some ply and waterproof matting and then re-lay the boards on top and fill the gaps as above. Wouldn't be that much extra work.

I really would like them to come up with an alternative to ironing - that would be great

Cheers @BobbyBriggs that's useful. The alcoves are empty so I'll be building both the cupboards and bookshelves on top. Unfortunately the alcoves are only about 600mm wide x 300mm deep so there's not really any room to lose. There's a 1600mm wide chimney breast between them, which I'm not planning on doing anything with, so there will always be a bit of noise. It's not a massive problem, just the occasional clunk from their wardrobes closing. I'm really just wondering whether this is an opportunity to add an extra layer and whether adding sound deadening material to the cupboard backs would be any better than just leaving them bare.

I'll leave a small air gap behind the cupboards which should help a bit, but they will be mounted on bare floorboards (the rest of the room is carpeted). Is it worth mounting them on something to isolate them from the floor?

I did think about putting down tiles but I like the way the boards look and feel. Can we work on the assumption that I want to keep the floorboards and the question is how to permanently waterproof them?

I think you would be better off putting down some sort of specially designed wooden flooring for bathrooms. Even more so if you are planning on painting anyway.

That said if you can be certain the enclosed cubicle won't let water splash out over the top, then I guess you could just fill the gaps and varnish/paint the floor. If people dry themselves properly next to the shower then you shouldn't need anything grippy.

I would say that other than some very rustic settings I don't think I've ever seen painted floors look good after any period of time.

I don't like bath mats. I want some sort of magical floor that isn't tiled but absorbs water to prevent wet footprints around the house and that doesn't rot or harbour germs. It could have some kind of drainage channel floor (possibly heated) underneath the tiled upper layer. The tiles potentially be lifted out for washing if required but if they're magical self cleaning things then fine. Wall mounted shitstation/sink so can be square /no need to be funny shapes.

Kind of like that habitat bath mat up thread but covering the entire floor of the bathroom. Because fuck mopping. And fuck bath mats.

I would like an alternative to rollers/painting. I'm the fucking worst/messiest painter in the world. Just did our hallway/remaining rooms over the weekend. So much wastage and such a shoddy job, even after multiple coats.

Thread: How much is a painter/decorator in Brighton to come and do our woodwork (sand where required/undercoat, gloss/satin etc) sills, doors, architraves, skirting etc. Because I'm fucked if I'm gonna do it. Would consider letting them ripping out much of it (particularly architrave) and replacing with new as the current stuff has about 40 years of poorly applied gloss but would want to make sure they did it carefully and didn't mess up the plaster because there's no way I'm going through that again in this house.

Possibly. Do you know what the situation is like on the other side? e.g bare board or carpet?

Yes your air gap will help, and I would also suggest mounting them on something and sealing all the gaps round the perimter. Even if it's just a bit of old carpet/underlay.

However if your concerns relate to doors closing on the immediate other side of the wall (from built in wardrobes in the alcoves?) then this is impact, rather than airborne sound, which is transferred through vibrations in the fabric of the building and hence a lot harder to tackle!

Sadly I know far too much about transfer of sound, due to living in one of the Warner Flats in E10/E17...

Sounds like that blue stuff you see at the swimming pool.

If you had a had a wooden drying matt like the one above in the shower and a heated floor then tiles should be ok because they would dry. Or a rubber floor (don't know if they work with underfloor heating) might work.

I actually think what you're describing would be gross and far less hygenic/easy to maintain if you think about all the places germs can breed in.

I actually think what you're describing would be gross and far less hygenic/easy to maintain if you think about all the places germs can breed in.

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magical

I want some sort of magical floor that isn't tiled but absorbs water to prevent wet footprints around the house and that doesn't rot or harbour germs.

Cork tiles?

Try telling that to my wife.

Flooring underneath tiling:

Going to lay kitchen floor tiles and half the current floorboards are knackered. I wouldn't mind stealing a few of the better ones to use in my hallway. If I remove all of these (18mm) floorboards, what thickness of ply would I have to use as a minimum for replacement? It would be a slight benefit height-wise if it was less than 18mm so that the was less of a step up from the hall to the kitchen due to the total height of tiles plus adhesive.

16 mm :)

Ground floor with around two feet gap above the hardcore ground.

I can't remember what thickness plywood I used in the bathroom ontop of the existing boards. Much have been 8mm at least. That totals 18mm floorboards plus 8mm ply = 26mm, so maybe 16mm ply as Dron suggests would be better.

Just put griptape down on the floor - should prevent bare wet feet from going too far.