You could ...but its not the wisest choice. Any wood flooring in an area that can see water is a bad Idea. Tile for these areas are the best choice. Bamboo is also one of the "lesser" hardwoods ...actually it is a grass and in order for it to be used as a flooring product it has to be highly "processed". As another concern for those wanting to be "green" despite bamboo being a grass and growing fast. The amount of embodied energy used JUST to transport it halfway around the world puts
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bamboo on the naughty list. This transport puts its energy levels well above those for concrete's MANUFACTURE AND TRANSPORT.....which in green circles is still one of the worst in terms of energy costs.
While there is no product out there that I am aware of that copies the look of bamboo, there are some products from a tile distributor named Happy Floors that will give you a bamboo feel. They come in a 12 x 24 inch tile. The one I have in mind is called "Bambu'". Comes in 4 colors, I believe. You may try www.happyfloors.com to find a dealer near you. I would NOT put bamboo or any other wood floor in a bathroom.
There have been several posts to hometalk about bamboo not reacting very well to wet areas in the house. We have installed hardwoods in bathrooms before, but gave careful instructions on how to maintain them.
I've been thinking it's a DIY'er; would be my second bathroom tile install; but....I think I'll take a look at the installers and it might be worth my time to pay someone else. Thanks!
I personally like to install tile, but have found a professional tile setter is faster and the proper tools to do a good job. If you have a good tile saw and other hand tools already then you are half way there.
With the proper zen mindset, it is satisfying; and I do have a tile saw and trowels, etc, so I probably don't have a real good excuse to hire someone; still going to get some quotes and see, though. thanks for the good feedback..
Mike...my first tile saw was a small 4" bench top for 100 bucks...I now use a 10" dewalt that cost 10 times as much as that first one...Ripping 16" travertine is like cutting butter...good tools allow for good work.
Mike, just a few suggestions on your tiling project. We recently remodeled two bathrooms and all the floors in our home. We used porcelain tile on the floors in living areas and wood in the bedrooms and stairway. First I recommend you buy a rectified tile and then use Prism grout. By using a retified tile and Prism grout you'll be able to have smaller grout lines (1/16") and the Prism grout is stain resistant. We used the same tile(20"x20") on our floors in kitchen, great rm, dining rm,
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kitchen, bathrooms and shower walls and I love it. It has been easy to clean and the grout has lived up to the claims. I would caution you on porcelain tile as a diy project as the guys that installed ours all said it was very hard to cut through...very dense. Good luck..hope this info helps.
Thanks Becky, that's really practical advice. I had been thinking I wanted as small a grout line as possible. One last big question: is it better to remove the toilet and tile under it, or cut tile to fit around it? I can't remember how I re-seated the toilet a few years back when I did my downstairs bathroom.
Mke...you definitely want to pull the toilet...tiling around it is a pain in the butt and looks like crap. What I do for these is remove the two nuts( and the supply line) that holds the toilet and lift it out. I'll place a few layers of cardboard or a scrap of old carpet in the bath tub and set the toilet in there on that. Any overflow from the toilet goes harmlessly down the tub drain.
Tile the floor as normal and grout it. Then to reset the toilet get a new re-inforced wax
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ring...and a plain wax ring. Remove the old wax ring, set the new re-inforced wax ring over the flange and then set the second wax only ring on top of that. This extra layer of wax will compensate for the added thickness of the backer board and tile.
As Sawhorse noted - if you want wood....have wood...how big is the bath? Take precautions to not get much water on it and you'll be fine. We've put wood in baths and kitchens without much issue but I still try to steer clients away from wood in both places. But if that's what you want...Bamboo is a great product. How big is the bath? If it's smaller, I'd go with tile....larger..try the bamboo.
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I usually wrap the toilet in an old moving blanket and place it in the tub...try to get all of the water out of the trap before you move it...you can double up the ring as KMS suggests...but we usually reset the flange to the new height...it's more work but then you're all set....if it's a plastic flange go ahead and add the metal flange plate over it for strength..doesn't cost much and will save you a ton of headaches down the road. When I change out a toilet or make a repair on a rental....I add this ring in where possible. Line up the slots and you can screw it to the subfloor for added support.
I've seen people using the plastic toilet bolts (?) why I have no idea...get the brass ones. HandyANDY does a ton of toilet replacements and repairs. Also, make sure you use a braided mesh supply line. We can refer you to some excellent tilers....hope it helps!
Tracie... Bamboo grows fast,so man consider it "green" the back side of the story is how...the bamboo is grown(often at the expense of native diverse ecosystems), its energy and Chemical rich manufacture, then the huge energy costs to transport. In just the transport dept it far exceeds the energy used to MANUFACTURE and Transport concrete...which is a very high embodied energy product.
On the durability side carbonized bamboo ( the more common darker version) comes in below many
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domestic hardwoods and far below premium tropical woods.
Good luck and post pics when your done
Tile the floor as normal and grout it. Then to reset the toilet get a new re-inforced wax ...»
Water and moisture is the worst enemy of wood flooring. So be careful bamboo may buckle and warp?????
I usually wrap the toilet in an old moving blanket and place it in the tub...try to get all of the water out of the trap before you move it...you can double up the ring as KMS suggests...but we usually reset the flange to the new height...it's more work but then you're all set....if it's a plastic flange go ahead and add the metal flange plate over it for strength..doesn't cost much and will save you a ton of headaches down the road. When I change out a toilet or make a repair on a rental....I add this ring in where possible. Line up the slots and you can screw it to the subfloor for added support.
I've seen people using the plastic toilet bolts (?) why I have no idea...get the brass ones. HandyANDY does a ton of toilet replacements and repairs. Also, make sure you use a braided mesh supply line. We can refer you to some excellent tilers....hope it helps!
A recent repair: http://youtu.be/2Bw4UxQSJzc
On the durability side carbonized bamboo ( the more common darker version) comes in below many ...»
I wrote a bit more about this on my blog.
http://kmswoodworks.wordpress.com/2010/04/18...