Laying lino in bathroom

[LittleEars]

I need to lay some lino in the small bathroom. Never done it before and everyone who has says they don't want to do it again!

It currently has a lino floor. I thought about pulling up the old, laying it over the new and cutting that, but I have been told that won't work because the lino will shrink once down. Is this true?

 

[Dee J]

I need to lay some lino in the small bathroom. Never done it before and everyone who has says they don't want to do it again!

It currently has a lino floor. I thought about pulling up the old, laying it over the new and cutting that, but I have been told that won't work because the lino will shrink once down. Is this true?

Not sure at what point in the process it would shrink. Whether it's cut to size before, or cut during install that's only a matter of minutes difference. Never seen any lino shrinkage in the small amount of DIY install I've done, and precut ting is certainly easier than fighting an uncut piece in a small space.

 

[Tris]

Only issue I can see is if it stretches as it's lifted

 

[Just4Fun]

I have known lino on a kitchen floor to shrink. That was a bigger area than most bathrooms though and I don't know if the lino would shrink enough to be a problem in a bathroom. In the kitchen the lino was laid in 2 pieces and a gap developed between the 2 that eventually grew to about 10 mm.

I fitted lino on the floors of a couple of en-suite WCs, so quite small areas. The way I did it was to remove the skirting boards, run the lino up the walls then re-fit the skirting boards so the lino was sandwiched between the wall and the skirting. My thinking was that I could always win a bit of lino from behind the skirting boards if shrinkage became a problem. I have not had to do that though. This approach might also reduce water damage problems when the floor gets wet, as only the skirting rather than the wall is likely to get wet.

I think one reason people might not want to fit lino in a bathroom is that it can be fiddly. The lino might have to be fitted round water pipes, drainage pipes, WC etc. This is awkward to do in situ and it is difficult to get their relative placement accurate enough if you do it before laying it. Like most fiddly things it is frustrating and easy to get wrong, but it isn't rocket science and can be done if you are patient.

 

[MARK.B.]

I have laid a few lino floor coverings in bathrooms/toilets/kitchens and have never had a problem with shrinkage. It can be a bit fiddly to do when working around the fittings and you need to be careful not to crease or tear the lino ,if you can use the existing covering as a template then that will help. Buy a good quality lino and make sure you use a sharp blade,take your time and you should not have any problems.

 

[Geoff_S]

Have you considered lino tiles rather than one big piece of lino?

 

[LittleEars]

Thanks all

 

[Spectric]

Depends what you are going to accept as a finished job, if looking for that well fitted look with no gaps I would suggest getting someone experienced to lay it for you because you can all to often spot the DIY flooring and tiling jobs a mile off.

 

[niall Y]

I used a full sized template to cut the vinyl we have in our very small, bathroom. It was made up of stiff paper, cut roughly to size, with extra pieces cut and glued in position, to follow every detail of the profile. It worked a treat, despite me having put it off, in case it ended up looking like a 'pig's ear'. There were no pipes to contend with, but I did get a nice fit around the W.C, the sink pedestal and into the door opening.

If you are doing it on a cold day you will need to warm the covering to get it to lay flat, especially if it is real Linoleum. As others have commented - it's a lot more forgiving, if you use tiles

 

[Stuart Moffat]

All above comments are right. Difficult to work with a rectangle as you might with,say, more flexible carpet. If you are able to remove or cut out the existing covering though you have a good template ready made.pick pick on a long straight section as the bit you will line up first when fitting, then cut the rest 10 mm bigger and the job becomes a lot more doable. Have done one of ours like that about 2 months ago, another about to be done the same way.

 

[robgul]

We had some expensive, heavy duty lino installed professioally in an en suite shower room (on 3mm plywood laid over the floorboards) - it was OK but after about 5 years did start to deteriorate . . . some cracking at the edges where the stuff did seem to be very brittle, as well as a few hairline cracks here and there. The edges were sealed with a good bead of silicone when installed but nevertheless failed.

It was replaced with a tile product (actually Amtico at great expense) which was altogether far better and was still going strong after about 15 years (and probably still is, we moved nearly 3 years ago)

I would certainly avoid any sort of sheet material unless you have a completely clear space (i.e. no basin, bath, WC etc to work around)

 

[Lorenzl]

We had vinyl flooring fitted in two bathrooms and used a fitter as I wanted a good job. Both cut the vinyl in situ. I was told to unroll the vinyl a couple of hours before fitting to allow it to flatten.

Has your old lino shrunk; if not why should the new?

I have done int myself in the past - cutting in situe and it was a pain cutting around the toilet and basin plinth. This time I fitted those after the vinyl was laid.

 

[PDW125]

Depends what you mean by “lino” as if you’re talking the stuff from your carpet shop on a roll then that’s more than likely Vinyl or PVC. It can be prone to stretch but if you do it carefully then it is fine. Fit roughly into place and cut to size then roll back and use a decent spray contact adhesive and slowly reinstall, make your last cuts around things like the WC etc with a very sharp knife.