Wood panelled look in a bathroom

[learning_rocks]

Hi All,

Sorry if I am in the wrong forum with this doubt.

In the new bathroom that we are building (Freestanding bath kept quite close to the wall since using concealed taps and controls fitted to that wall). I am planning to give the wall a wood panelled look (clean horizontal lines around 2 - 3 mm wide by 2 - 3 mm deep all the way from start of the wall to the end of the wall.

Attaching a bathroom design, the idea is to bring the same floor look in the picture to one of the walls where all the taps, spout and thermostatic controller will fit on to.

I was wondering if I could use 12mm marine or outdoor ply and route lines on the sheet. Not sure how to treat the cuts to make it waterproof. Also do I need to treat the ply in addition to it being marine, so that it does not warp.

Thanks,

Vin

 

[Marineboy]

MRMDF may be a safer bet and will rout more cleanly with no risk of splintering. Don’t expect it to be waterproof though. I used non MR MDF to do panelling in my hall and stairs, routing vertical grooves using Festool track to guide the router.

 

[Myfordman]

Almost all ply will splinter even if cut along the grain of the top layer. Also according to the depth of cut and variation in the ply, you could expose a glue layer in places which will show through your finish.
If you don't need visible grain, then MRMDF might be worth considering which will be highly water resistant with a paint/staining varnish coating. Much better behaved when grooving.

 

[MikeG.]

If you are trying to achieve a wood look, rather than have a painted finish, then I think you will be best off using solid timber. I certainly wouldn't suggest cutting shallow grooves in ply, because it will splinter like crazy. You can buy softwood matching board at any timber merchant, or, if you want hardwood, you'll need to machine something up specifically for the job (or have someone do it for you).

 

[learning_rocks]

MRMDF may be a safer bet and will rout more cleanly with no risk of splintering. Don’t expect it to be waterproof though. I used non MR MDF to do panelling in my hall and stairs, routing vertical grooves using Festool track to guide the router.

Thanks for the advice. So if a pick up a 12 mm MR MDF and route, it would work right? Also is there a way to treat it to make it waterproof?

 

[learning_rocks]

If you are trying to achieve a wood look, rather than have a painted finish, then I think you will be best off using solid timber. I certainly wouldn't suggest cutting shallow grooves in ply, because it will splinter like crazy. You can buy softwood matching board at any timber merchant, or, if you want hardwood, you'll need to machine something up specifically for the job (or have someone do it for you).

Hardwood panelling sounds good, not sure how / where to get a 12 mm board though. Would it warp as it's thin board / presence of moisture in the bathroom?

 

[learning_rocks]

Almost all ply will splinter even if cut along the grain of the top layer. Also according to the depth of cut and variation in the ply, you could expose a glue layer in places which will show through your finish.
If you don't need visible grain, then MRMDF might be worth considering which will be highly water resistant with a paint/staining varnish coating. Much better behaved when grooving.

Thanks for that

 

[MikeG.]

......Hardwood panelling sounds good, not sure how / where to get a 12 mm board though. Would it warp as it's thin board / presence of moisture in the bathroom?

There are a number of things you can do to keep timber fairly stable in these circumstances*. Firstly, you should finish both sides the same (albeit you don't need to cut back or polish the unseen surfaces). Secondly, do a pair of parallel relieving cuts, a third of the depth of the wood (roughly) along the backs parallel with the grain and dividing the width into approx thirds. Finally, pin them properly, so that one pin traps both the board it is in and the leading edge of the adjoining board (ie each board only has one nail per batten per board, and that is either done "secretly" or is very close to the edge. You'll need T&G boards or half lapped boards.

* A moist room such as a bathroom can be easier on timber than particularly dry areas, such as, say, adjacent to a boiler, airing cupboard or radiator.

 

[Marineboy]

MRMDF may be a safer bet and will rout more cleanly with no risk of splintering. Don’t expect it to be waterproof though. I used non MR MDF to do panelling in my hall and stairs, routing vertical grooves using Festool track to guide the router.

Thanks for the advice. So if a pick up a 12 mm MR MDF and route, it would work right? Also is there a way to treat it to make it waterproof?

I’ve not got a lot of experience with MRMDF but unless it’s going to be splashed with water on a more or less continuous basis I think it would be ok with a good paint finish, eg Sadolin or Bedec MSP.

 

[thomashenry]

Definitely not ply!

I'd go with off the shelf solid wood (I'd go with oak) TnG flooring. When installing, rather than butting the pieces right up to each other, leave a 2/3mm gap as you like (use a spacer!). This will give you both the look you want, plus will give plenty of room for each piece of wood to expand and contact. Very easy to do as well - just screw onto battens.

EDIT. Basically- "what MikeG said".

Would avoid routing channels in MDF like the plague.