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Posted by Art on March 23, 2008, 6:22 pm
>>
>> > It is not the material itself, but the fact that water can leak down
>> > between the seams and rot out the underlayment or sub floor.
>>
>> Isn't the same true of ceramic tile?
>
> No. Well, yes, depending on conditions and/or the skill of the
> installer.
>
>> Grout absorbs water. I have a 18 inch
>> diameter hole in my 10 year old house subfloor that was covered with
>> ceramic
>> tile and plenty of mud that proves my point.
>
> There's more than one 50 year old tiled shower floor still in daily
> use of which the grout has not absorbed water and they are still as
> watertight as the day after they were grouted that suggest your floor
> suffered a breach of the seal.
>
> And, of course, there's building codes, none of which I am aware
> prohibit installing ceramic tile as a shower floor, although I guess
> the requirement of a watertight shower pan might suggest to some that
> grouted tile is insufficient insurance of watertightness.
>
> Still, if I had my heart set on using a laminated wood product in a
> bath environment I would adjust my heart to set upon seamless vinyl
> that looks like wood instead.
> -----
>
Maybe 50 years ago the installers knew how to put down a waterproof ceramic
floor but in my experience, that is not true today. As for vinyl, I've seen
plenty of vinyl floors with mildew eating thru the vinyl causing permanent
stains. Also vinyl is very difficult to clean. It looks like crap all the
time which is why sales have gone down more than 50% over the last decade.
Laminate has picked up most of the vinyl market share because it looks brand
new year after year. You guys have made me decide to run an experiment. I
will take a couple of laminate panels next week and snap them together and
keep a nice puddle over the seam for a few days and report back as to
whether the water gets thru. I will also work the seam to simulate movement
of the floor normally caused by walking on it. I'll report back.
Some manufacturers recommend that normally snapped together floors be glued
when installed in bathrooms. Others recommend that only for their laminate
square tile products, not for their long plank products.
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