When building or remodeling a bathroom, people have shied away from using hardwood flooring in those spaces. The mantra that designers and architects have stuck to is wood and water dont mix.
The inevitably humid environment in a bathroom as well as unavoidable spills and splashes have the power to warp wood flooring, rendering it unattractive and encouraging the growth of potentially destructive and dangerous molds.
However, new finishes for hardwood flooring and creative designs are making wood floors in bathrooms a viable option.
To start with, you have to choose an appropriate wood to use. Choose a hardwood floor rather than a softwood floor, as softwood tends to absorb ambient moisture more, making it more vulnerable to damage. Particularly resilient and strong woods that could work in the bathroom are oak, maple, cherry, ash, walnut and hickory.
Polyurethane finishes on the hardwood floors make the floors resistant to most average bathroom conditions and should work in all but the most unceasingly humid and wet conditions. This finish uses synthetic resin, plasticizers and other film-forming elements to form a watertight seal that remains...