Ideal BIFL durable powder room design

Submitted by emorymom t3_10ivej7 in BuyItForLife

Most DURABLE, trend free choices that will fit in a transitional style home and require minimal maintenance?

I’m thinking of doing a polyaspartic marbled look floor continuous with the powder room (the engineered hardwood has exceeded its lifespan) which should last forever (my forever). I need a wall or wainscoting choice that will hold up without any issues. I’d like to keep the pedestal sink so there is no cabinet to get worn down. But I don’t want it up against painted drywall anymore. Regular size tile or large tiles? Wood or vinyl paneling (with time to off gas)? Faucets that have a durable finish? Is there a way to seal mirrors so the won’t have the edges eventually turn black under the glass?

Have any of you made these choices?

Thanks :)

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Agreeable-Tadpole461 t1_j5gtwxd wrote

We did plain white subway tile the same as you would install wainscotting. It has no "time", it's clean and finished looking, and we dress things up with decor.

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Quail-a-lot t1_j5gv7x5 wrote

We use an IKEA sink that is one piece. No countertop interface to caulk other than the faucet. I don't know how you are wearing down a cabinet. No tiling, vinyl plank flooring - make sure it is the waterproof and not just resistant. We built our own cabinetry including the medicine cabinet, use Blum hinges and slides and good quality finishes. Don't paint your cabinets unless you hate yourself. I avoid tile like the plague. If you want a backsplash, I would go with glass. One sheet. Fuck grout. Or have a custom countertop made with a taller backsplash. We did this in our kitchen so it goes right up to the bottom of the window trim.

If you want something other than drywall you could consider wood. Our toilet room and washroom are separate (don't ask, it's a weird house...you have to walk through the utility room to reach the toilet room) and we have v-groove in the toilet room.

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emorymom OP t1_j5hjld0 wrote

Let me give you an annoying example. Not the powder room but I discovered that a pet had puddled in the cabinet under the stove. Why? Who the heck knows. I ruined the finish on the cabinet floor splashing around enzyme trying to reach all the odor by recreating the original accident, only to oxidize the whole thing in desperation with an ozone generator, which broke up what was the last of the urea. I then bought a silicone tray to cover the now obviously water damaged cabinet floor plus contain the ice cream cone my future grandchild will inevitably dump into that same cabinet for no reason whatsoever. Total cost of this fiasco well over $50 not counting the depreciation if I don’t end up making sure no one can tell this ever happened.

I mean — cabinets.

I’m not sure LVP can last as long as floor tile or polyaspartic? I’m planning on polyaspartic because it’s supposed to wear like hell and I need a maintenance break somewhere. Every time an appliance needs to be replaced (which happens) it’s an opportunity for the floor to get torn up or dented. My powder, kitchen, breakfast and laundry rooms are continuous and they all have badly worn floor.

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Quail-a-lot t1_j5hssvg wrote

The trouble with tile, aside from my innate hatred of grout, is that it is a pain if ever you want to move something, things break when dropped on it, it tends to be slippery (which I find to be a safety hazard in a bathroom...although I suppose a shorter life would lessen how long BIFL needs to last for you), and it can still itself break.

With a wood cabinet you can always sand and refinish it if something really horrible happens. We did that with a section of flooring here that they left something on top of that molded. Yelch. We will eventually refinish the whole floor, but at the time we were more interested in getting electricity and running water. We are pretty tempted to replace all of the wooden flooring with vinyl plank, as terrible as that sounds. We'd had it for over a decade very happily in our last house. This one has Douglas fir floors with only a light coat of linseed oil on them. We have sanded and properly refinished one room so far but doug is just a terrible wood for a floor, especially on a farm. Much too soft! Anyhow, the couple rooms we have put the plank in we really love and have not have issues with it getting torn up. The key is not to cheap out.

I will say 100% do not get concrete. It is not low maintenance and is far more delicate than you would think. This place had concrete countertops and we replaced them. The polyaspartic scratches and chips easily as a floor covering and is also prone to denting. I would look up problems specifically when searching it rather than just all the glossy sales stuff and sponsorspam.

As for preventative, urethane on the cabinets is your friend. And so are shelf liners. Use shelf liners. They are friends. And not just for the kitchen, use em in the bathroom too! If a bottle starts leaking it'll be a million times easier to clean.

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The90sarevintage t1_j5o86bz wrote

Tile comes in different grades. We have high traffic tile in our home besides bedrooms.

If tiling floor best to get the industrial or hardness type to prevent cracks from Floor/Decor or another tile expert. Most tile at a big box is rated for walls, or low traffic areas.

Bought tile instead of other options because it’s flood resistant, water resistant, and pet resistant compared to other options - have pets and a pool.

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Quail-a-lot t1_j5piqtg wrote

Tile still involves grout and I passionately hate cleaning grout.

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