February 7

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Do You Need Baseboards In The Bathroom? Learn Here

By Robin Hatch

February 7, 2022


Remodeling can give you the bathroom of your dreams. Baseboards in the bathroom are the most effective approach to ensure the room’s aesthetic and longevity during a typical home renovation or building project. Is it feasible to forego the baseboards to keep the layout sleek if you desire the most modern designs? Do you need baseboards in your bathroom?  

Baseboards are ideal for creating a tight-fitting joint between the wall and the floor. However, they might not be needed in a bathroom if the room is finished to a high standard. So if your room’s construction is nearly flawless, you can do without them.

This article will examine why baseboards are essential for your bathroom and when you could do without them. Continue reading to learn more. 

What Are Baseboards Used For?

Baseboards are a multi-functional house finishing item. They meet the demands of many different scenarios in your home, but notably in your moist bathroom.

Let’s look at some of the baseboards’ functions, which range from minimizing dents to preventing moisture seepage.

Protecting The Building From Water Damage

Drywall is used to make the walls of your home. This structure is composed of plaster blended with fibers, resulting in a light but effective wall piece. However, the combination is vulnerable to harm from many external factors, including water.

If water collects on the floor of a bathroom and then comes into touch with the drywall, it may severely damage the wall’s aesthetic finish and its structural integrity. Drywall may handle modest quantities of surface water but is not designed to endure prolonged moisture contact.

A baseboard protects the drywall by acting as a barrier. It is installed at the corner of the floor and the wall to offer a long-lasting barrier against collecting moisture.

Baseboards are also a lot easier and less expensive to replace than drywall. If the baseboards become damaged, you may repair the affected section rather than fixing the entire wall.

When the drywall is damaged, it compromises more than just the wet area. Moisture quickly penetrates the wall and can cause damage for many feet up.

Hide Uneven Walls

A wall should be constructed at a precise 90-degree angle. However, mistakes do occur. Even if you believe your walls are perfectly square, measuring them will reveal that they are positioned at an obtuse or acute angle.

A baseboard to cushion the border between the floor and the wall will help conceal any odd angle between the two surfaces. A direct floor-to-wall connection with a wrong angle would be obvious, but the baseboard works as a margin line, allowing for mistakes.

Protect Your Walls Against Dents and Stains

Baseboards serve as a form of wall bumper. They shield the walls from vacuums, mops, dropped goods, kicked toys, and spilled floor stains. Cleaning your bathroom floors regularly will likely result in an accumulative banging of the broom or vacuum against the walls.

Baseboards can shield your walls from these damages and stains caused by used cleansers or spilled goods.

Improve The Foundation

By running a baseboard along the border of the floor and the wall, you’re adding a dependable finish to a potentially vulnerable part of your home. Gaps will occur between the two surfaces if the floor and the wall are not created at precisely continuous 90o angles.

A gap between your wall and bathroom floor provides a hiding place for dirt and debris. The accumulation of these two factors can cause warping, discoloration, and other costly deterioration to the room.

Once you have a baseboard concealing these same uneven areas, the dirt and debris have nowhere to go and can be swept or vacuumed up.

Make Up For The Flexibility Of Hardwood

When it comes to house design, hardwood floors are a timeless classic. On the other hand, these natural flooring flex and breath much like their live counterparts.

A hardwood floor may shrink and expand depending on its surroundings. High heat and moisture content can trigger the hardwood to expand, whereas cool, dry conditions restrict the material.

When hardwood floors inflate and constrict, the floor’s edges shift. If your bathroom’s flooring fits perfectly against the wall in the summer, it may shrink away from the corner in the winter.

A baseboard shields your finish from this natural ebb and flow, creating a consistent seal between the two surfaces regardless of temperature.

Why Use Baseboards In a Bathroom?

There are several aspects to consider when selecting baseboards, and there are so many alternatives out there. So, we’ve limited it down to the two most popular types: wood baseboards and tile baseboards. 

Notwithstanding, there are other solutions to consider. There are around six distinct varieties of baseboard tile and about as many different types of wood as there are trees (and then there are “wood tiles,” which aren’t genuinely wooden tiles, but tiles that have been manufactured to seem like wood). 

The appropriate baseboard can give your bathroom that flawlessly finished aesthetic – all you need to figure out is how you want your baseboards to operate (functionality), what you want them to look like (aesthetics), and how much you want to spend (value).

Functionality

The way you’ll need your baseboards to work is mainly determined by the room they’ll be installed. Do they have to withstand steam and splashing in the bathroom?

Of course, every property is unique, but studies and common knowledge indicate that tile’s inherently water-resistant, easy-to-clean surface makes it an excellent choice for bathroom baseboards.

That isn’t to say that wood baseboards aren’t appropriate in the bathroom; a good coat of paint or a sturdy varnish will render them somewhat water-resistant; even so, consistent exposure to steam or direct contact with water causes wood to warp with time. 

Therefore, if you use wood baseboards in your bathroom, they may benefit from the occasional re-staining.

Appearance

You have several alternatives when it comes to aesthetics. Both wood and tile baseboards may be used to generate any form of modern aesthetic, so if you’re confused, let functionality and budget considerations help you limit your options.

Value

Of course, the amount you spend on baseboards will be determined by your entire budget, but you should also consider the long-term worth of your investment over time.

Tile baseboards usually are more expensive than wood baseboards (apart from the highly high-end forms of wood), but for bathrooms that get a lot of use, tile baseboards may be worth the extra money in the long run. 

You can spend as much money on your baseboards as you like (and in many cases obtain similar aesthetics) if you examine all of your DIY installation alternatives (which will save you a deal in the case of tile baseboards).

Should I Caulk The Bottom Of The Baseboard In Bathrooms?

Yes. If you’re planning to install baseboards in a bathroom, then caulking them is a crucial step. 

The caulking creates an effective layer of water-resistance and sealant around the bathroom’s perimeter, providing the baseboards the best chance of protecting your walls from moisture damage which may result from the passage of water, moisture, air, dust, and smoke into holes or joints made by the baseboards. 

Also, caulking bathroom baseboards will assist in repairing misaligned baseboards and cause them to fit correctly, bringing out the elegance of the bathroom.

A thorough line of caulking between the wall and the floor can accomplish the following: 

  • Make sure the room is waterproofed.
  • Keep dirt and debris away from interior structures.
  • Allow for the scalability of either functionality.
  • Maintain the tile’s integrity.
  • Make a smooth transition from the floor to the wall.

How To Waterproof Bathroom Baseboards

Tight-fitting baseboards caulked at the top and bottom will keep water leaking into walls and subfloors.

Consider using materials other than wood for the baseboard moldings wherever possible. Synthetic PVC moldings can effectively imitate the look of wood baseboards, and a flexible thermoplastic vinyl wall base may assist make a tight seal without the need for caulking. 

Caulked at the top and bottom, ceramic tile trim moldings can produce entirely impermeable connections where walls meet the floor. Any bathroom makeover requires the silicone-based bathroom-grade caulk.

It may seal practically all gaps and holes between surfaces, such as those between walls and floors, countertops and walls, plumbing fixtures and floors and countertops, and notably any seams in a shower or around a tub.

This will keep water from penetrating the edge and absorbing the wood, causing it to swell and discolor. Also, consider supporting them coated with at least a semi-gloss paint to improve washability and moisture resistance.  

A suitable caulking method takes practice, but it may make a difference in ensuring that your bathroom avoids water damage.

When Can You Avoid Using Bathroom Baseboards?

If you don’t like the look of baseboards in your bathroom, there are some scenarios when you can do without them. While baseboards are typically encouraged, tile your bathroom walls and floor if you wish to avoid them.

Tile floors and walls must also be built on a near-perfect 90-degree angle, although having tile on both sides allows for a little more freedom. The tile offers a few millimeters of buffer to each surface, enough that when combined with a line of caulking, the corner obtains all of the above benefits.

If you tile the walls and floor of your bathroom, you may be able to do without a baseboard. But even those who have full-tile bathrooms like baseboards. They select ones that complement their décor.

Conclusion

To conclude, if you still believe you don’t need a baseboard in your bathroom, consider; 

If you fall short of two or more of these, you have every reason to consider a baseboard for your bathroom. And unless you have a particular reason you don’t like them, they are worth the money.

Robin Hatch

About the author

For over a decade, Robin has been a real estate agent, interior design specialist, and mother. Through her trials and tribulations, she wanted to create the perfect website to help you save money and make your home look beautiful.

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