what material to use for bathroom interior.

Hi guys, we are redoing our bathroom, and really like the look of beadboard wainscoting. When I went to HD, Lowes, and our local lumber store, I was disapointed in what they had. Most places carry 4x8 sheets of MDF with the bead parallel to the 8' side. 32" tall panels also seem to be a standard. Other than that, there were packages of smaller tongue in groove sections about 5 1/2" wide or so (so a few beaded slats worth of width) in 32" or 8' lengths.

Before going any further, is it even a good idea to use MDF paneling in a bathroom? The face comes primed, and we would be painting it, is that good enough? Assuming it is...

I'm not sure what to do here... 32" is too short (we would like the height of the chair rail on top of the bead board to be about 40" tall), so it seems like those options are out the window. That leaves me with 8 foot segments. I could have them cut the 4x8 sheets down into two 48"x40" sheets, but that would leave a 16"x48" section of waste. I'm also concerned about how it would look to have a seam between panels every 48". I've never worked with MDF paneling, but it's not tongue and groove, so it seems like the seam would be really noticeable. Am I wrong? Would caulking cover it up pretty well?

Finally, I decided to go with pine baseboard rather than MDF (same fear of water). I'm reading that, when using wood materials, it's important to let the material sit where it will be installed for a few days so it can adapt to the humidity etc. At this point, however, our bathroom has no sink, toilet, or shower hooked up. This doesn't seem to be a fair representation of what conditions will eventually be like, so does this acclimation period even make sense? Am I missing something?

Thanks again for all your help, folks! This community has been a really valuable resource!

Well I'm not a professional at all but the pros will be along shortly. Here's my opinion. MDF should be fine in the bathroom if its properly sealed and the bathroom is well ventilated.

As for the size issue if you would to buy the 32" MDF sheet then you would be short 8" so if you just get a piece of wood 8" wide and nail it on the bottom of the wall then put the beadboard on top of that that will add up to your 40" height. You wouldn't really need a baseboard but if you don't like the look of the 8" wide piece at the bottom then you can put the baseboard in front of it.

And the seam where the two sheets of beadboard meet shouldn't be too significant and can probably be painted right over.

Also id assume its not nessasary for the baseboard to sit in the same conditions especially if your going to seal it with a paint. Another option is if you have another bathroom in the house that you could leave them in because the conditions in that bathroom should be similar to the one your improving.

I hope this gave you a few ideas and like I said I'm no professional and feel free to ask more questions and to wait for the pros advise.

Have you taken into account the spacing of the baseboard and a chair rail? That should be enough to make up the difference in height.

I was thinking the beadboard needed to run behind the baseboard and chair rail, which would negate most of the height they added. I was under this impression because I thought the width of the beadboard would make it look weird on top of the baseboard/beneath chair rail due to lack of contrast. Maybe I was mistaken?

I did a bathroom bottom half using the pine strips that are about 5/16 thick. I put mine up with liquid nails. Prime and paint and it's held up great for many years. With the strips there is much less waste if you don't mind butting ends.

There are many ways to go about this.First off I don't like mdf in a bath.Some say if it's sealed good no problem.What happens with the humidity in the bath and any moisture getting behind it.If I was to use it in a bath I would at least prime the back of the sheets before installing it.
How thick is the mdf?Your all hung up on the lengths and wasted material but you can do some really good things considering the thickness of different materials to add detail.It all depends on the thickness of the base ,chair rail and panels of MDF.
I can give you some good ideas if I knew the thickness of the mdf beadboard?And can get you the 40" with no problem and little waste.

I was also considering wood wainscotting, but it seems like the mdf panels would be easier to work with. The mdf panels are 1/4 inch thick. I'd love any ideas you could share. I went to Lowes and HD to look at options for base, but couldn't believe how few options they had in pine. It was all pretty much MDF or stain grade. I thought about trying to build a baseboard from a straight board with molded cap, but couldn't find a cap with the same base thickness as the pine boards. Seems like I'm missing something or these stores suck!

You can also get it in white pvc. I used it in my first floor bathroom at the beach because I wanted something durable and easy to clean, especially since the space was used so often . I used 1x4 pvc trim boards as the base, set the beadboard on top of that and used 1/2" cove to cover the seam. I also used the plastic trim for the top of the beadboard.
I had a tile floor so after the company left, I'd sweep up the sand, wash down the walls and steam clean. It worked great.

Checked out the PVC, it's kind of pricey. I'd like to go with the mdf stuff ideally. I went to Lowes and HD to check out their molding options and was really dissapointed. I figured I could use the 32" stuff if I used large base and chair rail, but they didn't have much of anything. They didn't even have enough components to piece together a trim. Pretty lame.

If you're looking for cheap, just get a length of 1x4 primed finger-jointed for the base. Use the mdf. Paint both with a good latex enamel. Even exterior if you have it in the color you want. Get some shoe molding which is 3/4x7/16 and cap it with what suits your fancy.
Pretty easy and pretty inexpensive. Both Lowes and HD that I've been in have a section of Polyurethane trim that's good for damp areas.
The issue with chair rail is that it sits on top of and overlaps the beadboard adding very little to the overall height of the project.

Both of the big stores have pine flooring the old time stuff and it’s not normally with the flooring but with the wood trim products. Both of them have the same stuff its flat T&G flooring but the back side is cut like bead board. I have put it up as a wall covering with the beads out and it really looks nice. Its ¾ thick and is what I would use if I wanted a historic look of wood painted. Would hold up for 200 years.

That MDF stuff I would never use in a wet area.

I'm not sure what people do in the bathroom that makes it so wet to worry about. What about those K3 board cupboard or doors with skin made out of paper. Run the fan. Mdf is fine just not in the shower.
Any wood product will swell 10% when left in water.

here is an idea for your floor


counter tops also

View attachment 9648

this is 6'' x 8' tongue and groove dine, that has a bead cut into it

i flipped the board over, so only the tongue /groove shows

sealed with clear min wax poly.