Gross problem...regarding hardwoods in the bathroom

15 years ago

We moved into our current home three years ago. The downstairs bathroom has hardwood floors, which at the time we thought was a lovely flooring choice, but not now. We have two boys, ages 4 and 5, who were both potty trained primarily in this bathroom. Needless to say, there were a lot of "misses." In fact, both children still miss quite a lot, especially my youngest, who just turned 4 a few days ago.

Anyway, the bathroom now smells like a gas station bathroom, despite my having to wipe the darn thing down three times a day. I'm thinking of tiling the floor pronto, but a friend of mine told me that even ceramic tile will soak up the "pee smell". Is this true? I wouldn't think so. I know wood is porous and I guess the urine has just soaked through the wood.

Someone PLEASE tell me I can get rid of this smell if I tile it over. btw, I have tried putting rugs down by the toilet, etc. I've given the kids very specific instructions as to how to aime, lol.It's getting better but there are still misses.

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Comments (11)

november
15 years ago
I feel for you! My boys are 8 and 6, and the grout on the tile floor in the downstairs bathroom smells like pee. And now my 3 year old daughter goes there and misses all the time also. It's so gross. I guess you could tile and make sure you seal the grout (I don't think mine is sealed). Or, someone told me that stuff you put down when your pet pees on the floor also helps. I'm glad I'm not the only one - I definitely feel your pain...
Anna Vegia
15 years ago
And here I am, wishing for lovely hardwood floors in my downstairs bath, not knowing how easy I have it, lol.

I, too, have a 4-year old little boy who is working on his aim. Wow, it's amazing what a mess the little guys can make. I have 12" ceramic tile in the bathroom, with unsealed grout. When it starts to smell like pee, or if I see him have an accident, I wipe it down with a little water with baking soda or vinegar in it (sometimes with orange essential oil). This usually does the trick. I don't think the bathroom usually smells. I definitely think that a larger tile (less grout) would keep it fresher than hardwoods. I also have to be careful to get all the "nooks and crannies" around the bottom of the bowl.
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live_wire_oak Sorry about the bolding - just figured out how to fix it! Your suggestions are great, and I'd really like to hire someone (we have a decent contractor) who will let me be his helper bee on the first one. I agree on the half-hour clinic, too, because although he was a great guy and showed us some good things, when the clinic guy suggested that we tile around the toilet, it was an "uh-oh" moment. My husband was onboard with that. I was not. I'm so glad for input here on Houzz. I've tiled bathroom walls in the past, but it was just walls, and they stayed up for the almost 20 years we lived in the house and used the shower. That was easy, but these floors are a much different thing. I'm planning to use 8 X 8 porcelain tiles, spacers, and levelers so it at least comes out even and level. The tiles are the kind that have a slightly rounded edge, which I think will be the easiest to use, and to cut and nip into the right shapes when needed. It's all the prep work and the right materials that are the biggest issues. Thank you so much. "Stretch" is a relative term. We have money to deal with any possible emergency that could come up. We have the time to do much of the work ourselves, and we just don't want to go into savings any more than we need to. At this point, we own another home with no mortgage that we're selling, and if we don't sell it, we'll be renting it out, so we won't have a huge pot of money to spend if that happens.
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hamster
15 years ago
I can't help with the current problem. maybe this will help for your future.
The previous owners of our home raised 2 boys and everytime the air got damp, pee smell would linger. When we remodeled that bathroom @ 10 years ago, we found the plywood sub floor was the culprit because pee had soaked up the plywood. When we replaced everything, we set up "rules".
I have an in home daycare and raised 3 boys of our own. EVERYONE sits and the boys are trained to physically point their "compass" south. The girls are trained to lean way forward, otherwise (even with girls), it will shoot straight out. Some of my clients raised their eyebrows at the rule, but now most enforce the practice at home and it comes naturally to the children. I don't have hardwood, I have linoleum and porcelain tile but I hardly ever have to wipe up pee. And yes, our 3 boys are grown now and have no masculine issues!
Diane
house_vixen
15 years ago
Whatever flooring you end up choosing, sounds like the item linked might help!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wee Target Toilet Trainer
samanddrew
Original Author
15 years ago
LOL! I might just have to get one of those. I think my husband could benefit from that at times as well.
sombreuil_mongrel
15 years ago
Just keep them in diapers until they go away to college. Then it's the university's problem.
Casey
DLM2000-GW
15 years ago
Try throwing a few Cheerios in the bowl and tell them to 'sink the Cheerios' - make it a game!
bill_vincent
15 years ago
Ceramic tile will NOT soak up the urine, especially if you use porcelain. Although I'm not usually a big advocate for sealing grout, I think in your case, it'd be a real good idea.
terezosa / terriks
15 years ago
I guess that I got really lucky. I have 2 boys and a DH who all apparently have very good aim. There are rarely any stray drops around the rim, or they must wipe them off. We had carpet in the toilet area of the master bath in a former house and never had a problem with "moisture" there.
patricianat
15 years ago
Just build an outside toilet and have the one indoors for show-n-tell or like Sombreuil Mongrel said, keep 'em in diapers until they go to college.
acountryfarm
15 years ago
Ok you will all think we are crazy but as the mom of 10 boys I taught them to sit down , just like dh . No problems, no splashing, no stink.

Gross problem...regarding hardwoods in the bathroom

Comments (11)

november

Anna Vegia

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Gross problem...regarding hardwoods in the bathroom

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