Thread: Help with project - turning a river red gum timber slab into a bathroom vanity top

I have not ever been a fan of wood and water mixing. eg in a bathroom kitchen or laundry. The changes in temp and humidity will surely cause damage and quickly.
Sealing the surfaces and any edges (eg where the hole for taps and basin) will be the essential key. You will need to keep moisture ingress to a minimum.
So if in future there is damages, you will need to consider repair of the wood and surface treatment.
Also make sure the finish is able to resist the normal bathroom cleaning agents used.

Will epoxy be OK, probably. But I don't know.

But a few things for you to consider. (if you haven't already)

I'll watch to see how it goes, it could look very nice.

Lyle.

If it is for yourself and you dont plan to rent the place it should be ok so long as you are prompt on cleaning spills etc.


Not sure about the finishing, not my expertise.


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

If I were doing it I would fill the holes with epoxy or they would fill up with gunk, especially in a bathroom where surfaces have to be wiped down regularly. My concerns with that piece of timber is that there are too many holes to fill and the cost of epoxy will be significant.

Just my opinion as I have not used epoxy as a complete finish, I have however used epoxy to fill voids and gaps. When you do apply epoxy in the gap ensure that the other side(underside) is sealed to prevent the epoxy from going straight through.

I would think that epoxy as a finish against water penetration would be fine but not too sure on your bathroom cleaners. It might be worth testing on some scrap to see how it reacts

Originally Posted by Christos

Just my opinion as I have not used epoxy as a complete finish, I have however used epoxy to fill voids and gaps. When you do apply epoxy in the gap ensure that the other side(underside) is sealed to prevent the epoxy from going straight through.

I would think that epoxy as a finish against water penetration would be fine but not too sure on your bathroom cleaners. It might be worth testing on some scrap to see how it reacts

I've used a two pack epoxy floor sealer on the bench top in our kitchen and on a wooden window frame in our shower recess in the bathroom and the benches in my shed around the sink and it works fine provided water doesn't sit in holes in the wood. Along with the gunk/soaps/surface cleaners etc that accumulates and sits in the holes and cracks, long terms the water does swell the epoxy and it turns it milky and looks awful. If all the holes are filled then it is fine. It doesn't last for ever but we are getting 5-7 years out of it before it needs redoing. Folks have also used oiled finishes but you will need to reapply more regularly although the amount of sanding back required is probably less.

These are the shed bench tops around the sink when first installed.
4 years on and they have had to work hard so are nowhere near as pristine and when first installed.
Especially near the sink they have been subjected to lots of water, soap, oils, detergent, grinding grit and welding scale as I dunk small welded and hot bits of metal into the sink to cool them.
There's quiet a number of scratches on them but I don't think I need to recoat them yet.

I used Wattyl 7008 (2 pack poly) on our bathroom vanity 8 years ago and its still pretty much perfect. Ours is veneer over marine ply, but functionally the same as timber.

We usually wipe spills off but arent too uptight about it, so sometimes a bit of water will sit there all day.

I expect if you use epoxy to fill the holes, then sand flat, then 7008 it should be good and waterproof.

The only problem we have with it is that there are some impact points, where the cat knocked some things off the windowsill. Its hard to know how to repair these without sanding all the finish off. I guess its a fundamental problem with polyurethane, its not easily repairable.

I dont know about epoxy in all its forms but my experience with marine epoxy is that its probably the most waterproof material known to man. You cant use it as a top coat though, because its not self-levelling. Sand it flat and then top coat it with marine varnish or 7008 or whatever.

Cheers
Arron

As said above you need to fill all the holes a voids etc with a filler normal wood filler would be ok, then use rustins plastic coating it is ideal for this situation, you need to coat the entire slab not just the top surface, never leave water pooling on the surface for extended period of time