Well I have been doing research and finding an ineradicable amount of pros who say yes and pros who say no. Frankly its driving me nuts. My wife's uncle has a cabin in the Manistee National Forrest and the cabin is literally a log cabin with ALL wood interior including the bathroom. I really like the natural pine bathroom idea and seing as our really outdated falling apart bathroom needs an overhaul we are looking at using wood for the walls. However I cant for the life of me figure out if its a good or bad idea on our old house. First how do you water seal it? Second will it buckle? Third do we still need drywall behind it? I probably will to meet fire code. Fourth will it mold or rot? Basically I want first hand knowledge from folks who have done it. My logic is if untreated wood can be used outdoors after being sealed in the high humidity, rain, wind, sun, heat and cold why not a bathroom?
And friend of mine did it. His house is very dry though. It's a cottage next to a creek so it's built on posts. All the interior is tong and groove stained and sealed
Pallet Pete, Yes, sheetrock behind the paneling/wood. Then put firing strips to allow air behind the paneling. 1/4" is good. Seal wood, all sides and edges, even after cuts. Then final seal after it is up. Also, fill nail holes too. Remember wood will rot only if it is wet and remains wet and not allowed to dry. Good Luck.
I used it in my old house (man, i loved that house unfortunatly it came with a chick lol) I used t&g cedar hung vertically. Even in the shower. Never had a problem @least with the walls lol. I believe I just used a wood sealer and then covered it with satin poly. Its been awhile.
Helped my brother do his in T&G cedar. Some friends of his liked it so much, we redid one of their bathrooms the same. Built all new vanities with the same material too. Still going strong, and it's been several years.
Our old house has t&g pine in the bathroom. I can remember my father put it all up and ma sealed it afterwards. Been like 30+ years no issues with the wood at all but over the years the pine has darkened but the filler used on the nail holes didn't. Don't know how to address that though.
We have cedar t&g wainscoting on the bathroom walls. There is an acrylic tub surround in the tub/shower area. The cedar has been there for probably 30 years. It was sealed with satin poly and never had an issue with it.
I have a log cabin with all pine T&G on the interior walls. Both baths are the same, just poly coated, just don't get it continuously soaking wet. No exhaust fans in my case but never an issue, when done with a shower, leave the door open. This is a camp that I'm at every few weeks so it is not getting multiple showers daily but it has held up very well for 20 years. Keep things sealed up around the tub and toilet and all will be good. I would suggest a back and side( if needed) splash on the sink wall as that would get the most abuse of splashing and not getting cleaned up.
