Best method for sealing floating floor against bathtub and toilet?

I hate 1/4 round at the tub. Cheap apartments have tub strips that look better. What brand and type of flooring? Bathroom only? Or are you connecting on to other rooms or a hallway? Not all floors are created equal. While you may or may not be able to butt the tub for a clean look we can certainly get rid of the 1/4 round.

 

I caulk around the toilet flange and around all edges of the flooring to the wall. Base or quarter round would cover it.

 

Floorte ain't too bad, I've put it in my bathroom and I scribed the tub and caulked it with translucent. No 1/4 round. No nuthin. My bathroom is maybe 5'x8' and no direct sunlight so I don't have to worry too much about expansion. When I installed it, I put a bead of silicone between the tub and planks as well as caulked the top when done. Gotta have a good seal.

 

Direction doesn't matter. Wax ring for the toilet and caulk the base of the toilet. Call a plumber if you want a guarantee. You can either caulk between the floor and wall or you can caulk the base of your base. I didn't caulk anything but the tub in my bathroom. I don't have kids at home either. I don't caulk the perimeter of anything any more. In my mind that locks in your floating floor. You're already cheating by butting the tub so don't push it.

 

luckily for you it will make it easier to install in that direction. Start your rows against the tub and work out from there.

 

This looks wonderful! I'm about to try my hand at laying NuCore cork backed vinyl planks in my bathroom. My planks will also run parallel to the tub. I just couldn't stand the thought of 1/4 round along the tub, and love this idea. I wanted to verify that this is all silicone caulk; not a silicone adhesive anywhere.

 

Your install looks great. How did you get the plank along the tub to click in on the long side? I have a similar installation, but can't get a pull bar between the tub and the plank unless I have a larger gap between the tub and the plank.

 

I started at the tub and installed away from it. Are you installing Floorte? That product is a drop n lock and you shouldn’t need a pull bar to lock in the long joint. If that is not an option, you may be able to shift the floor far enough away from the tub (using the expansion space that is on the other side), install your problem piece and then shift the floor back in place.

 

Here’s a bathroom I just did for the in-laws. I cut the tongue off the planks and butted them to the tub and that was my starting point. If the tub was bowed or crooked, I would have scribed them to fit. I was able to butt the planks to the existing hardwood and seal with a bead of silicone as well as using silicone around the toilet flange. The bathroom is small enough and gets no direct sunlight so I felt comfortable enough butting the tub and hardwood. Everywhere else has plenty of expansion space.

 

Nice, I still seal the bolt holes.

 

Even if it buckles or spontaneously combusts, it's just the in laws .

I do the same in small areas. Looks a lot cleaner

 

Same here

 

In SMALL areas for flooring that call out for expansion gaps one can "cheat" easily by scribe fitting to one/two sides so long as adequate gaps exist on at least two (opposite) sides. Common sense says the floor JUST needs a place to expand into. On an 8'x8' or smaller space I wouldn't sweat making sure ALL 4 walls are allowed the manufacturer's minimum allowed gap. Likewise with cutting to cleanouts, floor sinks electrical boxes.........I would cut VERY close and use clear silicone to fill that slight gap where expansion gaps will absorb any movement otherwise out and away.