Sealing oak in the Bathroom?

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Lacquer, lacquer, lacquer, lacquer.

We have an oak bathroom cabinet in our bathroom that has been hanging there for 10 years--finished with about four coats of sprayed lacquer. Looks as good today as the day it was hung.

Nancy

hi matt

i also like nancys idea of laquer , now that i saw her reply...
but before that , the first thing that came to mind was marine grade varnish.....if it holds up to salt water and open seas weather it should hold up fine in the bathroom i would imagine let us know what you chose , with finished pics ofcourse

Epoxy paint or clear sealer. Have PLENTY of ventilation if you use it. Can be deadly.

Any of the above. I don't think it it will matter just as long as it is sealed. It's not like it is under water.

My personal preference is varnish since I have used it a lot on boats. But.....YMMV

Matt,

I know that West System Epoxy will hold up. It will darken the wood some and will take some sanding and polishing.

A few months ago I was building an exterior cabinet and wanted to try out some Target water based finishes so I called them after reading all of the information on their site. They suggested Oxford 8800 Universal Sealer (Waterborne Urethane interior/exterior EM 8828) and then topcoating with Oxford EM 9300 Polycarbonate Urethane interior/exterior clear wood finish. They said that would hold up outside with all of the humidity, heat and uv rays that we have here. I have it where it does not get the sun but gets everything else since I am right on the saltwater. I will let you know how it holds up in about ten years. It went on pretty smooth with the same HVLP conversion gun that you just got for three bucks and something. Not much fumes and very little overspray. Might be a good chance to try out your new PC gun. I tried out that gun a week or so ago and found out that I liked spraying at a pressure of at least twenty pounds. I don't think that twenty five pounds would hurt a thing, just a little more overspray. Set the pressure with the trigger fully pulled. You may have your own technique but this worked for me with this gun. My Sharpe puts it on smoother but it was my first attempt with the PC gun so this was not a valid comparision. I think that my problem was that I started out with the pressure set too low with the PC gun.

i`d rip bullnosed tiles in half or whatever it took to apply them with a grout joint up the middle.....i`m not a fan of oak near water.....if you`re dead set on oak use white oak not red and in a wet enviornment. i agree with steve that poly does hold up better only i like the good ol` nasty smellin` solvent based stuff for gym floors......tod

Definitely use white oak, like Tod suggests. If you have a spray system you would be hard pressed to beat a catalyzed varnish for hot wet areas. If not, brush on spar varnish or Varathane Liquid Plastic (which won't yellow). Both are basically poly based, if I'm not mistaken. No matter what you do, water always finds a way in.