Furniture


 

9. Bathroom fitments

 

Bathrooms are following the trends already well established in kitchens and bedrooms for fitted furniture to make good use of the available space.

As bathrooms are generally smaller than kitchens, the storage units are likely to be more compact. Edges and corners should be rounded to reduce the risk of injury more likely in a confined space. MDF has advantages over other wood based sheet materials in respect of good machinability and good finishing characteristics in addition to its high stability in the intermittent damp conditions in most bathrooms.

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MDF is already being used for base and wall units for bathrooms using the constructional methods developed for kitchen units. Melamine surfaced MDF can be used or alternatively standard MDF can be finished with a high durability paint.

Doors and drawer fronts similar to those manufactured for kitchens can be used in bathrooms, generally in smaller sizes. Curved panel doors manufactured by laminating thin MDF sheets to make up the required thickness have particular advantages in the confined space of a bathroom. Large panels used for bath surrounds can be manufactured from single sheets of MDF or they can be built up using a frame and centre panel construction to provide a decorative feature.

The tops to fit over storage units and dressing tables can be cut from MDF panels with rounded corners and profiled edges which can be finished to a high quality using well established procedures of profile edge sanding and finishing.
Standard grade MDF can be used for most bathroom fitment applications but, to ensure satisfactory long term performance, all surfaces and edges likely to be in contact with water, or exposed to high relative humidities should be well sealed with polyurethane, polyester, acid catalysed or other moisture resisting paint. Moisture, resistant MDF is recommended for use in applications where frequent wetting or prolonged exposure to high relative humidity is anticipated.

Apart from its use for constructional elements in a fitted bathroom, MDF can be used for all the accessories including wall shelves, towel rails, tooth brush and soap dish supports, mirror surrounds land toilet seats and covers. These items can be manufactured from wood veneered MDF panels or standard MDF with a paint finish. The high stability and good machining and finishing characteristics of MDF are beneficial for all these applications. As with the constructional elements, finishing of all exposed surfaces and edges with a moisture resisting lacquer or paint is essential.