Commercial Washroom Cubicles: A Specifier's Guide to MFC and Compact Grade

Specifying washroom cubicles is mostly a question of matching the board to the building. Get it right and a cubicle run lasts twenty years with nothing more than cleaning. Get it wrong and you are replacing water-damaged partitions in a school corridor three winters later.

This guide covers the two grades we stock, how to work out what a run actually needs, and where the money goes.

MFC or compact grade — the decision that matters

Everything else is detail. This is the choice that determines cost and lifespan.

Moisture-resistant MFC (18mm)

Melamine-faced chipboard with a moisture-resistant core. The standard specification for the majority of commercial washrooms — offices, restaurants, village halls, community buildings, light-use retail.

It handles the humidity of a normal washroom without trouble. What it does not handle is standing water, jet washing, or a building where the floor gets hosed down. The core is chipboard, and if water gets past the edge banding it will swell.

Impact compact grade (12mm)

Solid compact grade laminate through the full thickness. There is no core to protect because the board is the same material all the way through — cut it, drill it, soak it, and it behaves identically.

This is what you specify for schools, leisure centres, swimming pools, sports facilities, transport hubs, and anywhere with a genuine vandalism risk. It is thinner at 12mm yet substantially more robust, because the strength comes from the material rather than the thickness.

The cost difference

Compact grade is roughly double the price on boards. That is a real number on a multi-cubicle project, and it is why the honest answer for most commissions is MFC.

The exception is any building where replacement cost or downtime is the bigger risk. A school washroom refurbished over a summer holiday is expensive to redo — the compact grade premium buys you a run that will not need touching.

What a cubicle run is actually made of

Cubicles are supplied as components rather than kits, which catches people out. A run of three cubicles is not three of anything.

• Partitions — the dividing walls between cubicles. A run of three cubicles needs two partitions, not three, because the end walls are the building's own
• Doors — one per cubicle
• Pilasters — the vertical posts the doors hang from and the partitions fix to. These come in five widths (85, 125, 190, 250 and 400mm) so you can absorb the difference between your drawing and the wall you actually find on site

Counting a run

For a straight run of n cubicles against a back wall:

• Partitions: n − 1
• Doors: n
• Pilasters: n + 1

So a four-cubicle run takes three partitions, four doors and five pilasters. Add ironmongery and fixings on top.

The pilaster widths are the part worth thinking about at drawing stage. Washroom walls are rarely where the drawing says they are, and specifying a wider pilaster at one end gives you somewhere to lose 50mm without a visible scribe.

Wider access doors and accessible provision

Both grades offer a 940mm wider access door alongside the standard 670mm. This is the door for an ambulant accessible cubicle — the intermediate provision between a standard cubicle and a full Doc M wheelchair-accessible WC.

Worth being clear on the distinction: a wider access cubicle is not a substitute for a properly specified accessible WC. It serves people who can walk but need more space — someone using crutches, a walking frame, or travelling with a small child. Most washroom schemes need both.

Wider access doors are made to order rather than held in stock, so allow extra lead time.

Décors

Nine décors run across both grades, so you can specify a consistent look whichever board you choose:

• Woodgrains — Grey Sonoma Oak, Sangha Wenge, Texwood Grey
• Neutrals — Royal White, Light Grey, Slate Grey
• Colours — Water Blue, Lagoon, Be Rooted!

A practical note: mid-greys and woodgrains hide marks and hand contact far better than white in a high-traffic washroom. White looks sharp on handover day and shows every scuff by the end of term.

Vanity units

Two washroom vanity units complete the scheme, both 600mm deep with an access panel for pipework:

• V1 at 1400mm — takes two basins
• V2 at 2750mm — takes up to four basins

Both are finished with a décor end pack where the run terminates against open space rather than a wall.

Shadow gap detailing

The SG1 black shadow gap pack is a specification detail rather than a functional one. It creates a recessed black line at the base of the cubicle run, giving the partitions a floating appearance rather than sitting hard on the floor.

It is the kind of thing that lifts a washroom from adequate to considered, and it costs very little relative to the boards.

Specifying: a short checklist

1. Assess the building, not the budget. Wet environment, high traffic or vandalism risk means compact grade. Everything else means MFC
2. Count properly — n−1 partitions, n doors, n+1 pilasters
3. Measure the wall, not the drawing, and choose pilaster widths to absorb the difference
4. Include accessible provision — wider access doors, and a separate Doc M WC where the scheme requires it
5. Allow lead time on made-to-order items
6. Pick a forgiving décor for high-traffic washrooms

Browse the range

The full commercial washroom cubicle range covers both grades in all nine décors, plus vanity units and detailing.

If you are specifying a scheme and want a component take-off checked, or need guidance on which grade suits a particular building, get in touch — we would rather help you get the count right than sell you a partition you do not need.