Bathroom Flooring Ideas: What Works and What Doesn’t
Flooring options can seem overwhelming. It often comes down to the beauty of the space before the function of the material. A bathroom, however, presents some unique challenges that demand function before beauty. Floors N More wants to share some of our favorite bathroom flooring ideas for your next bathroom remodel.
What’s Important in Bathroom Flooring?
Bathrooms are the wettest part of your home. Bathrooms get wet, and there’s no way around that. Your materials will need to withstand lots of moisture and plenty of use. Durability is also important in the flooring of a bathroom. Moisture and common usage will ruin the wrong flooring material quickly. Let’s go over some great options for beautiful and efficient bathroom flooring.
Tile Flooring Options
Ceramic and porcelain tile are standard options for bathroom flooring because they offer easy clean-up, durability, and significant water resistance. They come in a beautiful variety of colors and designs, giving nearly endless design options. Tile flooring can add significant resale value. This is why bathroom remodels are one of the best investments in a home.
Porcelain is a type of ceramic tile that has a less than 0.05% water absorption rating. Porcelain can be more expensive, but a better option for full bathrooms with shower or bathtubs.
General ceramic tiles work fine in half baths because there is no shower or tub.
Another great benefit of tile is that this flooring option allows you to install heated underflooring. This option is fantastic if you live in a colder area, and find that tile floors are uncomfortably cold most of the time.
Vinyl Flooring Solutions
Vinyl flooring has been a go-to favorite for decades, though new options have opened up creative freedom in recent years. Vinyl flooring comes in several different formats. Some benefits of all forms of vinyl flooring are
- Made 100% waterproof
- It’s easy to install for DIY projects
- And it’s easy to replace if it becomes damaged
Preparing the subfloor is crucial if you plan on taking on this project on your own, as any flaws, bumps, or gaps can cause creases and bubbles in the vinyl after installation.
Below are a few examples of the most efficient use of each type.
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Sheet Vinyl
You can use sheet vinyl for any bathroom, but it’s especially useful for small bathrooms. Places that this is ideal are children’s bathrooms or bathrooms that share space with laundry rooms. This is also the most cost-effective option, with plenty of designs and colors for variety.
Plank and Tile Vinyl
Plank and Tile Vinyl is easy to install on your own and is less expensive than other materials. Plus- it still can achieve similar visual results. You can find tile and plank vinyl that imitates ceramic tiles, flagstones, slate or stone, or wood grain. You can seal the edge seams of plank and tile vinyl, so it retains its waterproofing properties.
Vinyl flooring is also a good option if you need function but plan to remodel at a later point to add value. Many families with young kids, choose this option because kids, as most of us know, are hard on everything.
Vinyl flooring is reliable and affordable. When it’s time to sell the home or the kids grow up, they can choose different flooring to increase the value of their home.
Natural Stone Flooring Varieties
Natural stone is a dream material for most homeowners. They are beautiful, add value to your home, are durable, and can be combined with underfloor heating. They are usually textured. They are one of a kind because the stone has natural variances.
Natural stone flooring will add the most value to your home.
Hardwood Look-Alike Options
While we can all fantasize about hardwood throughout our dream home, it’s one of the worst options for a bathroom. It swells and splinters, and can cause severe damage to the walls and subfloor when it gets wet.
Engineered Hardwood
A better option for a bathroom that achieves the look of hardwood is engineered wood. Engineered wood has the look and the texture of real wood because it’s made with a water-resistant base, faced in a hardwood veneer. It comes in several colors and depths of texture.
Laminate Flooring
Another excellent option for the wood look is laminate flooring. Laminate flooring planks are made from a resin-impregnated wood grain paper sealed to a particle wood core. If the flooring becomes water damaged, you will need to replace it, rather than attempt to repair it.
Bad Choices for Bathroom Floors
As mentioned with hardwood look-alikes, hardwood is a lousy option for flooring in a bathroom, no matter how beautiful it is. Between the steam of showers, and the dripping of getting out of the bath, hardwood flooring will swell, warp and buckle in a bathroom.
The rest of the home is perfect for hardwood, but keep it out of wet rooms if you value your patience and your budget. Also, avoid real hardwood in laundry rooms and mudrooms.
Another terrible choice for bathrooms is wall to wall carpet. There was a trend in the 70’s and 80’s to install bold colored carpet in the bathroom. The thought was that we already have bathmats, so why not turn the whole room into a bathmat. But with as much moisture as you’ll see in a bathroom, wall to wall carpet is a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, and fungus. It’s unhygienic.
Overall, most families will have more problems from the carpet than solutions.
Call Floors N More Southlake for a consultation to discuss your specific needs with one of our trained professionals.
