Best Flooring for Bathroom

Decorating a bathroom is not going to be separated from choosing the best flooring. It is the room where you will have so much water here and there, be it on the floor and even on the wall.

Also, this is the room where you clean your body and relax at the same time. Hence, choosing the right decoration, including the flooring, must be full of consideration.

What to Consider In Choosing Bathroom Flooring

What’s bothering you from the idea of bathroom flooring must be about water, am I right?

Well, water is indeed one thing you should worry about because the bathroom is going to be watery all day every day.

Therefore, considering waterproof and water-resistant levels in your flooring choice is important.

Also, people want to have a suitable look at the flooring, so it is ideal for their bathroom style. Different bathroom styles may have different flooring, as well.

Besides all that, budgeting and measurement of room size should be into your consideration, for sure.

Here are the points of what you should consider before choosing the right flooring option for your bathroom.

• Appearance. The right appearance affects your visual to relax while cleaning yourself in the bathroom.
• Waterproof. The bathroom is the most watery room ever. If your flooring is not waterproof, it will be worn out just in a few weeks. It is considered okay, but still risky, to install a water-resistant but not waterproof flooring in a bathroom.
• Maintenance. Getting access to water every day may cause some trouble for your floorings, such as color fading or dirt. You need to know how to treat your bathroom flooring. So, in the future, you’re not going to have more difficulties in treating your bathroom.
• Durability. After checking the waterproof feature and its maintenance, you decide whether your flooring choice has got the durability level that you want. The longer, the better.
• Budget. Of course, you must have prepared for this one. But, you have to consider whether each installation needs additional underlayment or professional installation, to begin with. That would cost you extra, for sure.

Best Flooring Options for Bathroom

Following the points of consideration above, here we recommend you six best choices for bathroom flooring.

1. Ceramic/Porcelain Tile

Porcelain tile is the best of the best choice for bathroom flooring. Ceramic or porcelain tile has all that it takes to be an option for bathroom flooring. It is 100% waterproof, durable, relatively cheap, and it is effortless to maintain.

It comes in either glazed or unglazed. The glazed one is more shiny and glossy. But either way, ceramic or porcelain tile is very easy to clean.

There is no need for you to refinish, reseal, rewax what-so-ever. Brushing your bathroom with recommended detergent is enough to clean this flooring.

Ceramic tile comes in different sizes and shapes. It also comes in various designs and colors. It is relatively easy to install, but you have to measure your flooring surface to get the right cut or tile for the next installation.

If you’re changing your flooring instead of decorating it for the first time, you have to make the surface balanced and even. Otherwise, the tile would crack.

Ceramic or porcelain tile feels rather cold in your feet. Moreover, it is a wet room we’re talking about. But, you can install a heat radiant under the tile beforehand. That is sure it would help.

After all, you have to be careful as ceramic tile could be very slippery once it gets wet.

2. Natural Stone

I must tell you that this is a very long-term investment for not only your bathroom but your house. Because natural stone is very durable, it adds value to your house.

The installation of natural stone in the house elevates the price of your house later, just in case you want to sell it.

Natural stone comes in some different kinds, though, such as marble, limestone, granite, and some others. Both have beautiful textures and come in tiles and abstract shapes.

Natural stone gives additional freshness in your bathroom, which is very good for relaxation as well.

Natural stone is, of course, 100% waterproof. Therefore you can find people install it outdoor too. However, it requires regular cleaning and sealing to keep the color and the looks. Don’t worry; it is simple and easy to clean.

Natural stone usually is cold by nature. Installing it in your bathroom will make it even colder. But you can solve that by installing radiant heating. If you’re okay with cold, then nothing to worry about.

The last thing that makes many people concern the most about natural stone is that this could be very expensive. So you need to prepare more budget for natural stone and its installation.

3. Vinyl

Vinyl flooring has all it takes as the best flooring for the bathroom. Vinyl, you see, is made of PVC with so many printed designs that look the same as the material it’s trying to refer to.

Also, vinyl comes in many different patterns and modern motives. That makes your bathroom looks very stylish and cozy. The improvement of Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) and Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) is also increasing the market of vinyl flooring because they are so versatile.

Vinyl comes in three different forms; they are plank, tile, and sheet. Installing them in a bathroom has only a slight difference. Both are 100% waterproof, but the vinyl is leading with the seamless effect that it offers.

Meanwhile, plank and tile have the grout or side part, which still could make a seam. However, proper installation will make your vinyl bathroom flooring seam-full.

Also, installing vinyl plank and tile is more comfortable, even for beginners. However, for the sheet, it needs professional assistance to install.

More good news for vinyl is that you can install it either on your previous flooring or not. But one thing to note, the surface must be spotless. Otherwise, vinyl floors will shape every single dirt on the surface, and it doesn’t feel good on your feet.

The bad news now is that vinyl is not an eco-friendly material, that it is considered bad for your health at some level. Also, unlike natural stone, vinyl flooring does not add any additional value to your house in the future.

4. Engineered Hardwood

You cannot install real hardwood in your bathroom. But if you insist, there is an alternative called engineered hardwood flooring. This type of flooring is made of natural wood.

However, the base of the plank is plywood that can withstand water and moisture. On top of it is a veneered hardwood. Therefore it looks just like a hardwood with different shades of color.

For the installation, it is quite versatile and straightforward. You can just directly install it in the floating floor method on your previous floor or making a new underlayment.

Installing this in your bathroom is okay because the surface is water-resistant. However, engineered wood flooring is not waterproof. This can handle water spill but not water that flood in a long time.

Engineered wood can survive under periodic sanding or sealing. You can have the sensation of real wood in your bathroom under that maintenance.

Also, it would help if you had a professional in installing this type because one mistake can maybe leak the surface of the floor. That could potentially let the water warp in and damage the plank.

5. Laminate

Another alternative for hardwood flooring is laminate flooring. It is constructed with natural material, with a coated surface as its wear layer.

It is very easy to install. The old laminate flooring requires you to glue it down to the base. But now many manufactures have developed by inventing click-and-lock and fold-and-lock methods of installation for laminate flooring.

After the installation, the feeling is very soft on your feet. If you have an underlayment, that would feel even better.

Laminate flooring is one of the flooring types with the highest warranty. In average number, many manufactures warrant laminate flooring for 10 to 30 years! That sounds like durability for me.

Nevertheless, as much as engineered wood can withstand water but not 100% waterproof, laminate flooring works just the same.

This would be a big issue because we’re talking about bathroom flooring. What you can do is that you could tighten up the seams in the plank and doing a proper installation on its surface.

However, once the water warps into the layer, the elements will start to float, and you have nothing to do but tear it to pieces and replace the whole flooring.

6. Concrete

Concrete flooring is a raw flooring base. However, installing this in your bathroom is a good idea. Concrete flooring has so many things in common with ceramic tile flooring that we have discussed above.

Concrete flooring is 100% waterproof. It could even withstand a heavy waterflood. But be careful because concrete can crack. Once there is a crack, the water can easily warp into whatever underneath the concrete floor.

That would cause damage for sure, moreover, if you have got a plywood base under the floor. Therefore, you must do regular checking and patch any possible crack on your concrete floor.

Concrete flooring is considered very durable. It can withstand water and is very easy to clean without any specific complicated process.

Also, in terms of appearance, concrete flooring is suitable for the industrial bathroom style. As the style develops, you can mix concrete flooring with colors, and even patterns once installed. That way, you can still be able to adjust the color of the floor and your bathroom groove.

Another thing you should watch out is that concrete flooring has a tough surface, and it is very slippery in wet areas like the bathroom. You must be very careful.

Also, concrete flooring does stain by the exposure of water. To prevent stains, you can seal the floor periodically with recommended sealing like film-forming.

Lastly, concrete flooring is naturally cold. Installed in a wet room, this could be even colder. It is not very possible to install a heat radiant, though.

Which One Is The Best Flooring for Bathroom?

What is discussed above is what is recommended based on each spec of flooring type. However, there are others like cork and linoleum, for example.

They can be installed in a bathroom, but it is hazardous for them to withstand that much water every day. You are going to give more work to provide them with maintenance, too.

Therefore, now consider which one is the best by evaluating in which point you want to prioritize. If all is well, check your budget. When your desired specs match your budget, go for it! I can’t wait to see the result.