Choosing flooring for your bathroom is much different than choosing flooring for other parts of your house. The major factor being the amount of water this room endures on a regular basis. The wrong type of flooring would be left ruined if installed in this room. Here are some considerations to take into account when choosing flooring for your bathroom.
Porcelain or Ceramic Tile
Porcelain is the best option for bathroom flooring because it is waterproof, trendy, and cost-effective. It can achieve a rich, textured feel while remaining waterproof and inexpensive. The difference between ceramic and porcelain is the water absorption rate. The Porcelain Tile Certification Agency (PTCA) certifies types of tile as porcelain if it has a water absorption rate of 0.5% or less.
You could opt for ceramic, which is cheaper than porcelain for a half bathroom or powder room as there are no bathing facilities. There are also so many options to choose from with ceramic tiles, so you can create any look you want. Individual tiles comes in a variety of sizes and shapes, from square to octagonal. To avoid slippage, use smaller tiles that require more grout and acts as a non-skid surface - especially in showers.
Vinyl Sheet or Plank
Vinyl has been a popular choice for bathrooms because of its practicality. Sheet vinyl is ideal for children’s bathrooms or a laundry room where large amounts of water are inevitable. It comes in large sizes, which means it could be possible to install it with no seams in a small bathroom. Our luxury vinyl plank flooring comes in narrow widths and long lengths. Because of how popular vinyl is, it comes in thousands of options. Check out our 45,000 square foot showroom to see all of our options in-person.
Engineered Wood
Better than solid wood in high moisture conditions due to its stability all around. It has a plywood base that holds up well against moisture and has the appearance of authentic wood because the top layer is real wood. Although, no matter how well protected any type of wood product is, it is still vulnerable to damage in bathrooms.
Laminate
Certainly a better choice than solid hardwood, it is still more likely to wear down in a bathroom than vinyl, ceramic, or porcelain. Laminate flooring is essentially resin-paper on top of a wood chip base with a clear coat called the wear layer. It can work in bathrooms if you take extra steps to protect the wood base from moisture. Ensuring tight seams between planks will make it difficult for moisture to work its way in. If the wood base does come in contact with moisture, it will expand and bubble, with tearing it out being the only way to fix it.
Colours
This is the fun part. Once you have selected the material you want to line your floors with, you can select the colour or pattern. This will largely depend on the options available for the type of material you picked, but our showroom should have plenty to choose from regardless.
Small bathrooms
Consider installing light colours like soft pastels and neutrals. These will brighten up a small space, making it appear bigger.
Large bathrooms
You could choose darker, more saturated colours in a large space like navy or deep brown. Consider brighter hues if your bathroom gets a lot of light or is an oversized master bathroom.