
When planning a bathroom upgrade, you will be faced with a difficult question: what type of flooring should you put in this room?
Granted, it’s a question you ask when upgrading or redesigning any room in your house. But, the bathroom presents some unique concerns that make this decision more important than ever. This room will contain a lot of moisture and typically has high humidity levels. Instantly, this rules out a couple of options when picking flooring types. To ensure you make the right decision, here are the best and worst flooring choices for your bathroom.
TILE + VINYL FLOORING
Without a shadow of a doubt, the best flooring options for a bathroom are tiles and waterproof vinyl.
In the tile category, you can opt for ceramic or porcelain tiles OR natural stone tiles. It really doesn’t matter as either is excellent. Ceramics/porcelain tend to be the most popular as they are cheaper. But, both options provide exceptional durability and really impressive water resistance. In fact, you can splash water from your shower onto tiles and there will never be a stain as the water just sits on the surface waiting to evaporate or be wiped away.
Similarly, vinyl flooring is waterproof and comes in many varieties and designs. It can also be crafted to mimic other flooring types – like hardwood or tiles. While not as waterproof as tiled flooring, it still does the job and is much cheaper.
CARPET + HARDWOOD FLOORING
In terms of what you DON’T want in your bathroom, carpet and hardwood flooring should never be on your list.
Carpets can be beneficial in other areas of your home, but they simply don’t stand up well to moisture. In fact, if you click here, you’ll see that carpets need to be dried out whenever they’re wet or staining will occur. You literally need to call in cleaning services if your carpet gets too wet, so why have it in a room that’s always humid and prone to water spills?
Hardwood flooring is just as bad as it isn’t completely waterproof. Therefore, the wooden flooring can actually start to rot if it’s exposed to high humidity levels and moisture. You can also throw laminate flooring into the mix here. It contains some synthetic wood, but there is a bit of natural wood too. In any case, laminate flooring has been shown to warp quite a bit if it’s left in areas with a lot of moisture in the air.
CONCLUSION; OPT FOR TILE OR VINYL
Realistically, flooring choices for your bathroom offers one of the easiest decisions you’ll face. In other rooms, every single one of these flooring types could be seen as a viable option. Here, you narrow your search down to two categories: tiles and vinyl. In truth, your choice now depends on your budget and interior design vision. If you have the cash, natural stone tiles look incredible and add some luxury to the bathroom. Ceramic tiles are a good middle-ground, while also being a brilliant alternative to natural stone if you want tiles. Finally, vinyl flooring is the most affordable option to help you upgrade your bathroom on a budget.
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