What's the Best Flooring for a Bathroom?

What's the best flooring for a bathroom? There is no one perfect answer for this, but there are 3 choices that are the obvious fit for a bathroom. When considering remodeling a bathroom or when building a home your two primary concerns for bathroom flooring should be water / moisture and ease of maintenance. The three best options are ceramic or some other form of natural tile, luxury vinyl tiles and planks, or resilient vinyl sheet flooring.

Ceramic and other natural tiles are an excellent choice. Natural tiles are water resistant and can hold up under very adverse moisture conditions. You also have a ton of options for color choices for the tile itself and also grout colors. The only drawback to ceramic and other natural tiles is cleaning grout. Be sure to use a high quality grout sealer to help down the road with keeping clean.

My favorite option is luxury vinyl tiles and planks. Luxury vinyl is considerably different than traditional resilient vinyl sheet flooring. Luxury vinyl is built to handle traffic unlike any other floor. It also incorporates a very rugged backing system that makes luxury vinyl waterproof. It is also stain proof and has built in mold inhibitors and is hypo allergenic. With luxury vinyl you can use tiles that look like ceramic, slate marble etc. Some brand have a built in grout line while other use design strips that look like grout. There are even luxury vinyl tiles that let you use real grout (I'm not a fan of this option too much though as it still creates cleaning issues later). The luxury vinyl plank option finally gives consumers a choice for those who want hardwood looking floors in the bathroom. Luxury vinyl planks realistically recreate the look and feel of real wood flooring. Karndean and Earthwerks are excellent options to look at if you want to use luxury vinyl. Call us for the best pricing anywhere on luxury vinyl at Beckler's, 1-800-232-5537.

Resilient sheet vinyl may not be a trendy choice, but it is still a solid option for wet areas like bathrooms. Some of the newer styles do look much better than in years past and a vinyl floor is the easiest to clean without question. You do have a lot of options to choose from in this type of vinyl flooring. Armstrong, Congoleum, Mannington, Tarkett, Domco and Flexitec. Depending on which brand and pattern you select in a vinyl sheet goods floor, this will probably be the least expensive option for a durable bathroom floor.

Why no mention of hardwood or laminate flooring? Hardwood and laminate should not be considered for bathrooms. Some will tell you that engineered hardwood is designed to handle moisture better than solid hardwood floors (which it is and they are correct), however it is not designed to handle the constant moisture and humidity a bathroom will have. Hardwood floors are much more suited for other living areas in the house but not a bathroom. Laminate floors are the biggest no-no for a bathroom. Laminate floors absolutely hate moisture and humidity and will buckle quickly in most bathroom applications. Yes, I know there are a few "new" brands of laminate floors that say they are approved and warranted for use in wet areas like bathrooms and kitchens but I'm still not sold on the concept of these. This "new" style tries to use better barriers and seals at the seams of the laminate planks. That's a big risk to take when there are other proven options out there. The end thought here is that if you want the look of hardwood in a bathroom use luxury vinyl planks, it's your best bet.

Beckler's Carpet in Dalton carries many types of ceramic tile, luxury vinyl planks and tile and every brand of resilient sheet vinyl flooring. Give us a call to save money on your project, 1-800-232-5537 or visit our website at BecklersCarpet.com! We are more than glad to ship you out a free sample of anything you see on our site and offer some of the best freight rates in the country. We know that with our prices we can still beat your local price even if we have to ship it!

Of course if you live in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Birmingham, Knoxville, or Nashville we are just a short drive away. Call us for directions, 1-800-232-5537. We are also open on Saturdays until 4 pm for extra shopping convienence.

Becklerscarpet.com, flooring America since 1949!