Bathrooms are especially hard to add flooring to because they demand a lot of their floors. Whatever flooring you choose has to withstand water, high temperatures, and even higher humidity so it’s important to select one that can weather the bathroom’s harsh conditions. So if you’re considering a bathroom remodel and you need new flooring, consider these options.

Tile Flooring

Tile is one of the most popular choices for bathroom flooring and there are several reasons for its frontrunner status: it’s water-resistant, easy to maintain, and versatile. Tile can be found in a plethora of patterns, colors, textures, and prices so there’s bound to be an option that suits your aesthetic and budget.

There are, however, a few well-known drawbacks to tile flooring: it’s cold underfoot rendering it not ideal for when you’re barefoot; it’s slippery making it dangerous for when you’re stepping out of the shower; and it’s difficult to clean because of the grout between the tiles. But here’s one of the great things about tile: it’s pretty easily adaptable and there are solutions to just about all of the drawbacks associated with it.

To put an end to the cold underfoot, you can add in-floor heating. Basically, a thin mat is installed on the subfloor, covered by self-leveling cement, and then by your tile selection. And if you’re worried about cost, you don’t have to do the entire bathroom; you can just add radiant heat to the area in front of the shower or the space in front of the sink that you stand in to get ready every morning. Worried about tile being too slippery when wet? Tile with a textured surface aids in your ability to get a better grip on the floor and vastly decreases your chances of slipping. And yes, tile is known for its difficulty to clean (more on that later so check back) but you can actually seal the grout to make it easier to clean.

Wood Flooring

Hardwood may come as a surprising choice as you have most likely heard or experienced the difficulty of removing water stains from wood floors. Yes, water can do serious damage to your floor if you let it sit for any length of time, but sealing the wood floor with a water-based poly finish makes it impervious to occasional splashes of water landing on your floor. How do you avoid standing water on bathroom flooring? Lay down absorbent mats, don’t leave wet towels on the floor, clean up any water that does spill ASAP, and consider running a waterline to the toilet and insulating the fixture to prevent it from sweating on the floors.

Laminate Flooring

If you like the look of wood but not its inability to weather the storm of wet towels, laminate treated with water repellent is a great option for you. Laminate is easy to install and can look so similar to wood, you yourself will be doing a double-take.

Vinyl Flooring

Sheet vinyl is a great option for your bathroom because it comes with an easy installation process and is available in a wide array of colors and patterns. We do not, however, recommend peel-and-stick vinyl tiles in the bathroom because water can seep between the tiles and damage the subfloor.