Ensuring that your bathroom flooring is a good match for your family
As suggested before, the type of bathroom floors you should choose—and how resistant to moisture they need to be—will depend on certain lifestyle habits typical in your home.
In the home’s main bathroom, where family members bathe or shower, fully waterproof flooring is a must—especially if kids often use the bathroom. Large amounts of water will likely end up on the floor regularly, and floors that are only water-resistant, as opposed to waterproof, may not last long. Perhaps everyone in your family is very careful about drips and splashes, but they enjoy taking long, hot showers. The constantly high humidity in that bathroom makes a compelling case for fully waterproof floors. However, a half-bathroom will experience much less moisture and fewer splashes and could probably get away with flooring that is only water-resistant.
That main bathroom will probably be used by family members while barefoot or only wearing socks, so a lower priority can be put on scratch resistance or overall wear resistance. But if it’s the bathroom that guests will most often use, you may even want to consider those same features a little more, since visitors may end up in there with their outdoor shoes on. Many homeowners will also place more importance on the aesthetics of the bathroom that guests will use.
Depending on your climate, you may also want to consider how particular bathroom floors will feel underfoot. Those who live in a cold climate and have ever walked barefoot and half asleep into the bathroom on a cold winter night will understand this best. Porcelain and ceramic tile can be quite the wake-up call in the middle of a chilly night! Materials like laminate or vinyl flooring will feel warmer underfoot, making for more comfortable bathroom visits.
Bathroom Flooring Budget
The bathroom is one of the most common renovation targets in the typical home, and a smartly redone bathroom is often considered a good way to make a home more attractive to potential buyers. But even if you’re not planning on selling your home, a renovated bathroom is a great way to add some new style to your home in a space where it can pay dividends.
Another common reason for redoing a bathroom is that, because they’re usually small rooms, you can often breathe new life into them for a reasonable overall cost—especially compared to a major project like a kitchen renovation. Combining a few major updates, like painting the walls, updating light fixtures, and having new bathroom floors installed can completely change the look and feel of the room without running up a huge price tag.
The limited area also allows homeowners to splurge on higher-end materials that they might not be able to afford for a project that spanned the entire home. If there’s a particular flooring product that you’d love to have installed in your entire home—but a project that big is beyond your budget—limiting it to a bathroom is an affordable way to scratch that particular design itch.
Of course, like any renovation project, the cost of new bathroom flooring can also end up being a higher-than-expected chunk of your budget. Empire is proud to offer high-quality bathroom floors at a wide range of price points, making it easier for homeowners to get the style they seek while staying on budget.
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