Pros and cons: pick your bathroom flooring

Time to choose a bathroom flooring option? Then it's time to look at the pros and cons of all the most popular options!

If you have ever styled a bathroom, you know that choosing the flooring material is one of the hardest and trickiest choices you’ll ever have to make. Why? Well, bathroom floors usually do not get treated so well, mostly because of the water. Water gets splashed on the bathroom floor daily, not to mention all the steam! Besides, unless you love fully restyling your bathroom every few years, you would normally like the floor to last you for a long time. “Forever” might be too long, but we definitely shouldn’t be aiming low. But how to pick a flooring style over another? How can we tell which one is the best? Well, first of all, let’s be clear on one things: some flooring materials might be better than others, but, that said, it also all depends on what your aesthetic preferences are, how often you use this specific bathroom, and so on. Let’s explore the pros and cons of all the main materials.

Ceracasa designs the classiest bathrooms layouts

Concrete

Concrete is definitely a choice whose pros outnumber the cons. From an aesthetic point of view, concrete may not be the best pick if you prefer rétro looks; however, if you love industrial-chic, urban vibes, that should definitely be your go-to choice. The main pro of concrete is that it’s a hard-wearing material, and it’s in fact known for its strength and durability. It’s completely water-resistant, and it’s extremely hard to scratch, stain, and otherwise damage. However, if somehow it does get damaged, the solution is quite expensive: as concrete is poured over the floor, there are no slabs or tiles, which mean you need to change the entire floor. Still, if the damage is not too bad, you can simply pour another layer of concrete on it; you can even choose a completely different material! Also, the single-material design makes concrete a perfectly eco-friendly choice, which given the current state of things on our planet, is an amazing pro.

Not convinced? Fioranese also creates ceramic tiles that mimic concrete!

Ceramic

Ceramic tiles are likely the most classic choice, as far as bathroom flooring goes. True, in general ceramic tiles are not inexpensive, but they make up for their price in a lot of ways. For instance, they are durable and it’s basically impossible to stain them permanently. And it doesn’t end here: because of their durability, your ceramic tiles will last you for ages and when (and if) you will be putting your house back on the market, its resell value will be improved. The main con of ceramic tiles is the grout: unlike the tiles themselves, grout does stain pretty easily, which is why it’s a bit high-maintenance and needs to be cleaned often.

A classy ceramic floor by Atlas Concorde

Porcelain

Porcelain tiles are still part of the ceramic tiles family, but with a few key differences. Ceramic absorbs very little water, but porcelain absorbs even less! For porcelain to be certified, it needs to absorb less than 0.5% water. This is definitely a pro of this material; however, a downside is that, precisely because of this reason, porcelain tiles tend to get really slippery! That said, you’ll just need to be careful when you know you’ve splashed water on the floor. Yet another pro is that, contrary to what you might think, porcelain is pretty cheap as a flooring material: if you get tired of your floor at some point, or if you need to replace a few tiles, it’s not going to be too painful, moneywise. Finally, porcelain tiles are perfect if you want your bathroom to have an edgy, sleek, contemporary look.

Porcelain everything, by Old Sax

Solid hardwood

Solid hardwood is certainly a beautiful, warm material to style your bathroom floor. However, the number of downsides to it is a bit disheartening, we must admit. You can already pretty much imagine these downsides, right? Wood absorbs water, period. It tends to expand and contract when in contact with high humidity, which leads to cracking, swelling, and so on. Does this mean you cannot choose this material? Well, you totally can, but we’d recommend employing it in a guest bathroom, rather than in one where you shower or bath every day.

It's impossible not to love Glass 1989

Engineered hardwood

If you still feel attracted to the natural warmth of wood, then engineered hardwood is a more viable solution than solid hardwood. Why? Well, its base is made of durable plywood, while a thin coat of real wood or bamboo covers it, in order to give it that unique, natural feel. However, we are still talking about wood, so it’s still not the ideal choice for a room with daily high levels of humidity.

Check out Spanish flooring brand, INVE!

Resin

Resin is kind of similar to concrete, in a way: both are poured as liquids, which means that the resulting floor surface will be smooth, uniform and absolutely seamless: no grout to clean, and no weak spots that will let water in. Plus, just like concrete, you can simply pour a new layer on top of the old one. Because resin doesn’t absorb water or liquids in general, it’s super easy to clean and it’s extremely durable, which is why, in the end, it is one of the most cost-effective bathroom flooring materials you could choose.

Sleek resin floor by ErreLAB

Rubber

Rubber’s popularity as bathroom flooring material has been steadily increasing during the last few years. It does have quite a few pros. For instance, if you choose rubber tiles, you can play with different patterns and colors. On the other hand, if you choose the most popular and easy solution, which is rolling down a rubber sheet. By doing this, you’ll make sure there are no seams for water to sweep through. Moreover, rubber floors are relatively inexpensive, very durable, and eco-friendly too! The main downside is their look: many people complain that, unless you choose the right finish, no matter their color, they look dull.

A rubber floor by Nora is never going to look dull!

Cork

Cork estimators praise this material because of how soft it feels underfoot. It does feel really soft, but you need to remember, a cork floor needs to be covered with a water-resistant sealer. Without the sealer, your cork floor will get damaged in no time. And, you still need to be careful, because high levels of moisture are not going to be amazing for it. It is also pretty easy to scratch and dent it, so be very mindful of these downsides before making your choice.

Cork solutions by GENCORK

Marble

Marble is a gorgeous choice, and we definitely love it. It’s amazing both because of its elegant look, and of all the natural colors you can choose. However, you should keep in mind that, no matter how gorgeous marble looks, it’s a porous stone, which means it will absorb water.

Beautiful flooring solution by Fanal

Marble grit

The downsides are similar to the downsides of marble: this type of material will absorb water. However, it’s ideal if you want your bathroom floor to have a sleek, graphic look, or want it to be covered with rich, complex decorations. You can also opt for a more natural look: the main upside of marble grit, is that it leaves you free to do whatever you prefer!

MIPA can show you what real flooring creativity looks like!