Home Design & Decorating Room Design Bathroom Design

The Best Flooring for Bathrooms to Upgrade Your Space

tile floor in a bathroom

The Spruce / Michelle Becker

Choosing the best flooring for bathrooms comes down to balancing performance, durability, appearance, cost, and ease of installation. In many parts of the home, choosing flooring mainly comes down to appearance.

When it comes to bathroom flooring, performance is the most crucial aspect because it determines how well it'll hold up to water and moisture exposure.

Porcelain and ceramic tiles, stained concrete, vinyl, cork, and bamboo are all popular bathroom flooring options, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages that must be considered. You must also consider what works best for your specific home, as each home comes with its own set of quirks.

Here are some popular bathroom flooring options and the pros and cons of each to help you choose what's best for your bathroom renovation.

Watch Now: 8 Questions to Consider When Buying Flooring

Porcelain or Ceramic Flooring Tiles

Porcelain tile is a popular choice for bathroom flooring, as it's waterproof, stylish, and cost-effective. Like stone, porcelain tile can achieve a rich, textured, solid feeling. Like vinyl, it's waterproof and fairly inexpensive. Like wood flooring, tile can elevate the bathroom's appearance.

Porcelain is denser than ceramic tile, which gives it more durability and longevity. However, porcelain tile's higher density makes it more brittle, which can leave it vulnerable to cracking upon impact. Plus, porcelain is less DIY-friendly than ceramic tile, as it's much harder to cleanly cut and install.

Because there are so many different types of ceramic tiles, you can create the exact floor you want. You can even find ceramic tile that looks like wood or stone. With tinted grout, you can be even more creative.

Individual tile comes in various sizes and shapes, from square and rectangular to octagonal and hexagonal. Smaller mosaic tiles are pre-mounted on plastic mesh sheets, so you do not have to set each tile individually.

There are many stylish porcelain and ceramic tile options to fit any budget. Professional tile installation isn't the cheapest option, but certain factors, like choosing larger tiles can help cut down on labor costs. Installing your own tile can afford you a great bathroom floor at a much lower cost.

Best of all, properly installed tile cleans up well and resists even standing pools of water. Like stone, tile is cold. However, radiant or heated tile can be laid under the tile. Wet tile is slippery, but texturing solves that problem. Smaller tiles are less slippery because more grout is used and the grout acts as a non-skid surface.

Pros
  • Many style choices


  • Good resale value


  • Works well with radiant heating


  • Cleans up well


Cons
  • Cold under foot


  • Hard under foot, so it is difficult to stand on for long periods


  • Often sterile-looking


  • Slippery


Bathroom tile flooring
The Spruce / Margot Cavin

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Stained Concrete Bathroom Flooring

Concrete flooring is one of the best bathroom flooring options for those who like a modern, industrial aesthetic. While there's always the traditional poured concrete option, now there are also dyed, stained, and textured concrete floors that add more variety to concrete's look.

While it has to be sealed periodically so it won't stain, concrete is incredibly low maintenance. Water can't damage it, and it's easy to clean. However, it can also be slippery, which is an issue when it gets wet (and it will get wet in a bathroom).

Concrete has some key features that make it a very good choice for bathroom floors, as well as some characteristics that make it problematic. It is a very durable, easy-to-clean, and waterproof material, but it is also a cold, hard, slippery surface that may make it problematic if you are worried about users falling. You'll need to weigh these pros and cons to decide if this flooring material is appropriate for you

Pros
  • Completely waterproof


  • Easy-to-clean


  • Durable


  • Will last as long as your house does


Cons
  • A more expensive flooring option


  • Porous and prone to staining unless sealed


  • Cold and slippery


  • Extremely hard


Vinyl Bathroom Flooring

Vinyl has long been a go-to choice for bathroom flooring because it's waterproof, easy to install, and budget-friendly. Popular variations of vinyl flooring include sheet, plank, and tile.

Sheet vinyl flooring is your best option if extreme amounts of water are expected, such as in children's bathrooms or laundry rooms. Because it comes in large sizes, sheet vinyl can be installed with as few as zero seams in a small bathroom.

Luxury vinyl plank flooring, an increasingly popular choice, comes in widths of around 5 inches and lengths of around 48 inches.

If your bathroom doesn't already have a tile floor, there's a good chance that the existing subfloor is not rigid or level enough, which will lead to new tile cracking. Getting the substrate up to the standard of tile can be expensive, but vinyl is a great bathroom flooring option that doesn't require the same substrate standards as tile.

Most vinyl flooring is very much a do-it-yourself job. Because vinyl is so popular, there are thousands of style options available.

Pros
  • 100% waterproof


  • Cost effective

  • Tile and plank are easy for do-it-yourselfers to install


  • Floating vinyl flooring is easy to replace


Cons
  • Often has poor resale value


  • Bumps and gaps on the underlayment or subfloor can telegraph to the vinyl surface


Tip

Vinyl should not be confused with linoleum flooring, which has a similar look but without the same foolproof waterproofing. While both can be used in bathrooms, typically, vinyl is the better option.

Bathroom vinyl flooring

The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Natural Stone Bathroom Flooring

Natural stone is a good choice for bathroom flooring, but only if you can afford it. There are few moisture problems with marble, granite, limestone, and other stone flooring options. Natural stone is hard, durable, and aesthetically pleasing. Stone flooring returns excellent resale value.

Stone flooring can be cold and slippery. Coldness can be solved by installing radiant heating. The slip factor can be mitigated by having the stone textured with sandblasting or by purchasing naturally textured stone, such as slate.

One issue that tends to pull this bathroom flooring option down is the high cost. Real stone flooring is by far your most expensive flooring option.

Pros
  • Excellent resale value


  • Very durable


Cons
  • Expensive


  • Difficult for do-it-yourselfers to install


Cork Bathroom Flooring

Cork is one of the most sustainable flooring materials you can choose when designing your home. It's made from the bark of cork trees, which don't have to be cut down for the bark to be harvested. That makes it an extraordinarily renewable resource, and one that eco-friendly designers and architects will turn to again and again.

While cork is not waterproof, it is water-resistant and resists mold and mildew growth. A polyurethane topcoat can help protect it against water, though it's probably best in a bathroom that isn't prone to extreme humidity or standing water. Make sure to use absorbent bath mats when you have cork flooring in a bathroom.

Pros
  • Naturally water-resistant


  • Eco-friendly renewable resource


  • Resists mold and mildew


  • Easy to replace one section


Cons
  • Standing water or repeated exposure to humidity can warp or distort cork


  • Humidity can cause cork to expand and contract


  • Soft material that can get damaged when wet


Bamboo Bathroom Flooring

Bamboo bathroom flooring is an ideal option for those who want a hardwood look in their bathroom, but need a more durable material. That isn't to say bamboo is perfect in a bathroom—it is not waterproof. But it can withstand heavy use and it is more moisture resistant compared to hardwood.

It's best in a half bath or a bathroom that is used primarily by adults who are up to the task of caring for it, meaning they'll do their best to avoid wet towels and excessive splashes. Additionally, bamboo is more affordable than hardwood.

Pros
  • Striking look in a bathroom


  • Durable and can stand up to heavy use


  • Moisture resistant


Cons
  • Not waterproof and may be damaged by standing water


  • Cannot be refinished


  • Must be cleaned with bamboo-friendly cleaning agents


Flooring to Avoid in the Bathroom

Wall-to-Wall Carpeting

Because carpeting retains moisture for so long, it tends to dry out slowly within the confined spaces of bathrooms. This makes carpet a poor flooring choice for bathrooms. However, if you do wish to have carpet in the bathroom, make sure the pile is low and the material is 100 percent inorganic, such as olefin or nylon.

Carpet flooring
The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Solid Hardwood

Except for its top coating, solid hardwood has no protection against moisture. Even the smallest amount of moisture that works its way into the wood will eventually rot it out. Only slightly better than carpet, solid hardwood looks great and feels warm underfoot.

If you do want solid hardwood in your bathroom, make certain it is perfectly installed, with zero gaps for moisture. This means hiring professional installers. It also means that site-finishing your hardwood flooring works better than installing pre-finished flooring. Site-finishing floods the seams between the boards with coating, effectively blocking moisture migration from the top side.

Hardwood flooring
The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Alternative Flooring Options

Engineered Wood Bathroom Flooring

Engineered wood is better than solid wood under high moisture conditions due to its dimensional stability. Engineered wood has a plywood base that holds up well against moisture. Plus, engineered wood flooring looks authentically like wood because the top layer is real hardwood veneer.

If you wish to have natural wood in a bathroom, engineered wood is the best choice. Any type of wood product, no matter how well protected, is prone to damage in bathrooms. 

Pros
Cons
  • Oversanding can wear through the veneer layer


  • Moderate-to-high expensive


Engineered wood flooring
The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Laminate Bathroom Flooring

Surprisingly, laminate flooring is a better bathroom flooring choice than solid hardwood. Laminate flooring is essentially resin-impregnated paper atop a wood chip base. The surface of a laminate plank is a photograph of oak, cherry, slate, marble, or any other wood or stone. On top is a clear coat called the wear layer. DuPont RealTouch, for instance, warrants the wear layer on its line of laminate flooring for 30 years.

Laminate can work in bathrooms if you take precautions to protect the wood base from moisture. With tight seams between the planks, it is difficult for moisture to work its way downward. Laminate is easy to clean, too. But laminate still has that wood chip base. Should it happen to have contact with moisture, it will expand and bubble, and the only way to fix it is to tear it out.

Truly waterproof laminate flooring is an idea that has not yet come to fruition even though several manufacturers have tried.

Pros
  • Inexpensive


  • Easy to install for do-it-yourselfers


Cons
  • Water-damaged laminate flooring cannot be repaired


  • Laminate flooring can collect static


Laminate flooring
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
FAQ
  • What is the current trend in bathroom flooring?

    Porcelain tile and vinyl flooring are popular for the wide range of colors and patterns available. Plus, both are relatively inexpensive compared to natural stone or hardwood, making them a stylish choice for budget-friendly bathrooms.

  • What color flooring makes a bathroom look bigger?

    Light colored flooring, whether it's tile, vinyl, laminate, or even concrete will make a bathroom look lighter, brighter, and bigger.

  • Which bathroom flooring will last the longest?

    Porcelain and ceramic tile will last longer than other bathroom flooring options, as they are highly durable if installed correctly on a solid substrate. Regularly sealed concrete can outlast tile, but it may crack if tied to the remainder of the home's foundation.