Best bathroom flooring options

Choosing the right flooring for your bathroom can be a trickier decision process than other living spaces, mostly because there are more restrictions for what you can realistically use as bathroom flooring. Bathroom environments are known for excess moisture from washing our hands and running baths and showers, so you’ll need flooring that can handle water splashes and humid conditions.

In this Tapi bathroom flooring guide, we’ll talk you through all your water resistant bathroom flooring options. We’ll also look at the different factors you may need to consider to find the best bathroom flooring for your home, so let’s jump straight in.

In this guide:

What is the best flooring for my bathroom?
Types of bathroom flooring
Carpet or wood flooring in your bathroom
Bathroom flooring comparison
Bathroom flooring options and ideas

What is the best flooring for my bathroom?

Once you’ve looked at the various options, the right flooring for your bathroom is entirely up to you. If you are interested in seeing what type of flooring we recommend for your space, you can book a free home visit or in-store appointment with our expert team to have a chat. The most important thing is to determine what matters most to you:

Cost
Style
Durability
Quality

With these priorities in mind, you can choose the flooring that best fits your design choices, budget, and home environment.

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Types of bathroom flooring

When you’re looking for bathroom flooring, your requirements are likely to be similar to your kitchen flooring needs. Bathroom flooring must be water resistant, hard-wearing, non-slip, and easy to maintain. Unsurprisingly, your bathroom floor will have to deal with a lot of splashes, spills, humidity, and temperature changes. For this, there are really four types of bathroom flooring that win out:

Vinyl
Luxury vinyl tile (LVT)
Water resistant laminate
Traditional stone tiles

Vinyl

A fantastic choice for any bathroom and one of our most popular products, vinyl really ticks all the boxes. At Tapi Carpets, our vinyl flooring options are durable, non-slip, and easy to install and maintain. Available in a huge variety of styles and finishes, vinyl is a cost-effective option that looks and feels great underfoot.

Embossed or textured vinyl is one of the best non-slip bathroom flooring options. And because of the way vinyl is manufactured on a single roll with a water resistant coating, there are no joins where the water could seep underneath. If you’re worried about water or moisture damage, bathroom vinyl flooring is one of the best solutions out there.

Just because you’ve opted for an affordable bathroom floor doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style and substance. Our vinyl flooring is available with wear guarantees of 15 or even 20 years, so you can be sure it’s money well spent.

And what’s more, the real beauty of vinyl is the sheer number of different styles and finishes available. Create a monochrome look, or get the classic Victorian townhouse aesthetic with black and white tile effect vinyl. For a sleek and ultra-contemporary bathroom design, how about slate, marble, or granite effect floors?

For some, traditional wooden floors throughout the home are the dream. But because wood doesn’t cope well with splashes and moisture, it’s unfortunately not recommended for bathrooms. However, if you want the look and feel of wood, but without the drawbacks, then our wood effect vinyl is a perfect choice.

Create a light, airy and modern bathroom by pairing a light wood effect such as grey oak, birch, or maple with white fittings. To make a statement and draw attention to your bathroom, opt for a darker wood or coloured and patterned vinyl floor such as mosaic, geometric or striped.

Choose vinyl bathroom flooring if:

You want a completely waterproof and durable floor
You want to pick from a huge range of styles and ornate patterns
You want a floor that is easy to install and maintain
You want an affordable bathroom floor
You have underfloor heating

Browse Bathroom Vinyl Flooring

Luxury vinyl tiles

Luxury vinyl tiles (available in either stick-down or click installation) provide the benefits of vinyl while also offering superior product performance. Available in planks rather than on a roll like vinyl, LVT gives a more authentic look and feel. You could easily be forgiven for thinking it’s real wood or stone!

The top layer gives LVT its strong water resistant and non-slip qualities. Similarly, the core of LVT and the top layer makes it ideal for temperature fluctuation and humid conditions. If you’re looking for added performance and luxury, this would be the ultimate choice for your bathroom.

Choose LVT bathroom flooring if:

You want hyper-realistic finishes and textures for your floor
You are not as concerned with affordability

Montilla Herringbone - Rosa

£47.99 m²

Everywhere Favour Planks - Chia

£44.99 m²

Mustique - Minas Plank

Sonata - Beauvais Planks

£35.99 m²

Everywhere Flair Planks - Collar

Mustique - Canso Tile

£42.99 m²

Browse Bathroom LVT Flooring

Laminate

Another possible choice for bathroom flooring is laminate. However, only some types of laminate flooring will be suitable for a bathroom.

Like the other flooring types we’ve mentioned, laminate comes in a wide range of tones, colours, patterns, and styles, but it’s probably best known for its realistic wooden finishes. It also has the benefits of being warm and slightly cushioned underfoot. It’s also an excellent choice if you have underfloor heating.

Laminate is made from wood, which then has a graphic veneer printed and then sealed onto it. The laminate itself is also locked together when it is installed, so there are joins.

While it’s possible to install laminate in the bathroom, it’s very important to check the product’s water resistant qualities. Laminate is not inherently water resistant in its construction, and therefore is more likely to bow and warp than vinyl or LVT. Quick-Step laminate is water resistant. It uses a special patented locking system for a snug fit that ensures no water can penetrate between the planks. What’s more, when used with our Hydro kit, the floor stays water resistant for up to 15 years!

Choose bathroom laminate if:

You want a range of realistic styles and finishes
You want a comfortable and durable floor
You want to lay the floor yourself
You want an affordable floor
You have underfloor heating

Quick Step Muse Botanic Concrete

Browse Bathroom Laminate Flooring

Carpet or wood flooring in your bathroom

Generally, we don’t recommend installing bathroom carpet or wooden flooring, as bathrooms are notoriously wet. Wooden floors can stain and bow while carpet soaks up moisture which can lead to mould, smells, and stains. If you like the feeling of stepping out of the bath or shower onto a soft and warm floor, then choosing a thick bathroom mat that you can wash and dry easily is a much better choice.

Bathroom flooring comparison

	Carpet	Laminate	Vinyl	LVT	Engineered Wood
Warm	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
Quiet	✓	✗	✓	✗	✗
Durable	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓
Low-cost	✗	✗	✓	✗	✗
Comfortable	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗
Water resistant	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗
Easy-to-clean	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓

Bathroom flooring options and ideas

Our goal is to find you the flooring that meets all your needs and looks great. If you're looking for more inspiration, visit our Ideas Hub for more bathroom flooring ideas, such as how to create a contemporary bathroom.

You can also schedule an appointment at your closest Tapi store to speak with our floorologists. We can help organise a free home visit to help evaluate which bathroom flooring options would work best in your space. Once you find something you love, we can also help you arrange bathroom floor fitting with professional fitters to ensure the perfect fit.

Post author

Charlie Harris Buying Director

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Published: 05-06-2025