Bathroom Wood Flooring

Bathrooms are quite a challenge when it comes to choosing wood flooring. Bathrooms are a part of the home that suffer their fair share of moisture and temperature changes. No matter whether you prefer baths or showers, there’s going to be steam, wet feet and the (real but hopefully unlikely) risk of plumbing leaks. The right wood flooring can look great and work really well in a bathroom, but it’s really important that you make your choice carefully.

Solid wood flooring is just that, solid wood. Each plank of solid wood flooring is made up of a strip of the species of wood you’ve chosen. Wood is a natural product and expands and contracts when it faces moisture and temperature changes. There are few rooms in the house (except possibly the kitchen) that suffer moisture and temperature changes as extreme as the bathroom. When wood flooring expands and contracts excessively, the flooring can warp and bow when it’s hot and steamy, then develop large gaps when the steam has gone and the room has cooled. It is for these reasons that solid wood flooring is not normally recommended for bathrooms.

So which wood flooring will work in your bathroom? There is little doubt that engineered wood flooring is the best option. A highly stable wood flooring option, it is made of wood, but is constructed by man. An option which has developed significantly over the last ten years or so, engineered wood flooring should not be confused with laminate, which is a completely different thing altogether. Engineered wood flooring is a cleverly constructed board, made by bonding different layers together to create a solid base and then adding solid wood lamella or top layer to give it its authentic look. It’s ideally conceived to work perfectly in a bathroom.