Bathroom Flooring 101 For Beginners

When it comes to choosing bathroom flooring, as a homeowner you have to be picky. The floor should be easy to install, clean and maintain, it shouldn’t be slippery, water-resistant, should keep up with high humidity, be long-lasting and also should go with the overall design of the room. With so many parameters to think over, choosing the right flooring for your bathroom can take ages unless you hire a professional. Whether you’re enlisting the help of a local flooring company or not, this beginner’s guide to flooring will help you with certain planning aspects of this project…

Tiles Or ???

The first step in planning a bathroom flooring project is to choose the material. The majority of Canadian homeowners prefer porcelain or ceramic tile flooring but there are also options of wood and vinyl flooring. Tiles are a popular choice as they are easy to install, clean and are slip-proof. They last longer in humid bathroom conditions. You can also choose marble flooring but it can get expensive. Talk to your flooring expert to decide which flooring should be best for your bathroom.

What Is Grout and How to Deal With It?

If you finalize tiles as your choice of bathroom flooring material like millions of Canadians, you will need to be well-versed with the grouting process. Grouting is the process to fill up the gap between two tiles. This minuscule gap can accumulate dust, dirt and mildew if not covered properly with the right solutions. This small process requires chalk, grout powder, tile and grout sealers, cleaning rags, chalk guns, paint brushes, sponges, towels and floats. After cleaning the tiles you can use these tools and materials to cover up the gaps. It is recommended to repeat this process at least once a year to ensure the longevity of your floor.

If you are a beginner and doing the grouting by yourself, make sure you do your research, get the right material, read the instructions and dedicate a whole weekend or maybe more to this task. However, if you hire a professional, this task will be done in a couple of hours as they will use electrical power grouting tools.

When to Install the Flooring: Before or After Installing Major Bathroom Fixtures?

Every renovation project has its own timeline for specified tasks. When it comes to installing flooring, it confuses many homeowners whether it should be installed before or after major bathroom fixtures! This is a question very similar to the mystery of chicken and egg. Our pros recommend that you should consider doing the plumbing and electrical fixtures first, then the flooring and finally install the other bathroom fixtures like a bathtub, toilet or sink. However, you have to be very careful when installing these fixtures to avoid any damage to your flooring. You can use rags and other protective materials and do the grout cleaning at the very end of the project.

Should Flooring Be Installed Under the Furniture?

Your bathroom furniture like cabinets and vanity is installed by carpenters and they have a different view from the flooring contractors about the installation process. The carpenters prefer the flooring to be installed first to avoid damage to the cabinets but the flooring contractors prefer getting cabinet installation first to avoid scratches on the new floor. This is one question that you will need to get answered by your contractors in person. An open conversation with both teams will help lessen the damage to the furniture and the floor. Or if you hire a sole contractor for the project, you won’t have to worry about making this decision at all as the contractor will be solving these problems on your behalf.

Replacing or installing a new bathroom flooring is a major task and can easily take up to a week of your time. From choosing materials, getting the right tools, managing the plumbing and electrical fixtures under the floor and other fixtures above the floor, this project can drain your energy down the pipe. If you’re a beginner at this renovation project, we highly recommend you hire a local flooring contractor to help you out.