Tile vs. Luxury Vinyl For Bathroom Flooring: Which Is Best?

So it’s time to update your bathroom. Although this is an exciting opportunity, it is also a time to consider your options: tile or the increasingly popular luxury vinyl plank floors or LVP. LVP is the shining example of flooring advancement, as it is a plastic-based floor that is water-resistant; in other words, it can handle moisture-rich environments like the bathroom. 

As flooring and tile installation experts with over 20 years of experience, we meet many homeowners facing this dilemma and asking us for our opinion on which is best for their washroom. So we decided it was time to answer: which flooring is best for your bathroom? Read on to find out.

Tile Flooring Benefits

As flooring and tile installers, these are the advantages of using tile in your bathroom:

• Durable: Tile is a hardy material that can survive daily wear and tear. Not to mention, tile has a long lifespan of 50-100 years, depending on the material. 
• Water resistance: Tile is designed to repel moisture when properly sealed and maintained. This includes protecting the grout. Ideally, you should regularly inspect your tiles and grout for imperfections and hire a flooring and tile installer to fix them. 
• Easy to clean: Tile requires weekly cleaning of the surface and grout with a cleaning agent suitable for your tile material.
• Environmentally friendly: Natural stone or human-made tiles, such as ceramic, are environmentally friendly and can be recycled.
• Comfort: Tile can be cool underfoot, and you can add radiant heating to warm them. Also, tile can be slippery, so it is best to select a textured one to prevent falls.
• Design: Another feature that appeals to homeowners is the wide variety of tile colours, designs, patterns, and textures available. This means there is a tile design suitable for everyone’s style preferences.  
• Cost: The cost of tiling your bathroom varies depending on the material and installation. For instance, ceramic is more affordable than natural stone, and if you are a proficient tiler, you won’t have to shoulder the added cost of hiring a tile contractor. However, for the average homeowner with no tiling experience, the cost of tiling includes both materials and labour.

LVP Flooring Benefits

Luxury vinyl plank flooring is one of the most popular flooring materials with homeowners and can make a great addition to your bathroom for these reasons.

• Durable: Thanks to LVP’s multilayer construction and top-layer design, which are meant to withstand daily wear and tear, it is scratch- and stain-resistant. Homeowners can expect to get 10-20 years of use from LVP flooring. This means it won’t last as long as tile, but this may not matter to homeowners who like to update the look of their spaces frequently.
• Water resistance: There are different LVP options on the market, as not all LVP is waterproof; some are water-resistant. Homeowners who wish to use LVP in their bathroom should research and purchase a variety marketed as waterproof. 
• Easy to clean: Much like tile, LVP is easy to clean. However, as flooring and tile installers, we recommend that you clean these floors weekly with a suitable cleaning agent and mop up standing water after showers to extend their lifespan.
• Environmentally friendly: This is where LVP gets tricky. Traditional varieties had high VOC’s that contribute to indoor air pollution and were not recyclable. However, in recent years, we’re seeing a shift as LVP manufacturers are now making these floors low-VOC and with recycled content. If you’re concerned about buying an eco-friendly LVP, shop around for a product with a third-party eco-label or a FloorScore label indicating it’s low-VOC.
• Comfort: LVP is more comfortable and warmer underfoot than tile. However, certain kinds of LVP are suitable for radiant heating.
• Design: LVP shines here, offering hyper-realistic products that mimic the look and even feel of stone or wood. LVP is available in a wide variety of colours, designs, and shapes, including plank and tile.
• Cost: LVP is an economical flooring option and is easy to install yourself. However, LVP products also come in a variety of prices, with the more economical ones less likely to be environmentally friendly, and the high-end ones the most durable and waterproof. Furthermore, hiring a flooring contractor to install LVP means it will be done quickly, won’t void the warranty, and won’t cost as much as hiring them to install tiles.

Deciding Between Tile And LVP

Tile or luxury vinyl: which is best for your bathroom? There is no “best choice,” but there are factors that can help you decide which material is ideal for your bathroom’s needs. Here are some considerations to help you determine what material is best for your washroom.

1. Budget: Before you break ground on your new washroom, set a realistic budget. Bear in mind that your budget must cover the cost of materials and labour if you’re using a flooring or tile installer. For homeowners with a tight budget, it’s best to go with LVP, as it tends to cost less and, if you can install it yourself, you’ll save even more.
2. Needs: What do you want from your bathroom? 
3. Do you want comfortable floors? Homeowners tend to prefer LVP underfoot over tile because it flexes and feels warmer, without the need for radiant heating.
4. How often do you want to clean your floors? Be realistic: if you have no intention of frequently cleaning, tile may be easier as it requires weekly surface and grout cleaning. With LVP, you shouldn’t leave standing water on the floor, as it can slowly weaken the integrity of your floors and allow water to seep in.
5. How long do you want your floors to last? If you don’t want to replace your floors, then go with tile as it has a much longer lifespan. 
6. Lastly, you should consider your design scheme. After you’ve gone through the practical needs for your bathroom floor, you need to consider what your floors should look like. For some homeowners, especially traditional ones, this may mean using a neutral tile, such as white subway tiles, or natural stone for a more opulent finish. In comparison, other homeowners may prefer a more modern finish, like wood-look LVP.

Tile Or Luxury Vinyl Floors For Your Bathroom?

I hope we’ve demonstrated that there is no wrong choice of material for your bathroom floors; tile and LVP are both suitable. Ultimately, whichever material you choose will boil down to the one you can afford, and that fits your needs and design scheme. 

If you still have questions about either flooring material or updating the look of your bathroom, give us the Brothers Flooring a call today for a free consultation! We’d be happy to help answer your questions!