The Best Flooring For Laundry Rooms

You spend a lot of time in your laundry room, so it’s natural that you would want the flooring to be comfortable, functional and easy to clean. Sure, the layout, size, washer and dryer, and lighting you choose for your laundry room is important, but the flooring is perhaps one of the biggest considerations to make. After all, you’ll be standing on it to load and unload, fold, remove stains, etc.

Considerations

Moisture is your biggest problem when it comes to the laundry room. If your washer were to leak or overflow, or you have a cracked water supply line, all that water can lead to an emergency situation that you hope your floors can handle. That’s why you should choose a floor type that’s moisture resistant. For this reason, carpet is not a good choice for a laundry room.

In addition to moisture resistance, you’ll want a floor covering that’s:

  • Warm and soft to stand on for long periods of time
  • Smooth and easy to maintain and clean
  • Durable so it can last for many years
  • Affordable (after all, it’s just laundry room flooring; no need for expensive hardwood)

Check out the pros and cons of a few different types of flooring that would be good in a laundry room.

Sheet Vinyl

Sheet vinyl flooring is a great moisture-proof floor covering for the laundry room because it comes in one unseamed waterproof piece of material. Assuming your laundry room measures less than 12 feet, it’s easy to install sheet vinyl with no worries about seams, as they come in 12-foot rolls. Add a thermoplastic rubber wall base and you have a highly efficient, reliable and waterproof floor.

Drawbacks include a plain appearance and difficulty installing in large spaces.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring (LVF)

Luxury vinyl plank flooring can mimic the appearance of real wood if you don’t look too close. You can DIY the install, but you’re best off leaving it to a pro, as its’s tough to tightly seam the boards on every side if you want it to be totally waterproof.

Choose LVF for its:

  • Affordability
  • 100-percent waterproof nature
  • Easy installation

Stay away if you can’t ensure a tight fit, as water could leak through the seams. You also want a solid substrate if this type of flooring will work for you.

Tile

Classic laundry room flooring materials, ceramic and porcelain tile are easy to clean, plus they’re waterproof when installed correctly and very durable. However, they can be hard to stand on for long and they tend to be cold underfoot, which may be compounded if your laundry room is in the basement. You could add radiant heating, of course, but this would add a lot to the overall cost.

Pros of tile:

  • Wide variety of styles
  • Waterproof
  • Easy to clean and maintain

Cons

  • Flawless installation is best left up to the pros, not homeowners
  • Can be hard and cold
  • Needs a solid, inflexible substrate

Concrete

You likely already have concrete if your laundry room is in your basement. You may want to keep this as is, perhaps with an area rug for comfort where you stand to fold clothes. However, concrete flooring can be quite plain and industrial looking. This can be remedied by adding acid-etching, paint, or stain.

To recap, concrete is durable, easy to clean, and waterproof. But it can be cold and plain looking.

Laminate

Laminate is a popular choice for many homeowners, but it can suffer damage if flooding were to occur. Laminate flooring should be tightly seamed during installation, but even so, you may want to place a pan under your washing machine just in case.

Laminate is:

  • Affordable
  • Easy to install
  • Easy to clean and maintain

However:

  • The particleboard base can be damaged when in contact with water
  • Layers may delaminate over time

In Conclusion…

When deciding which flooring is best for your laundry room, it really all comes down to your personal preferences, budget and requirements. You may want to go with a durable, less attractive and more affordable flooring for your laundry room because guests don’t typically see it. This is especially so if your laundry room is not also a bathroom. In the end, you have to take the time to weigh the pros and cons of each before coming to a decision that works for you.

Contact Designer Wood Flooring

Contact us in San Antonio or Southeast Texas today for a free quote on a variety of flooring types for your laundry room. We would be happy to lend our advice.