Flooring and Countertops

     When choosing flooring for your bathroom, you must consider having a floor that is water resistant, within your budget, and to your taste.  There are many different materials you can choose for your bathroom flooring, and those choices include ceramic tile, linoleum or vinyl coloring, stone flooring, and hardwood flooring. 

     Ceramic tile is the preferred bathroom flooring material for many people, and it can come in a variety of colors, patterns, and even prices.  Tile is made from porcelain, shale, or clay.  It is fired at high temperatures and hardens.  This tile is durable, stain resistant, and very practical for your bathroom.

     Laminate and vinyl tile design tends to be a little less luxurious and expensive.  It comes in wide variety of colors, textures, and patterns, and can sometimes imitate wood, ceramic, and stone.  It is very inexpensive and tends to be well liked because it is easy to install in your bathroom, easy to keep clean, durable, and water resistant.  In other words, it is very practical.

Vinyl Flooring

     Stone bathroom tile designs can come in the form of granite, marble, brick, onyx, slate, limestone, and travertine.  This tile can be exceptionally beautiful.  It is also very strong and durable for your bathroom.  It is easy to clean and requires very little maintenance.  It is important to know that it can be rather expensive, cold to the touch, and can be slippery when getting out of the shower or bathtub. 

Stone Tile

     A mosaic tile can be made of any of the tile, stone, colored glass, or porcelain materials.  A mosaic tile can add beautiful colorful patterns in your bathroom.  These tiles are usually only about one or two inches and tend to be less expensive. 

Mosaic Tile

     Some people are going for a different look with a concrete floor.  These floors are low maintenance and easy to clean.  They are also very durable.  They are ideal for wet surfaces.  You can get concrete bathroom tile designs in shiny, slick, rough, or sandpaper textures, and they come in a variety of sizes and colors to your taste. 

     Hardwood flooring is also an option.  Hardwood flooring has a number of benefits, including that it is resistant to wear, comfortable to walk on, visually attractive, easy to refinish and keep clean.  The major disadvantage and concern is that it can have problems if it gets wet. 

Bathroom Countertop Choices

     There are a number of choices for you for the counter top you choose for your bathroom.  The first is a plastic laminate.  Plastic laminates come in a number of colors, patterns, and surface glosses.  This is a good choice for you if you are concerned about money.  Be careful about a couple of things though in relation to laminate counter tops.  First, make sure that you do not allow your laminate counter tops to get too hot, as this can damage the surface.  Laminate counter tops are also susceptible to scratches resulting from sharp objects.  Dyes can also permanently stain your laminate counter top.  You can remove these stains with household cleaners that are mild.  Additionally, the laminate can separate on the condition of water seeping under the seams. 

Laminate Counter Top

     Another bathroom option is cultured marble.  This is a popular counter top material due to its elegance and variety of color.  It is made from crushed marble, binding resins, and pigment.  It is molded, trimmed, and polished, and has a waterproof and stain resistant surface.  Scratches can usually be repaired with sanding and polishing.  Do not use abrasive cloths for cleaning the cultured marble.

     Corian is another example of a bathroom counter top material that is a good choice.  It is made of natural material and acrylic polymer, and it can be expensive.  The surface of Corian is smooth and will likely not support the growth of mold, mildew, and bacteria.  Corian is also nonporous, which leads to liquids and stains not being able to penetrate the surface.  It is also easy to maintain and clean.  There are different finish options with Corian, such as semi gloss, gloss, and matte.  You can clean it easily with soap or ammonia based cleaners.  Like the laminate counter tops, it can be damaged by heat, such as the heat from a curling iron. 

    One more option for your counter top is granite.  It is both beautiful and elegant.  It tends to be an expensive choice for a bathroom counter top.  It is durable and resistant to water staining.  It also can be chipped or broken.  This can be challenging to repair.  If you have a granite counter top, be sure not to use abrasive cleaning supplies, as even fingernail polish can damage it.  Giving your counter top a fresh coat of wax every once in a while while help preserve its shine and keep its beauty.

Granite Counter Top