If you’re planning a bathroom remodel, you might have noticed that a hardwood floor bathroom has become a popular choice amongst interior designers lately. While of course there are pros and cons to this type of flooring, they might just be the right floors for you!
*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions and recommendations are my own.
We’re getting ready to remodel our powder room, and one look I am loving and embracing fully is the classic hardwood floor bathroom. Now, I LOVE tile, probably a little too much, but there is something so warm, rich, and traditional about a gorgeous bathroom with wood floors.
Although this has always been a timeless look, we’ve been seeing this design trend make a resurgence lately, especially with interior designers that have a more traditional style. And, in particular, in small powder rooms with a classic pedestal sink.
If you’re loving the hardwood floor bathroom style as much as I am, I’m sure you’re wondering the big question: is it a good choice to use solid hardwood floors in a bathroom or powder room?
After consulting with the experts, I have some answers!
Let’s dive in!
Why You’ll Love A Hardwood Floor Bathroom
- A beautiful natural look
- Embraces a timeless, traditional style (especially with darker wood tones)
- Brings warmth to the space aesthetically
- Brings more warmth underfoot when compared to cool tiles (you can also install underfloor heating for extra warmth underfoot!)
- Not as high maintenance as you might have been told
- Costs roughly the same as tile (depending on which tile you choose, it could also be less expensive)
- Is a great choice for a small powder room (since it does not have excess moisture)
- Does not have grout like bathroom tile does, which tends to get visibly dirty rather quickly
- Can be easier to clean than marble, porcelain, or ceramic tile lined with grout
- Natural beauty of wood and wood grain
Can You Put Wood Floors In A Bathroom?
The short answer is: Yes.
The long answer is that this type of flooring does come with more maintenance if used in a bathroom, but less maintenance in a powder room. Hardwood bathroom floors might not be the right choice for a family with little kids who like to splash in the bath and dump out scoops of water onto the floor. It all depends on your bathroom use! Master bathrooms or guest bathrooms for adults are good options for wood floors. But one of the best options is in the powder room since it does not have a bath or shower.
In regards to maintenance, we’ll touch on that below:
What Are The Best Practices To Maintain Wood Floor Bathrooms?
In order to maintain wood floors in a bathroom, and to prevent water damage, be sure to consider these tips:
1. Run the Exhaust Fan: Help remove high humidity from your bathroom with proper ventilation by turning on your exhaust fan whenever you shower or take a bath. This draws moisture from the room and helps to maintain not only the floors, but the paint on the walls and ceiling too. A good exhaust fan can work wonders in a bathroom! If you don’t have an exhaust fan, a ceiling fan is the next best way to help manage humidity levels. (Even keeping a bathroom window cracked open, as long as it is not hot and humid outside, can make a huge impact in controlling humidity in a bathroom setting).
2. Use Bathmats: Since bathrooms are typically the most wet environments in the house, a simple and great option to prevent the floor from getting wet is to add bath mats. Use bathmats when getting out of the tub or shower, plus be sure to add one in front of your sink. Bath mats with a rubber backing underneath help prevent water from reaching your floor, vs just a cotton bathmat that acts more like a towel to soak up water and then stays wet for a while.
3. Wipe Up Water Spills and Drips: If you see water on your wood floor, be sure to immediately wipe it up. The worst thing you could do for your solid wood floors is to leave water sitting for too long. Wet areas can cause moisture damage to the wood if let be for too long without proper care to clean up. This can be a challenge in family bathrooms where little wet feet run across bathroom floors and big splashes happen during bath time. So be sure to pay close attention to the floors after kids are done with showers or bath time. (If you’d rather not risk it with a full bath and heavy foot traffic, then I’d strongly suggest the powder room as an alternative for a room to use wooden flooring. Much less maintenance!)
4. Plumbing and Maintenance: Be sure to stay on top of regular maintenance regarding plumbing, and be sure to fix any problems right away before they turn into a larger problem and cause damage. Use high quality plumbing fixtures to avoid costly complications!
5. Wood Floor Finish Maintenance: Be sure to pay special attention to water that is no longer “beading” on top of the floors. If this is the case, be sure to add a topcoat to prevent water from penetrating your wood floors. Stronger sealants act as a moisture barrier over the wood planks, so be sure to be on the lookout for signs the sealant is becoming worn, thin, and weak.
Can You Put Wood Floors In A Powder Room?
YES! While you still have to maintain and care for a real wood floor, hardwood is one of the best flooring choices for a powder room given this particular room does not have a bath or shower. There are naturally less moisture concerns (but be sure to keep the area around the sink dry, as well as at the base of the toilet!), making it a preferred choice vs a bathroom.
Are Hardwood Floors A Durable Bathroom Flooring Option?
Hardwood floors can be a very durable option, as long as you keep in mind the maintenance and care that goes along with it (as mentioned previously). There are so many flooring materials, and each has their own pros and cons.
Are There Different Types of Wood Flooring?
There are a few different types of wood flooring, or floors that look like wood. Each has pros and cons whether it is maintenance, look, or cost, so you might need to do a little research on what is best, but we’ll go over a few here below:
Choosing The Best Type Of Wood (Or Wood Look):
- If your heart is set on using hardwood, be sure to choose dense hardwoods such as white oak, read oak, hickory, walnut, maple or teak.These harder woods have a dense grain (in comparison to a softwood like pine), which naturally prevents water penetration. This can help prevent the wood from warping or showing signs of damage.
- Luxury vinyl flooring has much more water resistance than traditional hardwoods (such as white oak or red oak), but you may like the look of wood in its natural state.
- They even make porcelain tiles that look like real wood, but offer higher levels of moisture resistance.
- Engineered hardwood is another great option for bathroom wood flooring because it consists of a real wood veneer, but includes layers that are constructed in a way that makes them less likely to expand and contract when exposed to water and moisture. Since they are real wood but also include the best materials to be considered water resistant, engineered hardwood has become one of the most popular types of hardwood flooring for the bathroom.
- Most engineered hardwood is water resistant, but a few manufacturers make varieties that are actually considered to be (engineered) waterproof hardwoods!
Wood Floor Bathroom Vs. Tile Bathroom
The battle is on. Hardwood vs Tile. Which type of flooring is best for the bathroom? Most would generally agree that tile wins. Tile was meant for the bathroom, but there are SO many varieties of tile available that all require different maintenance: marble, porcelain, ceramic, etc. For example, a marble bathroom floor is timeless and gorgeous, but you have to stay on top of maintenance, have proper sealing and resealing (as marble is porous and can stain easily), and the grout can also be more difficult to clean between marble tiles.
Whereas a hardwood floor can be easily wiped down just as you wood the hardwood floors in your living room or kitchen, and you don’t need to worry about constantly cleaning grout.
A marble tile can give off a “cooler” toned aesthetic, whereas wood brings more “warmth”. And literally, marble tiles can also feel quite cold underfoot, whereas a wood floor feels warmer. Which is nice when you’re just stepping out of the shower!
What Type Of Bathroom Vanity Goes Well With Wooden Floors?
Well, this depends on the stain of your natural wood flooring. A rich, deep dark brown would look fantastic with a similar rich, deep dark brown vanity with a marble top. However, things get a bit trickier when trying to combine wood tones. If you have light wood floors, but opt for a dark wood vanity, it might feel a bit out of place. And vise versa, if you had dark hardwood floors but chose a light wood vanity, it might clash a bit.
A white vanity is classic with hardwood floors. Just like white kitchen cabinets that meet your wood floors below, or just how white baseboards look so crisp against a deep or medium stain floor, white and wood work well together. My favorite look lately for small powder rooms has been the classic style white pedestal sink, with that dark rich tone wood floors beneath it. It feels very classic English, and I’m all for it.
Some other colors for bathroom vanities that could work well with wood floors are taupes, soft blues, black, soft sage, and creamy or crisp whites.
Hardwood Floor Bathroom Inspiration
Here are a few more looks I’m loving that embrace the hardwood floor bathroom:
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