The bathroom may not be the most glamourous room in your home, but that's no reason to leave it looking unsightly, especially if you are planning on selling your home. Renovating your bathroom can increase your home's value, improve your toilet and bathing facilities and generally make your bathroom a nicer place to be.
However, if you want to replace the flooring in your bathroom, you should choose your bathroom's new flooring material carefully. Many flooring materials will degrade quickly in the humid, poorly ventilated environment of an average bathroom, but engineered wood flooring is an excellent choice for bathrooms both large and small. Here are four reasons to choose engineered flooring when renovating your bathroom.
Almost indistinguishable from real hardwood
Engineered flooring is made from multiple layers of plywood, which are hidden beneath a relatively thin surface layer of real hardwood. Once an engineered floor is fully fitted, the plywood sections are completely hidden. This creates a floor that looks like real hardwood but at a significantly lower cost. Engineered flooring is particularly convincing when compared to most types of wood-grain laminate flooring.
Cost-effective
Hardwood flooring can be an attractive and desirable addition to almost any room; unfortunately, it can also be cripplingly expensive. While engineered flooring is more expensive than laminate flooring, vinyl tiles and other flooring types suitable for bathrooms, it is much less expensive than most types of hardwood flooring.
Dimensionally stable
The unique structure of engineered flooring makes it considerably more dimensionally stable than most types of real timber. Well-made engineered flooring can withstand significant changes in temperature in humidity without warping, distorting or peeling.
This makes it an excellent choice for bathrooms, which can become very humid when people take showers or baths. Smaller bathrooms will also change temperature very quickly when your home's climate-control system activates.
Durable
Laminate flooring is a decent flooring option for bathrooms, especially if you are renovating on a tight budget. However, laminate flooring is not especially resistant to foot traffic and can be easily scuffed or scratched. Engineered flooring is much more resistant to wear and physical damage, making it a better long-term investment.
Easy to fit
Engineered flooring is a particularly good choice if you are conducting a DIY bathroom renovation. It is considerably easier to install than hardwood flooring, stone tiles and other popular flooring materials. Many types of engineered flooring are floating floors and are designed to slot together without the need for tools or adhesives. Other types can be glued or stapled in place relatively easily.
Compatible with underfloor heating
Many types of engineered flooring are also fully compatible with underfloor heating systems, a particularly popular heating option for larger, ground-floor bathrooms. They will conduct heat into your bathroom without warping or scorching in the process.
