The bathroom may not seem like the best place for hardwood floors, but they’re just so darn cozy, warm, beautiful, and hard to resist. If you want to adorn your bathroom with hardwood floors, be smart about the choices you make. Your biggest challenge is going to be choosing the right materials to withstand the high moisture content of a bathroom.
Hardwood floors in a moist environment
There’s just no way a bathroom isn’t going to have a high moisture content. If it’s not water spilling and splashing directly onto your floors, it’s steam from taking a hot shower. When you decide on hardwood floors for your bathroom, make sure you make choices that can handle the conditions of the bathroom. Wood is a natural product, and it is going to bend, warm, cup, expand, and contract when coming into contact with moisture. This is what you have to keep in mind when choosing the right wood and the right finish.
The most durable wood species for bathroom floors
For hardwood flooring in your bathroom, look for a hard, dense type of wood. Wood species that are softer in nature are going to absorb a lot more moisture and have a much bigger reaction than a tougher type of wood. A dense type of wood, like oak, walnut, or hickory are perfect for bathroom flooring because they will stand tough against high moisture.
The best finish for bathroom hardwood floors
Besides a dense type of wood, you want to give it an extra strong layer of finish for added protection. A hardwood flooring finish will create an invisible barrier that will sit between the moisture and the hardwood underneath. You may want to give it a few coats of finish to make sure the wood is completely protected, especially at the seams.
Pay close attention to the installation
You always want to go with a reputable hardwood flooring contractor that has a proven track record. However, when it comes to installing hardwood floors in a bathroom, the installation is going to be all the more important. Making sure that the floors are installed completely level will prevent spills from trickling off to uneven spaces, creating little puddles. If your floors are uneven and the water tends to always pool in one area, you’re going to have a patch of discoloration at best, and at worst, you’ll need to completely redo your hardwood floors and replace rotten boards.
Hardwood flooring installation experts in Colorado
T&G Flooring is one of Colorado’s largest hardwood flooring retailers. We carry top brands, as well as our own line, so we can find you the perfect type of flooring for your bathroom. Our highly skilled hardwood flooring craftsmen are the best in the business.
