Renovating a bathroom, especially if you do it yourself, is a complex, expensive undertaking that takes a lot of time and effort. The main problem for inexperienced craftsmen is the floor in the bathroom. The microclimate of this irreplaceable room requires the materials used to have increased resistance to moisture, temperature fluctuations, and readiness for serious loads.
The floor covering mainly performs a waterproofing function, protecting the concrete base from destruction due to contact with water. This article will tell you how to choose a material for flooring, level it, and also waterproof it with high quality.
Linoleum
The moisture resistance of linoleum allows it to be used in the bathroom. Modern manufacturers offer a material that adequately imitates the texture and pattern of wood and stone. Also among the advantages are price, ease of installation and maintenance, and shock-absorbing properties.
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Bonus: the coating is warm, which means you can save on a heated floor system. Disadvantage: contact with sharp objects will lead to scratches, and it will not be possible to replace the damaged area - only the entire coating.
Floor Pie
Regardless of the type of ceiling, the floor in the bathroom must have a layer of waterproofing and insulation. To increase the comfort of the coating, an electric heated floor system is installed in the form of heating cables or mats.
Pie on different floors
The number of layers may vary, but often the bathroom floor cake consists of:
- Concrete or wooden floors.
- Waterproofing layer.
- Layers of warmth and vapor barrier.
- Screeds, self-leveling cement or polymer coating.
- Finish coating.
Thickness of the main layers of the bathroom floor cake
Warm floors are a serious cost item during renovation, so it is important to accurately calculate how much and what materials will be needed. To ease your labor costs, we have prepared special instructions telling you how to calculate a heated floor - water or electric. Online calculators included. And in the article “What is needed for a heated floor?” you will find a complete list of everything that may be needed during installation.
Terrazzo
Terrazzo is a seamless mosaic floor, which is a coating with the addition of stone, glass, and pebbles.
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Bonus: it is one of the trends, looks expensive and impressive, practical, fits into almost any style. Disadvantage: installing such a floor is not the most budget option, and you will have to look for a good specialist. The coating will be cold; a heated floor system will be required.
Preparation for repair
Any repair begins with preparation. If the premises are not residential and are under construction, then practically no preliminary work is required. It is necessary to clear the room of foreign objects and cover all cracks.
The leveling screed may be damaged during dismantling, so it is advisable to remove it as well. Linoleum and wood floors come off faster. It is important to be careful.
Cork
Yes, cork can be used in bathrooms. It has many advantages: the material does not absorb moisture, does not rot, has a pronounced natural texture, and shock-absorbing properties.
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Bonus: cork flooring is warm and will fit into a variety of interior styles. Disadvantage: not all cork flooring options are suitable for the bathroom. Thus, material with an interlocking connection is not recommended for use in wet areas: moisture can penetrate under the finish and contribute to the appearance of fungus.
Laminate
Laminate (even moisture-resistant) may not be the most practical choice for wet areas. But if you like frequent changes or are renovating a temporary apartment, you might consider this option.
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Bonus: aesthetics of imitation wood, pleasant texture, heated floors, budget-friendly. Disadvantage: high-quality moisture-resistant laminate and its installation will not be cheap. And budget materials will be much less durable.
Rubber cover
Practical, easy to care for, and not too traumatic, the coating for the bathroom is rubber.
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Bonus: moisture resistance, abrasion resistance, and a wide palette will definitely please you. Minus: it is, of course, difficult to call a rubber coating natural and environmentally friendly. Especially if you turn to budget material from little-known manufacturers. Aesthetics also remain controversial.
Criteria for choosing a floor for a bathroom
Taking into account the special operating conditions of the room, the selection of flooring for it must be approached with the utmost responsibility, for example, so as not to slip on a wet surface. To avoid this and a number of other inconveniences and disadvantages when choosing a material, it is imperative to pay attention to the following factors:
- Safety. If water gets on the surface of the floor covering, it should not become slippery, as this could result in injury.
- Moisture resistance. One of the key indicators that you need to pay attention to when purchasing, because the service life of the material and the preservation of the original appearance largely depend on it. The selected floor covering should not absorb or allow moisture to pass through, even with prolonged direct contact with water.
- Wear resistance. Due to the multitude of different plumbing equipment, the dismantling of which is not always easy, the significant amount of time required for repeated work and financial costs, it is better to immediately select high-quality material, which will allow you to avoid all this for an order of magnitude longer.
- Easy to care for. Contaminants that have formed should be removed from the surface of the floor covering without any difficulty. Ideally, for this it would be sufficient to carry out wet cleaning without the use of various detergent compositions. In this case, removing the dirt will require a little effort and a little time. If there is still a need to use detergents, then the selected floor covering must withstand their influence without losing its original characteristics.
- Long service life. It is largely influenced by the quality of the material itself and its resistance to various negative influences, which include, for example, resistance to moisture and the difficulty of causing mechanical damage to it.
- Environmental friendliness. The composition of the selected floor covering should not contain an amount of elements harmful to human health that exceeds the norm, and it is better that they are completely absent from it. Due to the high temperature inside the bathroom, the accelerated evaporation of chemical compounds from building materials occurs, which is especially noticeable in a room with small dimensions.
- Attractive appearance. The flooring should look original and beautiful, and also fit well with the interior of the room and plumbing equipment.
Taking into account these criteria, you can select a high-quality and easy-to-use material that will not only have high technical performance, but also have a pleasant appearance that, with proper care and careful use, will remain the same for many years.
Pebbles
Pebble floors are gaining popularity: environmental friendliness, practicality, relative budget, ease of installation make them increasingly popular.
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Bonuses: this floor looks impressive, will fit into many styles, and is not too difficult to maintain. Uniqueness of the coating (each pebble is unique!), massage effect. Minus: the floor will be hard and cold.
Concrete
The popularity of industrial motifs has made concrete floors not such a rare occurrence, including in bathrooms. The apparent cheapness of a concrete floor is deceptive: in order for it to serve for a long time without deformation, you will need a high-quality solution, reinforcement, additional topping mixtures with plasticizers or primers. It won't be any cheaper than alternative coatings. If this moment is omitted, the concrete in the bathroom will become dusty, and cracks and potholes will quickly form on it.
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Bonus: original appearance, low maintenance, moisture resistance. If desired, the concrete can be painted with special paint. There are also disadvantages: concrete is cold, hard, its style may not be appropriate in any interior.
- Decoration
Concrete wall in the interior: 10 stylish options for different rooms
Waterproofing
High-quality waterproofing in compliance with all technologies is a guarantee of comfort and durability of a wooden floor. With a competent approach, you will not have to endure additional costs for restoration and coating restoration procedures.
Since at the preparatory work stage you have already cleaned the floor, repaired cracks, leveled the surface and covered it with a primer, all that remains is to apply a waterproofing compound.
A waterproofing compound is an aqueous solution that penetrates into the pores of concrete and fills them. The material prevents the penetration of water, destruction of the surface, and the formation of mold.
Waterproofing before laying a wooden floor
Waterproofing should be applied using a wide brush or spatula. The solution must be evenly distributed over the surface. The layer thickness should not exceed 5 mm. Repeat the procedure several times. After each application, it is necessary to wait a certain time, which is indicated on each package of the composition.
The most popular solution is hydrosol. The product significantly increases the resistance of the wooden floor in the bathroom to moisture and the appearance of putrefactive bacteria.
Rolled waterproofing materials can be considered no less in demand today. Among them: glass elast, hydrostekloizol, rubitex, uniflex. They are attached mechanically. It is important that the material extends at least 10 cm onto the walls. In some cases, builders combine roll waterproofing and mastic. This allows you to achieve maximum effect and maintain comfort and warmth in the bathroom.
Natural wood
Eco-friendly material, status appearance, natural texture - all these are unconditional advantages of natural wood. Yes, when laying in wet areas, special impregnations or coating with moisture-resistant varnish will be required, but the interior of a bathroom with a wooden floor will become expensive and expressive.
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Bonus: with proper care, the coating will last for decades. And you can always sand it down to get a repair effect. Minus: dense, more moisture-resistant wood species are suitable for the bathroom, which will cost a considerable amount. In addition, the work must be performed by a professional, which is also not cheap.
How to lay tiles on a wood bathroom floor
The principle of arranging waterproofing under tiles is no different from the previous method, the only difference being that two layers will have to be laid under the tiles. The main problem of how to make the base rigid and flat can be solved in three ways:
- Laying self-leveling floors based on ready-mixes;
- Cement-sand screed;
- Lay cement bonded particle board.
Cement screed and self-leveling gypsum-acrylic coatings are very simple to make, but their reliability for wooden floors is questioned by many experts. It is best to lay ready-made cement particle boards on waterproofed floorboards.
If you plan to install a warm electric floor in the room, then instead of DSP you can use flat slate. Today this is the most reliable and durable type of tile base.
The sheets must be laid in two layers with the seams coated with coating waterproofing. Serpyanka tape must be placed at the joints. A 2 mm gap is left around the perimeter of the room, which is filled with polyethylene and filled with silicone. All that remains is to apply a deep penetration primer to the base and lay the ceramic tiles using traditional technology.
