When designing your new home, the laundry room isn’t exactly the first thing you consider. However, it’s important to make sure your laundry room is comfortable to work in, attractive and functional. When you think of “function,” you probably think about layout, size, choice of washer and dryer and lighting, but the room’s flooring is one of the most important choices you’ll have to make.
Moisture is a major concern with laundry room floors. In catastrophic events, water can issue from many different sources: an overflowing washing machine, a clogged drainpipe, or a cracked or severed water supply pipe. Even short of those emergencies, water is always present in laundry rooms; it is unavoidable. For this reason, it helps to install a laundry room floor covering that is as moisture resistant as possible.
Here are some options:
Sheet Vinyl Flooring
If the best moisture-proof floor covering for the laundry room is a single, seamless waterproof piece of material, then sheet vinyl flooring is it. Combined with a thermoplastic rubber wall base (a type of baseboard), sheet vinyl flooring is a highly reliable waterproof laundry room flooring.
Tile Flooring
Ceramic and porcelain tile are classic laundry room flooring materials since they are durable, easy to clean, and waterproof if installed well. Tile can be hard to stand on for long periods, and it is inherently cold—but this can be eliminated with radiant heating.
Concrete Flooring
Concrete might simply be your default laundry room flooring choice because that's what you already have. You don't even have to install a floor covering for it to be a hardy, reliable flooring choice for the laundry room. Improve your concrete floor's look by acid-etching, painting or staining it. Or add an outdoor area rug to soften it and make it warmer under bare feet.
Engineered Wood Flooring
Costly but with great looks to spare, engineered wood flooring brings real wood to homes, without the difficulties of solid hardwood flooring. Engineered wood's high-quality plywood base is dimensionally stable, which means it is less affected by moisture.
The Design Gallery experts will be happy to guide you through every step of designing your home, even the utility room. Be sure to check out the American Legend Homes Pinterest page for inspiration.