When deciding on the best flooring option for a coastal home, you’ll want to find something that is water-resistant, easy to clean, and able to hold up for many years to come. And obviously, something that is going to look stylish and will have a seaside feeling.
The best flooring I would recommend that you install in your beach home is luxury vinyl. Due to its water-resistant capabilities, thanks to the materials it has been made from, this particular material can be finished with many different shapes and patterns, making it an ideal flooring choice for coastal homes.
That means that no matter the style you’re looking for, there will be some luxury flooring for you.
I already know some of you are turning your nose up at the thought of adding vinyl to your lovely beach house.
But trust me, this is not some old tatty vinyl you would find in your grandmother’s kitchen. This is luxury vinyl.
But don’t worry, if you don’t want to trust my judgment there are other alternatives to choose from which I have laid out in this article.
Things to Consider When Choosing Coastal Home Flooring
Beyond the appearance aspect of the floor, you also need to consider what sorts of characteristics to look for when shopping for the right flooring for your seaside home so that is not only beautiful but also practical.
This is somewhat different from adding flooring into your downtown home because coastal homes have to deal with all the salty, sandy, humid conditions of the nearby beaches. All those things you’ll be dragging through the front door with you each day.
Here is a list of the things I have thought about before recommending you the best flooring for coastal homes:
* Water-resistant
* Durable
* Cost-efficient
* Easily installed
* Easy to clean
All of my suggestions fit these characteristics. So while I would absolutely recommend the luxury vinyl floor, feel free to choose any one of the others if they offer you something that you had more in mind.
Best Coastal Home Flooring Options
LUXURY VINYL FLOORING
As I said in the intro, don’t turn your nose up at this coastal flooring option. Luxury vinyl is completely different from the old vinyl you’ll find in an old neighbor’s bathroom.
Luxury vinyl features all the essential qualities and traits to make it a great addition to your coastal home.
Vinyl floors are made up of 100% synthetic materials. Their base layers are made of fiberglass that is later coated in PVC vinyl and a plasticizer.
These sheets would then be printed with the desired design, and in some cases embossed to give it a more textured look so they can achieve a more realistic design depending on what material they trying to portray – ceramic, wood, marble, stone, etc.
Featuring a thickness which ranges anywhere from 0.4” to 0.23” (1-6mm), this luxury vinyl flooring is comfortable and warm on your feet and is also stunning to look at.
This beautiful White Pecan, Self Adhesive Luxury Vinyl is a perfect type of flooring for your seaside home.
Appearance
As I’ve mentioned, the appearance of vinyl provides an almost realistic look as it is easily able to portray any sort of material due to the high-quality finish and the embossed design.
In essence, you also have unlimited options when it comes to installing luxury vinyl floors. With all sorts of colors and patterns available, there will no doubt be the perfect vinyl floor for all the rooms of your coastal home.
Water Resistance
Knowing that vinyl is made up of 100% polymer materials, the vinyl floor can withstand the damp and humid nature of a beach house. It could practically be submerged in water for long periods of time and suffer no long-term damage.
It’s usually recommended to place vinyl flooring in rooms that are exposed to the most moisture, such as a bathroom, toilet, or kitchen.
But since you now live in a coastal home, you could take full advantage of its water-resistant capabilities and have it installed all around the house since the elements of the local beach will be dragged inside daily.
Cleaning
One of the most favorable characteristics homeowners find with their luxury vinyl flooring is that it is so, so easy to clean due to the water-resistant design which basically allows you to clean it in any way you like.
Whether you want to clean it with a wet mop, vacuum cleaner, or scrub it viciously with a homemade solution – you have many options when it comes to taking care of your new flooring.
LAMINATE FLOORING
Featuring 99% wood products, laminate can offer a fully realistic natural look to wherever you decide to place it.
With a hard surface design, due to the materials it is made from, laminate flooring ranges from a thickness between 0.2” to 0.55” (5-14mm), which makes it firm on your feet.
In comparison to vinyl flooring, which is essentially one big sheet of flooring that can be installed at home and cut to whichever size you need it to be, laminate flooring tends to go together like a jigsaw puzzle. And that calls for a high level of skill to install.
Appearance
The natural appearance of laminate flooring is much more convincing than vinyl flooring since it actually uses natural materials.
Although you’re really limited to the look of natural wood, with all sorts of designs and colors available you can vary the look throughout so your home doesn’t feel too uninspired.
Water Resistance
Because of its wooden design, laminate flooring can very easily soften and swell if exposed to the coastal elements for too long, or if you choose to clean it with a soaking wet mop.
So if you’re planning to add this to your home, you should ensure to always dry the laminate off quickly to prevent this.
However, if it gets wet for too long, then once it is dried, the boards will not transform back to their original shape and form. This can really mess with how the boards fit together and potentially meaning that the whole floor needs replacing.
But before you get the wrong idea, properly installed laminate flooring can tolerate water for short periods of time, you’ll just need to make sure it isn’t exposed for too long.
Cleaning
As you already know, laminate flooring won’t hold up too well if you expose it to moisture for too long so when it comes to cleaning, you’ll want to be very careful.
You’re free to use a mop when cleaning but make sure it is damp rather than soaking wet so that there is less moisture sat on the floor for too long and it doesn’t soak in and warp the planks.
Another way you can help prevent this is by opening your windows when moping the flooring, to help speed up the drying time.
Other than that, you’re free to use the vacuum cleaner or scrub it any way you like.
TILE FLOORING
Tiles are becoming an increasingly favored alternative to vinyl flooring in beach home designs.
Whether you’re adding ceramic or stone tiles to your kitchen or bathroom, you will find many options that can give you a range of slip-resistant styles.
Appearance
You can get many different styles of tile that can be added to your home to give you the look you desire. From ceramic to stone, and in any natural color you can think of. The possibilities are endless.
Tiles give you the opportunity to add a fully realistic and natural design to your home, something only vinyl can mimic.
If this is something you desire, then perhaps tile is a good alternative to the luxury vinyl flooring as I first recommended at the beginning of this article.
Water Resistance
Ceramic and stone tiles are used as an alternative to the luxury vinyl, not only because of the style it offers but because of the water-resistant properties they both share.
Being 100% water-resistant when properly fit due to the tight side-by-side installation process, this reason alone makes this a great addition to any coastal home.
Cleaning
Again, just like with luxury vinyl flooring, you are free to clean tiles however you like as they will not suffer any sort of warping or damage like laminate flooring does if exposed to moisture for too long.
So feel free to use a wet mop, vacuum cleaner, or scrub as much as you like, with pretty much whatever solution you like to help keep your ceramic or stone tiles looking brand new.
BAMBOO FLOORING
Sustainable and environmentally conscious, bamboo flooring is perfect for coastal homes that require the organic and natural look of strong and durable wood.
With various shades and tones available, you are free to add this flooring to all sorts of rooms in your beach home without getting the feeling of an uninspired look.
Perfect for high-traffic areas in your home, the bamboo flooring is resistant to wear and tear, as you’d expect from such a strong and durable type of hardwood.
Appearance
As we’ve already established, you can find many different styles and textures of this organic and eco-friendly wood in your local hardware store.
This will allow you to apply various designs to your home that are going to suit your vision perfectly.
Featuring an organic design, one that is far more realistic than what you will find with laminate flooring, adding bamboo flooring in your home will allow you to bring natural designs of the outdoors in your very own beach house.
Water Resistance
Just like you’d find with laminate flooring or any type of hardwood for that matter, you should not expose bamboo flooring to water for too long as you could potentially warp the wood out of shape.
Ruining the way it lays and causing plenty of long-term problems that can only be fixed if you remove and replace the floor entirely.
As with laminate flooring, you need to make sure that the bamboo flooring is not exposed to moisture for too long, whether that’s from dragging it in from the outdoors or when you mop it clean.
Cleaning
Again, as we’ve just discussed, bamboo doesn’t do too great if it is wet for too long, so when it comes to cleaning it is not advised that you would clean it with a wet mop, though one that is damp will do just fine.
Keeping windows open after mopping will help speed up the drying process and reduce the likelihood of your brand new floor from warping.
Key Takeaway,
Overall, there are many options of flooring you could add to your coastal home which can provide a different look, depending on what you envisioned for your home design.
But as I stated at the very beginning of this article, the clear winner for me is luxury vinyl flooring as it features all the key characteristics needed to survive in a beach house for many years to come.
Not only that, but it also offers many different styles and designs that you can take full advantage of in each room of your home.
Though, with that being said, things like laminate flooring and bamboo flooring can still be used to add some variation to the whole design. However, I would only recommend this in areas of the house where they will not be subject to the elements for too long.
In my other article, I cover some nature-inspired beachy floor ideas that you can easily implement in your home décor.