Vinyl is one of the most practical floors you can put in a bathroom. The vinyl itself shrugs off water, it’s warmer underfoot than tile, and it cleans up with a damp mop.
When a vinyl bathroom floor fails, it’s almost always at an edge. The tub, the toilet, the vanity and the doorway are where water gets underneath. If you’re still weighing vinyl against tile or stone, our guide to waterproof flooring for bathrooms compares them all.
Vinyl Plank or Sheet Vinyl
Luxury Vinyl Plank
For a bathroom, look for rigid core plank, with an SPC or WPC core that’s waterproof. The planks click together and float over the subfloor, and they come in convincing wood and stone looks.
The tradeoff is seams. Every plank edge is a joint, and while the plank won’t soak up water, water that sits can work between the seams and reach the subfloor.
Sheet Vinyl
Sheet vinyl comes off a roll that’s typically 12 feet wide, and 6 foot rolls are common too. A small bathroom can often be done in one piece with no seams at all, which leaves water very few ways down.
Depending on its backing, sheet vinyl is glued across the whole floor, fastened around the edges or loose laid. One maker limits loose laying to rooms up to 25 square yards with no more than one seam. If you’re pricing it, our post on sheet vinyl installation cost covers what drives the number.
Because it’s thin and flexible, sheet vinyl shows bumps and gaps in the subfloor more than plank does.
How They Compare
| Vinyl Plank | Sheet Vinyl | |
|---|---|---|
| Seams | A joint at every plank edge | Often none in a small bath |
| Feel underfoot | Thicker and more solid | Thin, with a little give |
| Subfloor flaws | Rigid planks bridge small ones | Bumps and seams can show through |
| Looks | Realistic wood and stone | Printed patterns in a wide range |
| Repairs | Damaged planks can be swapped | Patching or replacing the sheet |
Around the Tub and Shower
The floor runs to the tub or shower curb with a small expansion gap, the same as at the walls. In a bathroom, that gap shouldn’t stay open. Vinyl installation guides call for filling the perimeter of wet areas with a flexible silicone caulk, which moves with the floor instead of cracking.
Vinyl flooring belongs outside the shower, not in it. A shower floor needs a pan and a waterproofing system built for standing water, so the vinyl stops at the curb or the tub.
At the Toilet
Pulling the toilet gives the cleanest result. With it out of the way, the floor gets cut around the flange, the edge at the flange gets sealed with silicone, and the toilet goes back on a new wax ring.
Watch the flange height. A new floor can sit higher than the old one, and a flange that ends up below the finished floor makes a good seal harder. Flange spacers and extenders exist for exactly this, so check before the toilet goes back.
Some sheet vinyl instructions allow fitting the sheet around a toilet that stays in place, with relief cuts and caulk at the base. It works, but you’ll see that joint every day.
At the Vanity
A built-in vanity is heavy and fixed in place, and it can pin a floating floor so it can’t move with the seasons. Guides handle that one of two ways. The vanity goes in first and the floor runs up to it, or the planks get glued to the subfloor where the vanity will sit.
Sheet vinyl has its own rule. One major maker says its fiberglass sheet can’t have base cabinets set on it when it’s installed by the modified loose lay method, while the fully glued method allows them.
In a full remodel, plan the order before demolition starts. Vanities, cabinets and tubs typically go in before the floor.
At the Doorway
Where the bathroom meets the hall, a transition or threshold covers the expansion gap and any change in height. If the hall has a different floor, this is also where the two meet cleanly.
A sealed edge at the tub and a snug transition at the door work together. They keep a splash or an overflow in the bathroom instead of letting it travel under the floor.
Prep Below the Floor
A bathroom is small, so it’s tempting to skip prep. Don’t. Rigid core guides commonly call for the subfloor to be flat within 3/16 inch over 10 feet, and sheet vinyl needs an even smoother surface because it hides so little.
The old floor matters too. One rigid core guide allows going over a single layer of existing sheet vinyl that isn’t heavily cushioned, but never over carpet.
Run the exhaust fan during and after showers. Keeping humidity down protects the subfloor, the drywall and the caulk lines around the tub.
Bath Mats and Cleaning
Rubber or latex backed bath mats can discolor vinyl, and that stain is often permanent. Choose mats with a non-staining backing.
For cleaning, a damp mop and a pH-neutral cleaner are all a vinyl bathroom floor needs. Skip steam mops unless your flooring’s care guide approves them.
Which One Fits Your Bathroom
- Kids’ bathroom with lots of splashing. Sheet vinyl in one piece, or vinyl plank with every edge sealed.
- Primary bath where the floor continues from the bedroom. Vinyl plank, so the look carries through.
- Powder room. Either one works, since water exposure is low.
- Basement bathroom. Rigid core plank, as long as the slab passes the product’s moisture limits.
Quality Installs is a family-owned team of flooring installers in Glenview, and luxury vinyl plank is one of the floors we install. Our vinyl plank installation page has more on those projects.