(Adapted from "The Flooring Book" by Elizabeth Wilhide)

After walls and ceilings, floors represent the largest surface area in the room. Which means that new flooring can entail a substantial investment of time, money an effort, so it is important to get it right.

Equally important, the floor is a surface with which we are more or less in physical contact. What the floor looks like – its basic character, colour, pattern or texture – will inevitably set the tone for a decorative scheme. Technically, floors may be part of the background, but very few other elements of the interior have the potential to create such an impact on the way we live.

While it is easy to stand back and admire fresh paint work or a new sofa, what goes on underfoot often escapes our attention. Yet a beautiful floor can do more for a bathroom than almost any other aspect of decoration or furnishing. If you take the time and trouble to get the flooring right in your bathroom, the rest will fall into place much more readily.

Hard Floors

Granite
Granite is a coarse-grained rock comprising of feldspa, quartz and mica which give sit an attractive crystalline appearance. It is exceptionally hard, highly resistant to wear and chemicals, and impervious to water.

However, choose with care as polished varieties may prove unacceptable slippery. Rougher textures are better for flooring; even more practical are granite setts, or paving stones which can be laid like brick.

It is one of the most expensive types of stone, but tiles come at a fraction of the cost and weight. Tiles as thin as 7mm can be used on bathroom floors.

Limestone
Limestone is much softer than granite. Most types are fairly light in tone, ranging from warm neutral shades of oatmeal and cloudy white to dappled blue, green and grey, but there are dark and near black varieties.

Limestone is cool and elegant. Large, even flags work in classic or contemporary surroundings, lacking the more overt stylistic overtones of marble. Some limestones wear better than others. All types are porous but may be treated to prevent staining. Limestone does not resist acid chemicals and the harder types can be slippery when wet.

Marble
Marble is the epitome of luxury. For centuries this cool, almost translucent stone, with its rich veining, subtle patterning and often vivid colours, has featured in the most elegant, lavishly decorated interiors.

Marble is a material for making a statement. It works well in the classic contrast of black and white tiling. Marble is generally hard-wearing, although colours and patterns can become dulled by abrasion and traffic. Slipperiness depends on the surface texture. For flooring, it is advisable to opt for a honed finish which obviously offers a better grip than high polish.

Slate
Slate, like marble, is a metamorphic rock quarried in mountain regions all over the world. It comes in a range of beautifully dramatic colours – dark green, blue, blue-grey, red, purple and black – and tends to have a slick, wet look due to the high proportion of mica crystals layered through the stone. Slate is by no means inexpensive, but it is more reasonably priced than either granite or marbleand has other considerably practical advantages. Unlike marble or limestone, most types of slate are waterproof, which makes it excellent for areas indoors which are likely to get wet. It is also very hard, wear-resistant and needs little in the way of after-care.

Ceramic Tiles
Ceramic tiles are made from refined clay, which is ground, then pressed into moulds under great pressure before being fired at very high temperatures. The result is an exceptionally durable tile which is very regular in dimesion and colouring.

Cold, hard and wear-resistant, ceramic tiles are impervious to water and most stains. In general, ceramic tiles are slightly slippery, but non-slip versions containing silicon carbide are available, and ones with ribbed, ridged or studded textures give a better grip underfoot.

The beauty of ceramics is the astonishing choice of colours, shapes, patterns and textures. The familiar rustic palette of earthy shades is complemented by a whole range of more vivid colours in solid, shaded or variegated forms, and tones of white, black and grey.

Mosaic
Mosaic is true floor-level art. Small cubes bedded in mortar in decorative or geometric designs give mosaic an irresistible intricacy and delicacy. The scale of individual pieces and the variations of light catching on their surfaces create a gentle, almost blurred effect. Mosiac floors are hard, but their appearance is soft.

Any size floor can be covered with mosaic, although in practice it tends to be used on a smaller scale, e.g. bathrooms. Mosaic shares many of the characteristics of other hard floors: durable, noisy and fairly cold. However, the natural key supplied by the myriad grouting joints means that mosaic is far less slippery than floors made of larger tiles or slabs of the same material.

Sheet and Soft Tiling

Cork
Soft, quiet and comfortable, cork makes a good-looking practical floor in many areas of the home, but especially bathrooms.

Anyone who has ever pulled a cork from a bottle and seen it spring back into shape can appreciate the remarkable resilience of this material. It is this quality that makes cork extremely comfortable to stand on and walk across, reasonably resistant to indentation from heels or furniture legs, and quiet too.

In all of these respects cork scores more highly than lino. It is also anti-static and non-slip, even when it is wet or polished.

Cork can be used unsealed in the bathroom, where the effect is similar to having a large absorbent bathmat permanently in situ, but normally it does require sealing to prevent dirt becoming ingrained.

Rubber
With its tough, industrial aesthetic, rubber flooring has long been a favourite with modern architects and designers. Hard-wearing, water-resistant, burn-resistant, extremely resilient, quiet and warm, it has all the qualities anyone could wish for from a utility floor. Naturally it is in bathrooms, kitchens and other service areas where its use is most prevalent.

Studded rubber is a good choice for any area likely to become wet as smooth finishes can become slippery.

Vinyl
Vinyl is very popular mainstream flooring. Affordable, easy to install, non-allergenic, simple to maintain and with reasonable life span, it offers a straightforward and practical solution to many flooring needs. The choice of colours, patterns, textures and 'effects' on the market is huge. Practicality is a major selling point. Vinyl is waterproof and makes an easy-care, all purpose flooring. Popular simulations include all forms of wood, as well as the ever-popular marble, slate, brick, quarry tile and terrazzo. Simulation designs are not the only types available. There are simple geometric patterns which can look very clean and fresh; mottled, speckled, metallic and flecked finishes; and lively contemporary styles.

Carpet
Carpet can be used in bathrooms; indeed, in many homes it has a luxurious and humanizing effect in what might otherwise be a cold and clinical room.

But it is inadvisable to carpet a family bathroom, where spills and splashes are more common: carpet does not withstand repeated soaking and will eventually rot.