Sheet vinyl vs porcelain tile in hall bath?

12 years ago

Debating sheet vinyl vs porcelain tile for hallway bathroom.

We are redoing all 3 bathrooms at once so cost is important but not the only consideration.

We will be using porcelain floor tiles with radiant heat in the master bath. It will get daily use, so we are willing to spend more in this room.

We also will use porcelain floor tiles in the main floor bathroom. We use it daily in the daytime, and it also serves as a powder room for guests. In anticipation of "aging in place", we plan to install a curbless shower now, but we hope not to use that feature for a long, long time. We are not sure if we will install radiant heat in this room or not.

The one place where we could save money would be to use sheet vinyl rather than porcelain tile in the upstairs hall bathroom. Our son and his family live in Japan and visit for just a few weeks each year. Other overnight guests visit only occasionally, so this bathroom gets infrequent use. That room has the original sheet vinyl which is still in fairly good shape after 30 years, but we would like to update the color. Actually, it is not just for color. We will be moving the vanity and a wall to give the master bath another foot, so the floor will be torn up in at least one area. We do plan to replace the tile in the tub/shower enclosure, but we are not sure whether we should replace the floor with tile or just a better color of sheet vinyl.

Any thoughts?

Should we absorb the higher cost of putting in tile now while we are doing all three bathroom? Are we being pennywise and pound foolish, and will we regret staying with vinyl when the rest of the rooms will be getting tile? On the other hand, does vinyl have some benefits of its own besides lower price? Would it be more comfortable underfoot for kids and visitors? If we opt for tile, are we also going to want/need to install radiant heat at the same time?

I will welcome your opinions. Thanks.

Comments (4)

treasuretheday
12 years ago
There are some really nice and fairly inexpensive tile options available so I wouldn't let the cost keep me from putting it in the third bathroom.

I have never been a fan of sheet vinyl flooring, especially its ability to hold up over time. In both our basement bath and my parents' kitchen, both of which were professionally installed, it seems to have shrunk away from a threshold and now has an ugly curled edge. When that happens, I think it looks really cheap. If your 30 year old vinyl has held up well, maybe this is an example of "they don't make things like they used to."
dibgar
Original Author
12 years ago
If we go with vinyl or some other resilient flooring, we want to avoid cracks or seams. That is why I am considering sheet style.

We did have curling with the vinyl that previous owners put in our kitchen (on a center seam, not around the edges). but we won't have any seams in this smaller room.

This room will not get frequent use most of the year, but I wonder if there would be advantages to having something like vinyl when our granddaughter does visit. She is just 1 year old and I'm thinking about the potential for things dropping on a harder floor.

What do people prefer for a bathroom used by children?
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jakkom
12 years ago
Sheet vinyl has made real improvements over the years. When I checked in 2003 the patterns were okay but not great. When I checked in March 2011, I was pleasantly surprised by how much better the patterns looked.

No, they are not 'perfect' imitations of stone/wood. But they are much better than they were, and they are also soft and comfortable underfoot in a way tile never is. Easy to clean, and quiet too, which were important considerations for us because of the reversed design of our house (our master suite is downstairs, not up).

This is the Armstrong sheet vinyl we chose:
brendainnj
12 years ago
We just installed vinyl tiles in our main (ha-only!) bathroom, replacing very old sheet vinyl. The difference with these tiles is that they can be grouted so they look just like tile. I think they're referred to as "luxury vinyl tile". The benefit of tile, yet without the coldness/hardness. Many of the major manufacturers carry them, ours was Armstrong. Although they're "peel & stick", a friend in the flooring business recommended using additional flooring adhesive rather than just the glue on the back of the tile. My only advice is to get the highest "grade" in the line...ours is only "better" and I can see minor scratches showing up. We purchased from Lowes so I expect flooring stores to carry better quality. But overall, it is beautiful and really does look just like ceramic tile. Very easy for the DIYer, unlike real tile it can be grouted immediately after laying the tile.

Hope this helps, as I never knew there was such a thing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Armstrong's Groutable vinyl tiles