beautiful coastal home flooring in kitchen
Inspiration • October 17, 2021

Choosing The Best Flooring Option For Your Beach Home

by Floor Authority

What to consider when choosing flooring for a beach home

Living along the shoreline in a sun-filled beach home is the ultimate dream for many. Whether you’re in the market for a beach house or already own one, installing new flooring is the perfect way to update your home and improve its functionality. When it comes to choosing the best flooring for your beach home, you’ll want something that can stand up to the unique climate of coastal areas — flooring that’s durable, easy to clean and stylish.

Location

There are several factors to consider when choosing the best flooring for your beach home and location sits at the top of the list. If your house is located close to the beach, your home will likely experience warm climates with medium to high humidity. In this case, it’s best to opt for a sturdy flooring option that requires minimum maintenance and is easy to clean. If your beach house is located further inland, you don’t need to worry as much about sand erosion, but will still need to consider humidity and foot traffic levels. The location of the flooring within the home should also be considered. For example, an entryway room may need a more durable flooring fixture than a small upstairs bathroom with minimal foot traffic.

Flooring Maintenance 

After considering the location and foot traffic that your flooring will experience, there are still a handful of other factors to consider to narrow down your options. 

Water Resistance

When you live on the coast, saltwater is your next-door neighbor. This calls for a beach house flooring option that is highly water-resistant. The more water-resistant the flooring material, the longer your flooring will last.

Easy To Clean

Living in a beach house is all about the beautiful stretches of sandy beaches at a stone’s throw away. One downside to this when it comes to flooring, however, is the amount of sand that will make its way inside your home. Make your life easier and choose a flooring option that makes cleaning up those pesky sand particles a breeze. 

How Sand Impacts The Decision 

For most coastal homeowners, sand will be the #1 factor when it comes to choosing flooring. Paired with the harsh salty sea air, sand can impact the quality and life of your floors over time. Choosing a strong and durable floor is a must for homeowners who don’t want the hassle of constant sand clean-up.

Durability 

All things aside, is your flooring option cost-efficient in the long run? If it’s water-resistant, resists the effects of sand and requires little to no maintenance, it can be certified as cost-efficient. Add easy to clean to the equation and you have yourself a recipe for the best flooring for a beach house.

Cost 

Strong and durable flooring options don’t come without the high price tag but are certainly worth it in the long run. A beach house will likely see damage from sand, sea air and humidity unless appropriate flooring is installed. Be careful to calculate the long-term cost of your flooring which includes maintenance fees and total lifespan of the flooring.

The Top Four Beach House Flooring Options

Choosing a flooring material that can stand up to the test of time, sun and sand is nothing short of challenging. Below are the top five flooring options for beach homes based on cost, durability and maintenance.

Ceramic Tile Flooring For Beach Homes

Ceramic tile flooring offers a stylish look to your beach house with little maintenance. Highly durable against water and sand, ceramic tile is incredibly easy to clean and maintain. It’s also available in a variety of styles, designs and colors, making the appearance completely customizable to your liking. Ceramic tile flooring is also cool to the touch, making it ideal for hot and humid beach climates. Ceramic tile can be tightly sealed against moisture and is an ideal option for both indoor and outdoor spaces. The one downfall of this option is price. Ceramic tile can cost anywhere from $7 to $15 per square foot.

ceramic tile pros and cons

Hardwood (Engineered or Solid) Flooring For Beach Homes 

Engineered hardwood flooring is an economical and smart flooring choice that is known for its durability and resilience against moisture and humidity. Engineered hardwood is authentic wood placed on top of a high-quality plywood base. Because of the way it’s built, engineered hardwood has an extensive life and can last several decades with proper care and cleaning. While engineered hardwood is resilient to humidity, it’s more prone to erosion from sand than some of the other flooring options. Because of this, hardwood requires more regular cleaning and maintenance when placed in high-traffic areas. On the low end, engineered hardwood costs between $3 and $5 per square foot while higher-end material can cost anywhere from $6 to $13 per square foot. 

engineered hardwood pros and cons

Laminate Flooring For Beach Homes 

Laminate flooring is a multi-layered synthetic flooring fused together through a lamination process. Laminate is one of the most stylish and most affordable flooring options for beach homes — costing anywhere from $2 to $6 per square foot. Made of several layers of composite, the surface is very durable and resistant to the effects of sand and moisture. Additionally, it can resist stains, general wear and tear, and fading for a long time. You can enjoy the traditional comforting look of a wooden floor with twice the advantages, and at a significantly lower cost. It’s available in a variety of styles and imitates the look of wooden floor to near perfection.

laminate flooring pros and cons

Luxury Vinyl Plank For Beach Homes 

Luxury vinyl plank flooring, or LVP, has all the qualities you can ask for in ideal beach house flooring. Ranging in a variety of styles, LVP is a sturdy, affordable and versatile option for your beach home. Although LVP is 100% synthetic, its multi-ply material makes it highly resistant to wear and tear, scratches, stains, or the general effect of sand and salt-filled moisture of beachside air. Plus, it is extremely easy to clean — you may use a mop or a vacuum cleaner and you’re all good to go.

The base layers are made of strong fiberglass that is later fortified with plasticizers and a coat of PVC (polyvinyl chloride). The design may either be printed or even embossed, giving it a 100% natural look. You’ll find the finish to be astounding to look at, with limitless options in terms of style and design to pick from. Plus, LVP requires little to no maintenance in the long run. What’s more, LVP sells at a lower price point than comparable flooring like hardwood or ceramic. Luxury vinyl plank ranges in costs from about $2 to $5 per square foot.

luxury vinyl plank flooring pros and cons

Choosing The Right Flooring For Your Beach Homes

Choosing the right flooring option for your coastal home is an important decision that can affect your expenses in the long run. With a wide selection of styling and design options that can deliver on performance based on your needs and lifestyle, what’s not to love about Floor Authority? Check out our curated range of flooring options and feel free to contact one of our flooring experts to help you make the best flooring choice for your home by the beach. 

Want to see how a particular carpet looks in your home? Use our Floor Visualizer Tool tool to explore different beach house flooring options and discover what would look best in your space.

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