When designing your perfect lake house interior, a great place to start is with your floors. The flooring you choose serves as the foundation of your design and is the first physical (maybe even visual) contact your guests, renters, or family and friends will have with your space.
Whether your lake house is your primary residence or a vacation home, selecting flooring will be a much different experience because you have to consider one major factor: water. You need to think about how the floors will hold up to humidity, wet feet, and possible flooding, among other things. For these reasons, the flooring options vary depending on the part of the house where you are choosing flooring. Before we offer a quick breakdown of which flooring will and will not work for specific parts of your lake house, it’s important to note that builders use the term “grade” to refer to room locations. On grade is at ground level, with below grade used for any room below ground level, and above grade for rooms above ground level.
Luxury Vinyl
Luxury vinyl floors are one of the best options for water prone areas. They would be a great choice for entryways or mud rooms because they stand up to wet feet running in and out all summer long. Luxury vinyl can also mimic nearly every type of hard flooring surface, from tile to hardwood, so you won’t be sacrificing style for functionality.
Laminate Floors
Laminate holds up better than natural hardwood when it comes to water exposure, so it is another great option for your lake house, including kitchens and family rooms. Its resin top coat holds up to traffic, and like vinyl, it can be manufactured to mimic every hard flooring type. It is not as durable as vinyl when it comes to water, but there are many reasons to love laminate flooring, especially for a lake house.
Carpet
While carpet can add a level of coziness to any room, it is not recommended to carpet your entire lake house. Factors to consider with carpet include water, humidity, and mud that can be easily tracked into the home. While carpet is great at absorbing sound, it can also absorb moisture, pollen, and dust, all of which can be abundant along a lake. For these reasons, carpet is best for above grade rooms and hallways. If you have your heart set on carpet in other areas of the home, throw rugs may be your best option, although we do offer tips for properly cleaning carpets.
Hardwood
While hardwood is beautiful and durable under most situations, it does have an achilles heel, and that is water. Hardwood floors can warp when exposed to too much water or humidity, which make them less than ideal for your entire lake house. Hardwood might be another option for second level rooms or hallways, but it’s best avoid installing it in any on grade or below grade room to be on the safe side.
It is possible to have the best of all the flooring options in your lake house, but there is no perfect one floor that fits all. Your Dalton Floor Tailor design expert can help you pick the best flooring options for all of the different rooms in your lake house. Book your no obligation in home consultation today!
