Is Vinyl Flooring Good for Bedrooms?

When choosing the best type of flooring for your bedroom, there are many different factors to consider.  One factor that many consider is how it will feel on the bare feet when climbing out of bed on a cool morning.  They also consider ease of cleaning and durability. 

Does vinyl flooring fit into these criteria?

Vinyl Flooring for Your Bedroom

When choosing the flooring for your bedroom there are endless possibilities; from carpet to wood to vinyl flooring. 

It all depends on your budget, whether it is a DIY project, and the look you are attempting to achieve. 

The bedroom floor is the first thing your feet touch in the morning and the last thing at night. 

The flooring you choose should feel good on your feet when walking around in there barefoot, it should be easy to take care of and keep clean, and go with the décor in your room. 

You also want to make sure that if you sell your home, it will not bring down the value of your home. 

If you are looking for something different, consider vinyl flooring tiles. 

They come in many interesting designs and with them being tiles, you can make up your own pattern.

Pros of Vinyl Flooring for the Bedroom

• Water-resistant:  Being water-resistant is more important for the bathroom but if you have an en suite bathroom and walk into the bedroom after a shower, you can track some water in on your feet.  Also, being water-resistant makes it easier to clean
• Maintenance:  Vinyl flooring is considered easy maintenance, especially in bedrooms because this room is generally low-traffic when compared to the kitchen.  You can keep this floor clean by sweeping and damp mopping occasionally.
• Installation:  It is easy to install for DYI projects if you are using luxury vinyl planks or tiles.  If you are using sheeting vinyl flooring, it is a little harder because it has to be cut precisely to fit and look great.  Some of the vinyl flooring tiles is considered self-stick, which means that you just peel off the back and stick it to the floor.  Make sure you have the tile positioned right before you press it down gently with your hand to get it to stick.
• Soft:  Vinyl flooring is not as soft on the feet as carpet but it comes in second.  It is about the same when a person falls.  The carpet would be better to fall on but you will not get hurt as much falling on vinyl flooring as you would falling on hardwood floors.
• Long-lasting:  Good quality vinyl flooring in a low-traffic area such as the bedroom can last 10-20 years.
• Inexpensive:  The national average for vinyl flooring is about three dollars per square foot to have it professionally installed while luxury vinyl planks are about seven dollars a square foot. The cost will be cheaper if you DIY because you save on the labor costs. 
• Durable:  Using vinyl flooring in your bedroom can help to reduce the noise in the room.

Cons of Vinyl Flooring for the Bedroom

• Not a green choice:  This is the major drawback for vinyl.  It is relatively bad for the environment. During the production of vinyl flooring, there are non-renewable petroleum resources that are used.  In order to manufacture this flooring, it requires considerable energy.
• Not recyclable:  When the vinyl floor is gotten rid of, it most likely will go to a landfill.  Being made of synthetic materials, it is most likely to last for centuries in the landfill before it is broke down.
• May off-gas chemical:  The new vinyl installations that use the method of glue-down application method may emit VOCs.  VOC’s are Volatile Organic Compounds is like that smell you get from fresh paint.  The smell may not be as noticeable but these are chemicals.  They are fume-emitting toxins that over time will dissipate but it is a slow process.  Vinyl flooring may also emit other hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde.
• Difficult to remove:  Although vinyl flooring is easy to install, it can be difficult to remove, especially if you used glue to stick it to the subfloor.  Once the glue is set it will require energy and time to remove it.
• It can be damaged in the elements:  Overtime, vinyl flooring can fade where the sun hits it.  This type of flooring is also sensitive to extreme cold and hot temperatures so if your bedroom gets a lot of sunlight, this may not be the best choice of flooring.
• Furniture damaged:  What thismeans is that is a softer floor and it can be dented by placing heavy furniture on the floor.  Also, if you decide to move furniture around you have to be careful that you don’t scratch it or put dents in it while scooting the furniture around.

Conclusion

• When you install vinyl flooring the subfloor underneath needs to be very smooth so the floor will look nice when done.  If it is not smooth, any imperfections will show through the floor as indentations and bumps.  If you cannot get your subfloor smooth, you can put down a well-sanded piece of plywood before you put the vinyl flooring down.
• When laying a new vinyl floor, it is recommended that you not lay it over more than one previous layer of vinyl flooring.
• Vinyl flooring for your bedroom is good but take into consideration how much sunlight it gets and the traffic the bedroom gets.  Too much sunlight can cause it to fade.
• If it is a child’s bedroom, you might consider something other than vinyl flooring because children could drop something heavy on the floor, drag toys with sharp edges across the floor, etc and damage the flooring with scratches, scuff marks, and indentations.
• As mentioned, you can choose vinyl flooring tiles and make your own pattern.  Just be sure when you purchase the tiles that you get some extras in case of an error in placing them or if you have to replace one or two later due to it being damaged.