Wood Flooring in a Bathroom

Q: Can hardwood be put in a Master Bathroom with a Tub and/or Shower?
Anna
A: You could install a wood floor into a bathroom, but I would advise against it. With any wood floor, they are susceptible to expansion and contraction from moisture and temperature changes. In a place like a bathroom where you will have hot water vapor in the air this can be devastating to a hardwood floor.
I have seen cork floors work in bathrooms quite well, but your best bet in any moisture rich environment would be linoleum, vinyl, or stone and tile. Now if you want the softer look of wood compared to stone or linoleum, I would suggest looking into cork. As Steve recently wrote about in his blog, cork when carefully installed can not only work well, but look great in bathrooms. The nice thing about cork is that it is naturally resistant to moisture (no wonder we use it as a bottle stopper) and its warmer under foot than stone because it is a natural insulator.
The key to making any wood floor work in a moisture heavy environment like a bathroom is to wipe up any spills immediately and to not leave any wet clothing or towels on the floor. Also, use a good place mat at the edge of bath tubs or showers to catch water and prevent it from getting into the seams of the flooring.
If you look into a wood floor, cork being your best bet here, look into a product you can glue down or add a bit of adhesive into the locking mechanism or tongue and grooves of the floor to act as an extra bit of moisture protection, especially if your floor is floating.