6 Salon or Spa flooring Options

 

A spa or salon is a business brand. Consequently, the salon flooring should be both functional and stylish. The physical environment should create a subliminal effect of relaxation and calmness on customers. The reception area should be exceptionally welcoming, relaxing, and comfortable.

The physical environment, the services offered should create an extraordinary experience that will make customers keep coming. For this reason, the success of a salon or spa depends on the quality of the services and aesthetic appeal.

That said, the facility should be comfortable and, if possible soft for your staff who spend hours and days on their feet.

Factors to Consider When Designing a Spa Flooring

A salon flooring installer should consider several factors. The floor should be appealing to the customer, staff and withstand spillover liquids and chemicals from washing stations.

When designing a salon, the floor should be part of the design elements like furniture, decorative pieces, walls, curtains, lighting, to name but some. The good news is that there is a whole gamut of flooring options you can consider. Here are factors to put in mind when flooring a spa.

1. Your Brand Identity

The flooring of a salon is part of the interior décor, and its design should be in harmony with the brand and other interior design elements. It should put into consideration your target market. For example, if you have an eco-friendly clientele, then you should consider an eco-friendly flooring option. 

You should consider the location of the salon. Is it in a cosmopolitan area? What is your target age group? Is your target market females, males, or both? So, in your flooring design, consider your clientele and create an environment that suits them. If you don’t have accurate statistics, avoid extreme designs and colors that may discourage some customers. Go for a more neutral design that accommodates everyone.

To make your work easier, you can get a designer to do a 3D model with all the other design elements in place. You can get color and design inspirations from magazines, Instagram, name it. You can also visit a few top salons and spas in your area or check them online for motivation and inspiration as you develop your 3D salon and spa model.

2. Salon Location

You have to consider the location of your salon. Is it located on an upper-floor building or a street level? If it is on the upper floor, you can consider carpets for some rooms in the salon, like the reception area.

3. Your Budget

If you are operating on a tight budget, then you can consider cheap flooring options like vinyl flooring. Although you may find cheap carpet options, the maintenance costs are high, and they are also not ideal for high-traffic areas. As such, you should replace carpets more regularly. But if you have a good budget set aside for the flooring of your spa, then you can have a free hand and focus on design elements, the ease of cleaning and maintenance, sound insulation, and slip-resistance.

3. Slip Resistance

Slips resulting in falls and injuries occur due to wet, dirty, uneven floors or loose and damaged carpets or mats. Most flooring types are relatively safe when dry, but exposure to water and oil makes some slippery. To prevent injuries that can result in lawsuits from customers or other visitors to your facility, you should only choose anti-slip flooring. Else, you can put various measures in place to ensure the floor is anti-slip. If possible, go for industry-tested and approved slip-resistant floors.

4. Other Factors to Consider

Other equally important factors include choosing a soundproof flooring material that is easy to maintain and durable. Alternatively, during installation, you can put flooring underlayments to make your flooring soundproof. In regard, a spa is a high-traffic area that should be clean at all times. A dirty floor will be repellent to good customers. Therefore, it is imperative to choose a flooring material that is easy to maintain and put rugs or other materials to protect the floor from dirt.

Flooring Options for Salon

1. Luxury Vinyl Tile or Planks

Because aesthetics are important in a spa or salon set-up, luxury vinyl comes in various designs. The versatility of LVT makes it one of the best flooring options for spas. This is because you can achieve any interior decoration theme with luxury vinyl flooring. You can create an environment that is welcoming and relaxing. Also, you can achieve any theme; classic, modern, or contemporary.

Luxury vinyl flooring is also resistant to moisture and spills, making it ideal for all the rooms in the spa. Worth noting, luxury vinyl flooring is soft, not cold or hard underfoot, making it comfortable for salon staff. This is in contrast to tiles and hardwood floors. LVF is also slip-resistant, waterproof, and handles spills and splashes well. In any case, it is not stained by hair dyes or waxes. Apart from that, it is easy to clean luxury vinyl flooring. Moreover, it is resistant to scratches, durable, and you can easily replace one plank or tile if it is damaged. What’s more, it is easy to install.

2. Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is manufactured with several layers of material. The floor is then fortified with a moisture-resistant resin. In addition to that, it is aesthetically appealing with various design and pattern options, including designs that mimic metal, hardwood, or stone. Laminates have a wear layer. You have a choice between laminates with varying lengths or thicknesses. Since a salon is a high-traffic area, you can go for thick laminate flooring. Laminates are highly recommended because you can use them for all rooms in a salon, including the reception area, corridors, and treatment rooms. 

3. Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl is a good flooring material for high-traffic areas. It is also cost-effective. The flooring is slip-resistant, noise-resistant, and easy to maintain. You can find vinyl flooring in different colors, patterns, and designs to suit your salon’s brand and interior décor theme. There are vinyl designs that look like tiles, stones, wood, concrete, and other materials, making them aesthetically appealing.

What’s more, vinyl is soft underfoot, therefore, comfortable and less noisy. It is also easy to maintain; sweep it and mop it regularly using a damp mop.

4. Tile Flooring

Tile flooring is a common spa flooring option. Tiles are great for places with high foot traffic, and their look never wears out. Tiles are stain-resistant. They are also waterproof making them perfect for spas. You can use tiles in any room. You can use them also on premises located at street level because they are easy to clean and maintain. However, for the safety of your customer, you should only install slip-resistant tiles. You should also use anti-slip mats made of PVC, polyurethane, or rubber to create traction on the flooring. Consider using ribbed, corrugated, and knobbed top surfaces in the treatment rooms.

Tiles are also not comfortable because they are hard and cold. You may also want to consider putting a rug in the reception area to create a warm environment because tiles are rather cold and lack coziness. Its main advantage is that it can be installed in all the rooms in a spa, making installations and maintenance easy.

5. Hardwood Flooring

A hardwood floor is warm, relaxing, and comfortable, therefore, welcoming to customers and connecting with them. Hardwood floors create a natural environment. However, the main weakness of a hardwood floor is its lack of moisture resistance noise proof properties. The best approach for a salon would be installing hardwood floors in the reception area but avoiding them in the treatment areas that are more prone to moisture and humidity. It is also important to buy a sturdy flooring species like hickory hardwood, which can manage high foot traffic. The flip side of hardwood flooring in a spa is that it is not suitable for treatment rooms. Therefore, you have to install two types of flooring.

In this case, you can choose wood alike materials like wood-patterned tiles, vinyl, luxury vinyl tiles, or laminates for treatment rooms. The result will be harmony between all the rooms. Hardwood floors are easy to maintain and can last for decades.

6. Carpeting Flooring

There are different carpet colors and patterns with more vibrant styles, allowing you to create the desired environment in your salon.

A carpeted floor is great for creating a comfortable and warm environment. They are also soundproof. If your room is not at street level, you can consider carpeting for the reception area and corridor because you will not expect customers to track in mud and dirt. However, you cannot use carpets for the treatment rooms because of constant splashes and spills in the rooms. If you go for carpets, then consider commercial grade carpets, especially carpet tiles. Carpet tiles are easier to maintain than wall-to-wall carpets. They are stylish, hard-wearing, and easy to replace. You can easily replace one tile than considering replacing the whole floor because of a stain.

The main underside with a carpeted floor is that you should not install it in the whole salon or spa. The treatment rooms will require a waterproof flooring type like tiles.

Wrapping Up

Your brand identity will influence your flooring decisions greatly, especially the color choice. Since the aesthetic appeal will make or break your business brand, you can consider getting an expert to design every room in your spa. They can give you three designs options; then you choose the most functional and stylish floor.