If you are about to open or refit a restaurant, you might be wondering what the best flooring option might be. To help you decide, in today’s blog post, we discuss everything related to restaurant flooring. From key criteria to consider through the advantages and disadvantages of each flooring option, down to advice on what flooring material to use in each area of your restaurant, we offer a comprehensive guide on restaurant flooring.
Restaurant Flooring Material Selection. What should you consider?
Choosing appropriate restaurant flooring materials for your establishment requires careful attention and thought. The flooring design of your restaurant not only forms the basis of the entire interior design, but it also plays a crucial role in ensuring the health, safety and comfort of both guests and staff. So what aspects should you pay attention to when choosing the best flooring materials for your restaurant?
There are several criteria you need to take into account when choosing the best flooring option for your restaurant. These include:
- Health & Safety Standards. Restaurants are subject to stringent health and safety rules. Full compliance with these is critical. You should choose flooring materials that are slip-resistant, easy to clean and sanitise, and resilient against daily wear.
- Comfort. Restaurant flooring can significantly improve the comfort of your guests and staff. Well-chosen restaurant flooring materials offer comfort underfoot and help dampen noise in the restaurant. Depending on the specific requirements of each area of your restaurant, you should choose materials that maximise the comfort of guests and staff alike.
- Durability. Restaurant floors are subject to extreme wear and tear. To minimise costs and keep your floors looking their best, you need to opt for flooring materials that are long-lasting and resilient against daily wear.
- Aesthetics. Besides functional criteria, aesthetic criteria are also vital when it comes to restaurant flooring. The flooring of your restaurant forms an integral part of your restaurant’s interior design. Different materials and designs suit different interior design styles. Therefore, choose materials that suit your restaurant’s design and style best.
- Budget. Finally, the price of different materials, as well as the installation and maintenance costs, are critical. The price, installation, and maintenance cost of each material vary greatly. Consider your budget carefully and find a balance between price, efficiency, durability and aesthetics.
Restaurant flooring options reviewed. What materials can you choose?
Restaurant flooring plays a crucial role in ensuring the success of your business. However, to be able to select the best materials and flooring options, you first need to understand what materials are available and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each. To help you decide, we offer a short overview of the main restaurant flooring options and materials available on the market today.
Concrete flooring
Concrete is a cost-effective flooring option that suits restaurant environments perfectly. It is a sturdy material that offers superior durability, coupled with easy maintenance. Polished concrete is a versatile flooring material, that is easy to match to any design and style. They give your restaurant a modern feel while being resistant to spills and scratches. These properties make concrete an ideal choice for high-traffic areas of your restaurant.
Tile floors
Tile is a popular flooring material used in busy contract environments. Apart from its versatility in terms of design and style, tile floors are easy to install and maintain and are highly durable. These properties make tile flooring an ideal choice not only in the dining area but also in kitchens, bar stations and restrooms. Nevertheless, it is crucial to opt for tile floors that have a slip-resistant coating to avoid the risk of slips and falls.
Hardwood flooring
Hardwood floors can be a great choice to give our restaurant a more sophisticated and classic look. Wooden floors bring warmth to the dining room and are easy to match to any design concept or style. Although hardwood floors are extremely long-lasting, they nonetheless require regular maintenance and upkeep. They scratch easily and are susceptible to water damage unless a professional finish is applied. With the right finish, however, hardwood floors can last for decades.
Laminate
Laminate floors represent a budget-friendly and flexible flooring option that has become a common choice of many restaurants. These floors stand up well against the daily demands of busy contract environments. Resin-coated laminate floors have excellent water-proof qualities, are scratch-resistant and easy to clean and maintain. They come in a great variety of design options, which makes them suitable for any interior design and style.
Epoxy floors
Epoxy-coated floors are a perfect choice for large, busy areas of your restaurant. Resistants to spills, water, chemicals, solvent and oil, they are incredibly durable and easy to sanitise and clean. Above all, they are water- and slip-resistant, which makes them safe for use even in more humid restaurant spaces. Coming in an endless range of colours and designs, they can suit any restaurant environment perfectly.
Vinyl flooring
Vinyl is probably the most common, cost-efficient flooring material across the industry. Its versatility, durability, low-maintenance requirements and excellent water-resistant qualities make vinyl an optimal choice in restaurant spaces. Besides these, the softer texture of vinyl makes it more comfortable underfoot and can help deaden noise in the restaurant. Above all, vinyl tiles are easy to install and replace, making them a budget-friendly and versatile restaurant flooring option.
Natural stone tile flooring
Natural stone tiles are one of the most durable restaurant flooring materials available. Depending on your restaurant’s design concept and style, you can opt for marble, granite, sandstone, travertine or other stones to cover your floors. Although more expensive than option flooring options, their durability, aesthetic qualities make it an excellent choice to give your restaurant a high-end look and feel. They are resilient against scratches, drops and spills, and when textured, they can help prevent falls.
Rubber
Rubber is a flooring material that used to be a common choice of many restaurants in the past. While in the past, rubber has been used predominantly in kitchen areas, rubber flooring and rubber mats can be a great addition to any restaurant area. They are waterproof, slip- and stain-resistant and very comfortable underfoot. As a result, rubber flooring or floor mats can be a great addition to the behind-the-counter and services areas, besides its regular use in restaurant kitchens.
Carpet
Last but not least, you might also consider carpet or carpet tiles to cover your restaurant’s floors. Relatively inexpensive, it adds warmth to the design and gives your restaurant a more cosy and intimate feel. While carpet is extremely comfortable and it can help deaden noise in busy restaurant areas, it is nevertheless hard to clean and stains easily. As a result, carpet flooring requires regular maintenance and upkeep and might need to be replaced more frequently than other flooring options.
Which materials should you use in specific areas of your restaurant?
When it comes to selecting appropriate materials for your restaurant, it is not enough to only consider cost, maintenance and safety criteria. The various areas of your restaurant have different performance and design needs. As a result, it is essential to understand the specific requirements of each area and choose the best restaurant flooring material for each. Therefore, in the following sections, we will focus on what you need to consider when selecting the best materials for the main areas of your restaurant.
Dining room flooring materials
The dining room is one of the busiest areas of your restaurant. It is where most activity happens, meaning that it is subject to extreme wear and tear. The constant moving of furniture and equipment, the spilling of food and beverages mean that you will need durable flooring materials, that can withstand the constant wear and tear. Hard flooring materials – such as ceramic or natural floor tiles, polished concrete, vinyl, epoxy, hardwood – might seem the best option from this perspective.
Nevertheless, hard flooring materials can become noisy underfoot, which can decrease diners’ comfort as well as the dining experience. Therefore, if you opt for hard flooring materials in the dining area, you need to focus more on acoustic control and find ways to counteract this effect.
Kitchen flooring materials
The kitchen is the heart and soul of any restaurant. As the kitchen is a closed, out-of-sight area of a restaurant, aesthetic criteria are less important than functional ones. The best option for kitchen floors is using restaurant flooring materials that are hard-wearing, slip-resistant and ones that withstand chemical cleaning processes. Materials to consider are anti-slip coated tiles, epoxy or rubber floors.
Flooring materials for the waiting area
The waiting area of a restaurant plays a critical role in making a positive first impression. Being the area most customers will first see, you need to choose materials that are aesthetically pleasing and welcoming. Since waiting areas are dedicated to offering guests space while waiting to be seated, it is vital to opt for warm materials that offer a greater level of comfort.
Restrooms
Restrooms are often overlooked when creating a restaurant’s flooring design. Nevertheless, restrooms are of critical importance when it comes to ensuring guests’ comfort and encouraging repeat visits. Commercial restrooms are exposed to heavy footfall and frequent spills. As a result, it is paramount to choose flooring materials that are durable, waterproof and slip-resistant. Above all, they need to be easy to keep clean and sanitise. Because of this, ceramic tiles or epoxy floors are the most popular flooring options to use in these areas.
Professional restaurant flooring design & installation
Choosing appropriate restaurant flooring materials and understanding the different options available is a crucial part of the restaurant interior design or refit process. In today’s blog post, we discussed the most crucial aspects to be aware of when creating your restaurant’s flooring design and offered some insight into the process. Nevertheless, if you need more help creating an efficient restaurant floor plan or installing your restaurant’s floors, you can turn to our team for professional help.
At Vision Shopfitters, we have vast experience in carrying out design, planning and installation services across industries. Offering a wide range of design and fit-out services for restaurants, we can help create an efficient floor plan and install appropriate flooring materials in your restaurant. We can install or replace restaurant floors at competitive prices that offer outstanding durability and meet even the most demanding aesthetic and functional criteria. Contact us today for a free consultation, and see what we could do for your business, too.
