I have had cheap carpet in my mud room for the last 17 years (2 different carpets). I now have a 17 yo dog. When she is gone, I need to get rid of the old, disgusting carpet. What would you recommend for the mud room? I want it to look halfway decent but be easy to clean. I have vinyl planking in the house but it’s a bit pricey. The mud room floor is, unfortunately, not even so anything other than carpet may well require some prep work. Thanks!
Tile or paver brick
1 Like
Laminate is easy to clean, can be affordable, and is super easy to install
I have ceramic tile that I love.
1 Like
I would find a tile with a mid-dark wood grain or stone pattern to hide dirt - something like this:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/American-Ol…-in/1000181617
Tile can be found at lots of different price points, $2-50+/sq ft, (for tile, installation can cost as much as the tile!) is really impervious and easy to clean. It is harder to DIY, but not impossible if you are handy and like math problems. Tip if you do wood-look - go with a grout on the darker side, and small joints - much more realistic looking.
Another option is luxury vinyl tile - lots of options on colors/patterns, totally waterproof, easy to DIY install, low maintenance, and usually about $2/sq ft. We put this in my son’s bathroom. It seems pretty indestructable.
http://www.homedepot.com/b/Flooring-…vZaq27Z1z0kwjz
If it will be very wet I would avoid laminate; if it does get water into the seams it can swell and ruin your floor. I love my laminate, but wouldn’t put it in an area that routinely gets a lot of water.
Whatever you choose, make sure it is slip resistant!
I absolutely adore the interlocking linoleum tiles I just had installed. I did buy the absolute top of the line tile in a travertine look, but it hides dirt and cleans up in a snap and is not slippery. My tack room floor is a less high end plank interlocking tile that I installed myself. It has held up really well and cleans up great. Both versions are waterproof. The tack room I installed directly over concrete. The laundry room/spare bath were installed over subfloor.
Poured scored concrete with a drain in the middle and a hose on the wall. :yes:
6 Likes
I have slate in my mud room and the adjoining room. It has been down for 40 years and is indestructible.
…for the win!!! 
G.
3 Likes
You could buy plastic laminate. It is totally waterproof (it was made for wet basements) and really scratch resistant. We installed it in our tack room and it looks just like regular laminate. The backing is plastic as well. I took a nail to it and it was really hard for me to even scratch it! Much tougher than “regular” laminate. And the cost is great. We were able to get it for $2/sq foot, and the backing is attached to it. Bonus!
My husband installs it in quite a few houses and people have been really happy with it. I love it as well! It comes in many different wood grain colours too…
1 Like
You cannot find a ‘working’ floorplan (with any kind of realistic mudroom) for any so called ‘farmhouse’ house designs these days. If anyone has one, a floorplan like this, share with me. My older daughter is trying to find something to build on their cattle farm. They have more than a little mud there! where’s the thumbs down for that lack of authenticity?
2 Likes
Anything that can handle water and mud. I have ceramic tile, which was $1 square foot, but it’s a bit slippery when wet. Very easy to clean, though. We do give it a good cleaning and reseal it once a year.
I wouldn’t use laminate in a mud room if you will be leaving wet or muddy boots on the floor. I have laminate in most of my house, because of the dogs. It’s great except for it does not hold up to water at all. If any water is left sitting on it, the seams will raise. This is what I have and really like it (in areas that don’t get wet).
http://us.quick-step.com/our-products/product-collection?pitem_id=7&name=classic-&-classic-sound-collection
I used vinyl (the sheet kind, not tiles) in our mudroom because it’s easy to clean. Vinyl looks way better than it used to. Ours looks like slate tiles and has a textured surface.
I have tile in our bathrooms. If you like cleaning grout, tile is great. I didn’t use it in the mudroom, because I hate cleaning grout.
It really depends on your situation. I live in a rainy climate with me and three muddy dogs going in and out of the house multiple times per day.
1 Like
I have the faux wood plank tile in one of my bathrooms. I’m confused how you would avoid the grout. It’s tile; you still have to grout it…?
I have some tile in my house already that is laid in a concrete like material…I guess I was thinking of that?
I have faux wood plank tiles in my master bath. Yes, you have grout, but for a really realistic effect, we used thin grout lines and a grout that matches the darkest tones on the tile. I have not had to clean the grout any differently than the tile.
1 Like
We put in polished concrete (with drain) and I love it. Looks nice and is super easy to keep clean. We went with concrete color, but you can have it done in all sorts of colors and designs.
1 Like
I love my tile in the mudroom and laundry/dog room… but the grout was light colored and never sealed so it’s really nasty now and stained and I am having a time cleaning it.
So I would vote for tile but with a grey grout maybe and SEALED!
I had wanted stamped concrete in there [to look like herringbone brick] but that was $$$. My tile with similar look was $1 a sq foot.
We put the sheet vinyl available at HD in the 2nd bedroom of MILs rental when we rehab’d it to sell. It was $1 a foot, and SUPER easy to lay, with actually no glue required if you chose not to [just tacking quarter round along edge holds it].
It looked like hardwood floor and was super easy to clean.
I have a similar, pricier version in my house, in the kitchen and after 8 years it still looks great, even the high traffic path from the mudroom/Butler Pantry to the FR and hall to the upstairs where you would think wear would start to show first.
I designed mine.
I have basically two10 x 10 rooms:
The mudroom with entry from porch and garage and then attached to that, through a pocket door**
The laundry, with room for W/D side by side w/cabinets above on one wall, large/deep kitchen sink with cabinets above/below and then at end a space for dog crate [when we had the bad beagle] and now a dog bed on opposite wall.
That dog bed/crate space will eventually become a closet for cleaning supplies, canned storage, etc.
If my mudroom did not have the back stair case to the bonus room in it, there would be way more space than I need for a bench/cubby space.
I wish I could find my floor plans to share with you… now ‘where are the floorplans?’ will be driving me crazy!
** we used pocket doors all over this house. To divide the Laundry from mudroom, to divide the Butler Pantry from the Kitchen and DR, at the half bath, and then between the shower/toilet area and the vanity areas of both full baths.
I LOVE my pocket doors because it eliminates doors obstructing tight spaces.
The caveat being the one the builder screwed up the framing on- in the wall it slides into it hits a stud if you don’t line it up right, and then the ones in the Butler Pantry that were supposed to be all glass… that he put in all wood ones so the BP is super dark 
And of course to swap them out means taking the wall apart.
We have concrete floors in our mudroom that they ground and polished (it’s very pretty) and a drain. It is the BEST. It’s smooth and the exposed aggregate is pretty, but they are smooth and lovely to clean.
