Kitchens and bathrooms get asked to do more than any other room in the house — they take standing water, dropped dishes, bare wet feet, and daily temperature swings, sometimes all before breakfast. So when homeowners from Savannah down to Statesboro ask us whether to go with tile or luxury vinyl plank (LVP) in these rooms, the honest answer is: it depends on which room, and which part of that room.
Both materials are genuinely waterproof today, which wasn't true a decade ago. That changes the conversation from "which one won't get ruined" to "which one actually fits how you live and what you want to spend." Here's how we walk customers through it.
Where Tile Still Wins
- Handles constant, standing water better than anything else — it's the only product we install inside a shower pan
- Porcelain and natural stone can realistically last 25+ years without replacement
- Scratch-proof and immune to fading, so it holds up well in sunny, window-heavy bathrooms
- Carries more weight with buyers in higher-end homes, especially in primary bathrooms
- Huge range of looks — from large-format porcelain to natural stone to patterned ceramic
The tradeoffs: tile is cold underfoot (a real consideration even here in January), grout lines need periodic sealing and cleaning, and it's the slower, pricier install of the two. A dropped plate is also more likely to chip on tile than on LVP.
Porcelain runs toward the lower end; natural stone and large-format tile push toward the higher end. Final cost depends on pattern complexity and substrate prep.
Where LVP Wins
- Costs roughly half of tile installed, with a much faster install — most kitchens or baths in 1–2 days
- Warm and comfortable underfoot, which matters if you're standing at a stove or sink for long stretches
- Fully waterproof core holds up fine for kitchen floors, bathroom floors, and laundry rooms
- More forgiving of minor subfloor imperfections than rigid tile
- Realistic wood-look planks let a kitchen match LVP or hardwood in an adjoining living space
The tradeoffs: LVP isn't rated for constant submersion, it can't be refinished once it's worn, and in top-tier homes it typically doesn't carry the same resale weight that natural stone or porcelain does.
Material pricing. Installed cost depends on room size, subfloor condition, and waterproofing details around fixtures.
The One Rule That Actually Matters: The Shower Itself
This is where the decision usually makes itself. A shower pan and shower walls need a continuous waterproof membrane underneath a surface built for standing water and constant drainage — that's tile, or a specialty solid-surface shower system, not LVP. We don't install plank flooring inside a shower enclosure, and a contractor who offers to is cutting a corner that tends to show up as a moisture problem a year or two later. Outside the shower — the rest of the bathroom floor — both tile and LVP are fair game.
Our Recommendation for Coastal Georgia Kitchens and Baths
For most kitchens, we lean toward LVP: it's warmer to stand on, faster to install, and close enough to tile's water resistance that the cost and comfort savings win out. For a primary bathroom in a higher-end home, or anywhere you want a floor that will genuinely outlast the house, tile earns its higher price tag — especially paired with a tile shower for a seamless look. For a secondary bath, guest bath, or a rental property bathroom, LVP is usually the more practical call.
Humidity is less of a factor here than people expect — both materials are fully moisture-resistant on top. The bigger coastal Georgia consideration is subfloor movement from humidity swings between our humid summers and drier winters, which is a reason to make sure whichever material you choose is installed over a properly acclimated, leveled subfloor, not a shortcut on either side.
If you're weighing tile against LVP for a kitchen or bathroom remodel anywhere from Savannah to Pooler, Rincon, Springfield, Richmond Hill, Statesboro, or Guyton, we're happy to bring real samples of both to your home so you can see them against your own cabinets and lighting before you decide. Call us at 912-421-0188 or request a free estimate below.