how much time are you going to spend walking around in the mudroom and bathroom? seems easy enough to tile those spaces, they'd be so easy to keep clean.

Definitely use radiant heat in the mud room! Dries up water tracked in from rain/snow. Best decision I have made in my whole house remodel.

I'm going to throw my hat into the ring here. Cork glue down tiles, once sealed with a top coat = water proof.

The thick tiles ELIMINATE the need for in-floor radiant heat (saving you $500 - $1000 in materials and another $500-$1000 labor for install). It is soft, and easy on the legs. In fact it is known as a "safety floor" in retirement homes.

If you are suffering from body aches/pains, the 8mm thick cork tile from Forna would be an amazing addition to a bathroom/mud room. At the end of the day, the cork glue down tile will *cost* the same as a porcelain tile installation (once materials and labour are paid for).

You seal it.

@Iswisher - the install will work as follows:

1) Order floor tiles + adhesive (water based contact cement adhesive = VOC free) + finish (get samples before choosing - take the extra few days to get samples)

2) Allow materials to acclimate in the home for 3 days

3) While waiting for cork to acclimate, your flooring professional will "prep" the subfloor (concrete or plywood = acceptable) - prep work is part of the labour costs and needs to be done no matter what type of floor you choose.

4) Apply adhesive to the subfloor and the the back of the tiles and wait 45 minutes for the adhesive to "flash" or dry (this is part of a contact cement glue profile) - this will be done in 50sf "quadrants" if possible.

5) Install tiles (300sf/day is about as fast as it gets for a single installer)

6) Allow glue to cure for 24 hours (the guys come back the "next" next day)

7) They will clean the cork (TSP at "household cleaner strength"), lightly abrade the tiles (high-grit sand paper) - like wiping a child's face; then wipe down tiles with water-damp tack cloth and allow to dry for 1 hour

8) They will apply the first coat of finish - 5 hours later they apply 2nd coat

9) Pay the installers and let the floor cure (shoes allowed after 24 hours....mats, rugs, furniture after 5 days)

Now you have a fully functional, cork floor that can handle massive amounts of water without much worry. This is the same type of install as in Cathedrals in Spain and Portugal and in public spaces like the Library of Congress.

The material + labour is going to be close to the going rate of a porcelain tile install. The time-line for prep+install+finish+cure is a day or so longer than a tile install but the softness of a cork glue down tile is well worth the extra time. Again, the costs will be close to the same. Extra time will be the only "extra" you will have to deal with.