How to Choose the Right Flooring for Your Lab
Lori Ambrusch, MAUD, director of science & technology at Ware Malcomb
When designing or renovating lab spaces, flooring is often treated as an afterthought—but overlooking it can lead to costly mistakes. Laboratory flooring plays a key role in safety, functionality, and user satisfaction.
Lab end users should begin by identifying how the space will be used—what chemicals, equipment, or foot traffic the floor will be exposed to—and consult with designers early in the process to evaluate flooring materials that align with those requirements. Different lab types demand different performance attributes: for example, a biomedical lab may need seamless, coved flooring for cleanability and infection control, while an engineering test lab might prioritize impact resistance.
Engaging facilities staff, safety officers, and lab users during programming helps ensure the flooring solution not only meets technical specifications but also supports day-to-day operations and long-term usability.
In her webinar, “Materials Matter: Getting to the Bottom of Laboratory Flooring Selection and Design,” Lori Ambrusch, MAUD, director of science & technology at Ware Malcomb, shared practical advice to help lab managers, scientists, and facility planners make informed decisions.
“Flooring can communicate function, guide behavior, and reinforce safety protocols,” Ambrusch noted in her presentation, which originally aired during Lab Design’s Flooring & Walls Digital Conference on June 26, 2025. Click here to view the video of this webinar, as well as the other three webinars in this series.
Consider all the zones
The first step is understanding the range of spaces within a lab environment. Ambrusch advises thinking in terms of “the main lab space, the accessory lab spaces, or the accessory use spaces for the lab, and then the supplemental uses.” These include everything from active bench areas to waste rooms, corridors, and even office zones. Each zone has different flooring performance needs.
“All of those areas are going to factor into the design of where specific flooring is going to need to be selected and appropriately applied, depending on what type of use it is,” she explained in the webinar.
Match material to function
Ambrusch outlined the most commonly used flooring types and their pros and cons:
VCT (vinyl composition tile) is “very versatile, very resilient, very cost effective,” but can have issues with cleanliness if the subfloor is uneven.
Sheet vinyl has “heat welded seams” and is great for cleanability, but “more difficult to replace.”
Poured epoxy is “incredibly resilient” and seamless, often used in vivaria or wet labs.
Polished concrete is durable for heavy equipment but “can be very slippery” and has limited chemical resistance.
LVT (luxury vinyl tile) might look appealing, but Ambrusch urges caution: “I would say that it’s not necessarily a recommended product for labs, especially in an area where you’re actually working at the bench… proceed with caution if using LVT in a lab.”
Safety and performance are intertwined
Cleanability, chemical resistance, and slip resistance are critical. Seamless flooring helps maintain sterile environments. Static-dissipative tile is necessary when sensitive electronics or flammable materials are involved.
“That will help the space perform as needed… but if you have volatile compounds that are flammable or explosive, you want to make sure that there’s no electrostatic discharge in that space,” Ambrusch said in the webinar.
Transitions, lip edges, and integral cove bases also play a role in maintaining clean and safe surfaces. Transition strips must be compatible with the flooring materials and capable of handling heavy equipment without lifting or catching dirt.
Use color to guide and protect
Color can improve function and safety. Ambrusch said, “You can identify the location of a shower with a different color on the floor… so it could be a really good option to actually promote wayfinding to the safety mechanisms.”
Color coding can also help demarcate equipment zones, electrical panels, and storage areas, and can serve as visual cues for donning/doffing areas in cleanrooms.
Coordinate early to avoid surprises
Lab flooring should be evaluated in coordination with casework, wall finishes, and overall space planning.
Ambrusch cautioned against leaving flooring decisions too late in the planning process. Not only is flooring a significant part of the construction budget, but some products require more costly subfloor preparation. During the webinar, she said, “Some of these floors require very flat floors, very well prepared, uncracked, flat level floors… that can be incredibly expensive.”
Flooring should also be considered in relation to casework, wall finishes, and space planning—especially when integral base, ramps, or floor-mounted equipment is involved.
Durable flooring = better-looking labs
Function and aesthetics go hand in hand. According to Ambrusch, “When we’re in functional spaces, we have higher user satisfaction… correct products are resilient products.”
Choosing flooring based on how the space will be used—not just code compliance—can reduce wear and ensure the lab continues to perform and look professional over time.
By planning early, understanding the functional needs of each lab zone, and choosing the right material for the job, lab end users can make flooring decisions that promote safety, optimize workflows, and stand the test of time.
“Materials Matter: Getting to the Bottom of Laboratory Flooring Selection and Design” originally aired during Lab Design’s Flooring & Walls Digital Conference. To access this free webinar, and the other three webinars in this event, click here.
