Usually it's not the tile, but the grout that you have to worry about when it comes to mildew/mold. To help reduce the risk of mildew/mold growth, many of us squeegee the walls & floor (if tiled) after showering and it works great. If you haven't already, do a search on mildew and squeegeeing on the forum. Additionally, sanded grout is more likely to have mildew/mold growth than unsanded. Unsanded can only be used in applications where the grout lines are small. One of the biggest factors in determining what size grout line to use is how the edges of the tile are cut--the straighter they are (like stone tiles), the smaller the grout line can be. Some porcelain tiles also have rather straight grout lines as well.

The 1st tile with the grooves may just be a bear to clean--potentially tough to rid of dirt and then tough to rid of cleanser (depending on which one you use). It will likely be difficult to squeegee and rid the tile of most if not all of the water. Plus, those grooved tiles tend to be rather pricey. While I really like the look of this tile, I don't think it is worth it in the end.

The second tile is very similar to the one we put in our sons' baths. Nice smooth surface, looks like the edges are straight enough to have smaller grout lines which is a plus. I would put the border above the water spray line so about 4-5ft up the wall since it has a raised design and would be more difficult to squeegee dry. The tile will be no problem to squeegee. Is that Florida Tile's Pristine tile, by any chance? Excellent value if so. I don't think this tile & border will go out of style.

The last shower design is really neat, but may be a little trendy. That would be my only reservation on that one. One of the positives I see with this tile is that you could place the decorative border anywhere on the wall you wanted without having to worry about lingering water droplets when squeegeeing as it all looks flat.

Hope this helps!

Thank you very much, mydreamhome. I had preferred the 2nd one until I went to the store and saw the products. It's not Florida Tile's pristine. It's only a ceramic with price of $1.99/SF (now on sale for $1.19/sf). The decoration border is also ceramic with very uneven surface. I'm afraid it would get dirty easily and would be difficult to clean even installed above the spray line (5' above tub border).

Also, does it look better to have glossy tiles on bath surrounding walls but non-glossy tiles on the bathroom floor?

Thank you very much.

Thats a good price on the tile that looks like FL Tile's Pristine--theirs was on sale for $2sqft. As far as the border--you will mainly have to worry about dust if it's above the spray line. It looks like it has a little ledge along the top--you could use it as the top border instead of bull nose tiles--it would save some money as it would do double duty & it wouldn't get wet or accumulate soap scum--just a thought.

A glossy border tile would be easier to keep clean, but the one you have in the picture (even though its matte) should be relatively easy to clean as there aren't alot of tight nooks and crannies. If you want to look at other listello/border tiles I can recommend the following from Florida Tile from when we looked:

Ashton-Reflections & Palisade listellos
Contessa-Majestic, Palacio & Royale Relief listellos
Pristine-Splendid listello
Renaissance-All 3 listellos (they don't all have names)--ours is the Gold Sistine paired with the Grigio Tile)

As to your question about glossy on the walls and matte on the floor it actually comes down to slip issues. Matte tiles give more traction than glossy, so floor tiles tend to be matte. You can use floor tiles on walls, but you cannot use wall tiles on floors as a general rule with that being one of the reasons.

Hope this helps!

Mydreamhome, thank you very much for your information, which is very helpful. I'll go to a local store and take a look at the listello of the FL file pristine series you recommended.

Previously, I only looked for tiles made in Italy. However, the 2nd one in my original post was made in China, and I took the picture in a local open house and later went to the Chinese tile store to see the sample in detail.

My dreamhome, I went to the Florida Tiles local dealer and was told the Florida Tile's Pristine is $6.99/SF. Another Florida tile series is $7.99/SF. They only have small-piece samples of some colors (not all). If I want it, they need to order it for me, and it takes a week to get it.

If you saw the Pristine & liked it, I would click on the link on the FL Tile site to find dealers in your area & call around to see who has the best price. We got our price originally from a FL Tile dealer who was taking advantage of the Pristine & Renaissance being on special at the time & passed the savings on to the consumer. Not all tile places do this--many charge the consumer the regular list price and they rake in extra profit. Going through FL Tile directly with our GC's account, the price was $2.19sqft and we got them to lower it to match the dealer price a few blocks away. The other thing to remember is that your tile setter typically has accounts at the different tile shops and gets a discount--that's the price you need. If you are doing it yourself, I would ask for the contractor discount. Where are you located?

Mydreamhome, thank you very much. I called another two local dealers. One has Florida Tiles on sale, only $3.95/SF, but they don't have pristine series in their showroom. Their renaissance series looks pretty good, but the largest piece is 10x13, kind of small for bathroom wall tile. And Ordering it will take 7-10 business days. I am living in the San Francisco bay area.

Is the tile just going in the shower surround or on the bathroom walls too? Here's a pic of our giant shower where we used the 10x13s, 3x6s and the Gold sistine listellos. 10x13 tiles will look small in comparison to the 13x26 tiles you have been looking at.

Wow! very beautiful -- not only the materials, but also the design and work details. Very impressive! I like the step which can serve as foot rest or a place to sit. The niche was beautifully made, especially the base part.

What is your tile name? Thank you very much.

My dreamhome, I was so impressed by your giant shower that I forgot to answer your question. The tiles would just surround the bathtub most probably to the ceiling, not on other part of bathroom walls. Thank you.

Thank for the compliments. The tile is the Florida Tile Renaissance in 10x13 and 3x6 with the Gold Sistine listello in between to act as a transition. The floor is the renaissance mosaic. The niche has the wall tile across the back and the sides & shelf are made from a Turkish Marble tile we had to hunt for.

If you are just tiling your tub surround, you would be fine with any of the sizes we have bounced back and forth--10x13 (FL Tile Renaissance), 9x11 (that's what we had in last house), 9x18 (FL Tile Pristine) or the 13x26 you have been looking at.