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selphydeg

What kind of tile to use for shower floor?

selphydeg
11 years ago

As I understand the tile would have to be small to create the slope near the drain and also not slippery. I don't want to create a safety hazard here.

Its coming down to Silk Blanco (8X13) or the Yakarta Blanco (8X12) for the shower walls.

I also picked a grayish/light brown wood looking porcelain tile for the bathroom floor. The color works and its cheaper than the Porcelanosa wood lookalikes.

So far, the only idea I have is to use a bunch of off white pebbles for the shower floor. Do you think it'll look good. I never thought I would use pebbles, but that was the only idea that popped into my mind when I was at the tile store.

light pebbles

slightly darker pebbles

Another brand I saw at HD

Comments (9)

  • armada
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think that will look pretty nice. The pebbles are "sleeker" looking than some of the others i've seen, so to me it will look classy.

    Where have you found the porcelain tiles with texture like that? I didn't see any when I walked down the tile aisle at HD the other day. Hope they're not $10/sqft either!
    -adam

  • raehelen
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I love the look of pebbles. Have often thought I would like to use them in a shower, but I am leary of how much maintenance/cleaning all that grout on the floor would take. For some people, it is not comfortable on their feet, of course there's no way of knowing without experiencing it...but something to keep in mind.

    BTW, I was also at tile stores today looking at pebbles, thinking I may use them for my backsplash and in my shower niches.

  • selphydeg
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oops, the yakarta blanco and silk blanco were from a local tile store. They come in 12X35 or 12X8, the 12X8 is only $6.50 per square ft, not sure how much the big ones cost, probably around $15/sqft. They are too big for my space anyways. The last pebble tile is from HD. They are solistone, costs $13/sq.

    @Raehelen, The stones are smooth and flat on the top. Lots of traction and not slippery. I worry about cleaning too and we have hard water here.

  • raehelen
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you do go pebble, then maybe go towards a darker colour that more closely ties in with your floor tile, rather than your wall tile, especially with hard water. Do you ever get rusty marks on your fixtures? If so, then maybe a pebble combo that goes towards the rusty tones? Definitely, darker grout!

    What is the waterproofing system you have for your shower floor pan?

  • selphydeg
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am thinking about either the darker brown or the black stone, so I can use a gray grout. I don't have rust marks, its a build up of calcium and we use CLR to loosen it up. I don't have a water proofing system yet. I am having a general contractor to give me an estimate on the work, but he wants me to pick the tile and fixtures so he can give a more accurate estimate.

    What is the proper way to construct a shower? Any red flag I should watch out for?

  • raehelen
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mmmm, I am thinking if you have calcium build-up maybe not the black, perhaps a mix of darker stones would hide stains/dirt better. Proper way to construct a shower? I will paste some notes I've saved.

    Mongoct wrote this many years ago, and I've saved it in my BR files, he is so helpful on this forum, if you do a search for shower systems, you should find lots of his advice.

    Height of the rainshower head? I'd bring it down no lower than about 12" above the height of the tallest user. It can be a bit lower, but try to stay at least 8" above the top of the tallest user's head. Depending on the style of head you're using, 18" to 24" extension will work fine. Most true rainshower heads will not perform well unless they are installed parallel to the floor. So installing them on an angle, as they might be when coming out of a wall? You'll get some "rain" and some "dribble". There are hybrid rainshower heads that are designed to replace a standard head coming out of a wall, but they're not true rainshower heads. They usually have fewer holes to give a more forceful spray. They are "in between" heads. I've not heard of cleaning problems with metal hoses. I suppose hard water could bring that into play. I do recommend getting a hose long enough so that you can use the head to wash down all surfaces in the shower. You can also get additional head hanging brackets, they're only a few dollars each, so you can mount a bracket to hold the head at knee height for shaving legs, etc. Metal versus plastic? Some metal heads are cheesey, some plastic heads are fabulous. I've showered in all types of settings, from razor sprays that are painful to the gentlest of rainshowers. From one shower head to full-blown 24 head spa setups that make you feel like you're in a car wash. When I built my own shower, there were no limitations. My wife had carte blanche, we had no budget. All we did was we put in two heads on two valves. A 12" overhead rainshower, it was about $100 for the head. On the wall I installed a Grohe Top4 Relaxa head on a vertical wall bracket. I'm 6'4", my wife is 5'1". The head is easy to slide up and down as required. It can also be taken off the clip to be used as a hand held. I installed another bracket lower on the wall for my wife to use when shaving her legs. She can sit on a teak bench and clip the Top4 head into that bracket while she does that. I have two separate on/off supply valves, one for the overhad and one for the handheld. They can be run independently or simultaneously. They are simple valves, Temptrol. It's an excellent valve that will never cause problems. $100 for the rainhead, I think it was around $175-$200 for the entire Grohe setup, the Top4 head, the bar, the extra long hose, etc, about $200 for the two Temptrol valves. $500 for the whole shebang. No regrets. In a tub/shower combo, a rainshower head could be brought to the ceiling. There are plumbing kits that have chromed or other finish tubing that can be surface mounted on the wall to bring the water to an overhead rainhead. But mounting a rainshower head on a typical angled arm coming out of the wall? You might not get good water flow out of that. I have installed in-the-wall plumbing so that a rainshower head could come out of the ceiling in a standard tub/shower surround. The setups have had the standard wall tub filler and wall shower valve setup, I've usually installed a diverter valve so the water could come out of the wall shower head or the overhead rainshower head. Nothing ghastly about that at all. I would not have just a rainshower head as your only head. As other have mentioned, it's a very gentle flow of water, and does not do a good job of penetrating hair to rinse out shampoo. Mongo

    Here is a link that might be useful: help designing a shower system

  • sochi
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would go for one of the darker pebbles. I quite like it and considered it for my shower floor too (under the ipe). I love your tile choices! :)

  • selphydeg
    Original Author
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks raehelen, is Kerdi a vapor proofing system that allows the DIYer to construct a shower with ease and confidence or is that something that every contractor should be using?

    Hi Sochi, I love your bathroom, its modern without being sterile. I got the idea to use yakarta blanco from you. Should I go bold and use the black pebbles or find a gray or beige pebble?

  • sochi
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks lilymila!

    I tend to like a darker floor, so I think I'd recommend black. Unless you think the calcium build up might be an issue?