Which Floor Tiles Are Suitable for a Bathroom?

“Are these floor tiles suitable for a bathroom?” – is a question asked by many of our customers.

Of course, not all floor tiles are the same, and there are many, many designs, colours, sizes and materials in the market place. However, in practice, if you find a design that you like, then there shouldn’t be any reason why you cannot use it in your bathroom or en-suite.

As a customer, you may perhaps worry about how slippery the floor tiles can get when laid in a bathroom. Generally though, most people use a bathmat when getting out of the shower or bath, and this is usually sufficient to combat the slipping.

However, should you require non-slip tiles for a specific need, they can be identified by a PNR rating supplied by the manufacturer. Other factors that you will need to consider before buying your tiles for installation, relate more to the existing floor structure. Are you tiling onto a concrete or wooden floor?

Concrete floors do not pose any real problem for tiling; just remember to consider any height differences at door thresholds linking to other rooms. You may need to use a door bar to overcome the differences.

Tiling onto a wooden floor is another matter entirely. For one thing, you do not want your beautiful tiled floor to start coming loose from the floor or for the floor tiles to begin cracking. So, what do you need to do:

Overlay the floor with a tile backer board, plywood (9mm minimum) or a suitable alternative.

Screw the boards at 200mm centres, to give the floor some rigidity.

If using plywood, apply one coat of primer and allow to dry.

Use flexible adhesive and flexible grout to fix the tiles.

It may sound like a lot more work is involved, but you’ll be glad you spent the time on the preparation beforehand. If you are using a local tiler, they will be able to quote to do this for you.

All you need to do now is choose floor tiles to suit you. For a stylish monochrome palette, check out black, white and grey, which co-ordinate easily with most white wall tiles and then you simply use accent colours through your bathroom accessories of towels, candles, soaps, lotions and potions.

To add warmth to your bathroom, stick with cream and beige tones or terracotta and browns. And of course, the stone travertine effect are still as popular as ever. But for those of you bored stiff with the neutrals, add colour to your bathroom flooring and check out blue, green, yellow and pink coloured bathroom tiles.