wetroom tiles

dinpawon

hi am building a house at present and putting in wetroom - i would like to know if tiles get very dirty after years of use - can anyone recommend a tile type and colour that will endure constant wetting and look clean - thank you

CJhaughey

We fitted Porcelain tiles which are very hardwearing.
The tiles seem to stay clean and they are a beige/natural stone colour, the dirt seems to accumulate on the grout between the tiles, we use a squeegee with a long handle to move the water away quickly.
Make sure that the floor tiles are grippy when wet.
I would suggest that this would be a primary concern in a wetroom, it is no place to have slick tiles.

sinnerboy

i always err on the side of safety in wet room and use mosaics

1. grouted joints are good to ensure slip resistance
   
2. small tiles lend themselves to form falls naturally

it is the grouted joints that will discolour not the tiles - so regular cleaning is not avoidable

alternatively - look at a recent thread where i posted links to an alternative to tiling

Terry

I'd definitely use mosaics, if only from a safety point of view.

If you are worried about discolouration, you could always use black grout (note, black grout is never black, but more of a charcoal grey).

Flash with bleach (much cheaper in your local supermarket ) is the best product for cleaning tiles on a regular basis.
I tiled kitchen walls for a friend about seven years ago. The grout is still white. She uses flash with bleach to clean them.

Back to the colour of the grout, over a large area I would recommend this.
It's a bit more expensive than other grout, but is probably the best one out there.
Try the Silver Grey for the room. All depends on your taste, but it will be easier to keep clean than a white or ivory grout.

Have you decided on colours for the room yet?

dinpawon

thanks a million for all replies - very helpful as i am clueless - will save alot of time thanks:) -
i was thinking of beige or cream tiles as i think i wont grow too tired of them if they are a neutral shade

Terry

dinpawon wrote: »

thanks a million for all replies - very helpful as i am clueless - will save alot of time thanks:) -
i was thinking of beige or cream tiles as i think i wont grow too tired of them if they are a neutral shade

With those colours they grey, silver grey or charcoal won't look good.
What you are looking for with those colours is a white or ivory grout, which as explained earlier is harder to keep clean.

I can't pimp the flash with bleach enough. It really does work if used regularly.
The same goes for the botament grout.
I know lucretia tiles sell it, but you could probably get it cheaper wholesale from their site. you're going to need quite a bit if you are using mosaics.

I wouldn't recommend limestone tiles for that room.
If you want a natural stone, then slate or terracotta are the way to go. They don't match your colour scheme though.

I'll get back to you after I discuss something with the mods here.

dinpawon

im not too picky about colours really - i would just as i said like a tile that is easy on the eye and is easy to clean and i dont mind using bleach at least once every 3 weeks -

ircoha

dinpawon wrote: »

im not too picky about colours really - i would just as i said like a tile that is easy on the eye and is easy to clean and i dont mind using bleach at least once every 3 weeks -

We really need to consider the downstream effect of using bleach at any time, and certainly once every 3 weeks.
Just because it goes down the shore does not mean the problem goes away.

We must consider all aspects of our [carbon] footprint and the focus should be on reducing the footprint to a minimum, from cradle to grave [or cremo]

In the same way as sustainable construction is being promoted, we need to promote sustainable living also so perhaps the shower tray is not too bad after all.

dinpawon

you would have to clean a shower tray also at least once every three weeks also - what cleaner would be recommended that is environmentally friendly and effective and not too expensive

sinnerboy

dinpawon wrote: »

you would have to clean a shower tray also at least once every three weeks also - what cleaner would be recommended that is environmentally friendly and effective and not too expensive

salt and vinegar ! ( rather than cheese and onion )

http://housekeeping.about.com/od/environment/Environmental_Cleaning_Solutions.htm

ircoha

sinnerboy wrote: »

salt and vinegar ! ( rather than cheese and onion )

http://housekeeping.about.com/od/environment/Environmental_Cleaning_Solutions.htm

Sinnerboy: a crisp solution indeed:D
Happy Easter

dinpawon:
there is a hugh difference between trying to clean grouted tiles and a ceramic shower tray so even if u are cleaning every 3 weeks the effort is a lot less and a bleaching agent is definitely not required

lollipop08

Why not use a nice chocolate brown or charcoal grey porcelain tile just at the shower area they will both match a grey grout with minimal cleaning. Then you can use any other tile everywhere else. Nice contrast in a bathroom too, instead of all boring beige! Another option is to embed a teak wooden shower tray, flush with or just on top of the ground, with the drain beneath - this can be sometimes safer than tiles. Here are some examples i found in Google

http://livinghouse.co.uk/acatalog/Shower-tray.jpg
http://www.faucets-plus.com/MTI/info_teak.jpg

dinpawon

thanks a million for advice - change of colour sounds like an ideal solution - thanks