Ceramic Tile
For more information, please visit Mosaic Bathroom Tile.
$1 &#; $35
Glass Tile
$9 &#; $18
Natural Stone Tile
$2 &#; $45
Porcelain Tile
$2 &#; $15
Vinyl Tile
$1 &#; $5
Tile flooring costs between $1 and $45 per square foot depending on the type. Vinyl and ceramic tile cost the least, while high-end natural stone tile like marble is most expensive.
On average, ceramic tiles cost between $1 and $35 per square foot. Ceramic tile is a popular material for countertops, floors and backsplashes. Less durable than porcelain tile, ceramic may still be a good option because of its lower cost and waterproof features. It&#;s especially greatan for high-moisture areas in the home.
Glass tiles cost between $9 and $18 per square foot on average. They have a reflective and colorful appearance making them especially suitable for sunny bathrooms and small spaces.
Natural stone flooring can cost anywhere from $2 to $45 per square foot, an astounding range thanks to the variety and levels of natural stone to choose from. Marble and limestone come in at the top of the price range, while granite comes in at the lower end of the price range.
Here&#;s a closer look at the price of tiles by type of natural stone:
Marble
$10 &#; $45
Granite
$2 &#; $10
Travertine
$8 &#; $13
Quartz
$4 &#; $17
Slate
$4 &#; $25
Limestone
$13 &#; $30
Sandstone
$6 &#; $15
Porcelain tile costs between $2 and $35 per square foot on average. Like ceramic tile, porcelain is a popular choice for bathroom floors and showers. Porcelain is more waterproof, though, making it a durable and slip-resistant option.
The cost of vinyl tile is $1 to $5 per square foot. As the most affordable type of tile, vinyl flooring is economical and great for DIYers and those on a budget. This flooring is waterproof and comes in a variety of prints and colors to mimic the appearance of natural stone, wood or other costlier materials.
If you&#;re getting ready to finally finish or update your bathroom, here are some money-saving options for floor and shower wall materials that you can choose for your bathroom wall, shower, or floor installation that give the room a designer look. You will be surprised at how classic these affordable materials look and how easy they are to install!
I love a sweet little hand-painted tile on the floor, the simple and timeless look of white subway tile on the walls, and a little marble thrown in for additional classic beauty. So that is what I decided to embrace for my bathroom installation.
Top Trending Post
DIY a Lampshade with Wallpaper or FabricAffordable shower wall materials that don&#;t look cheapYou might think that there is no way to make your bathroom look impressive on a budget. And that the only way to keep expenses down when doing bathroom remodeling or finishing is to choose solid surface acrylic shower walls or wall panels or use a stock fiberglass shower that includes a shower pan.
I am here to tell you that, if you&#;re willing to do the work, you can have a beautiful bathroom designed with timeless shower wall materials including beautiful natural stone tiles, and keep costs down!
Buying timeless shower wall materialsYour search for the perfect tile can be overwhelming! Since I knew I was keeping the bathroom simple, relatively inexpensive, and classic I chose to start at Lowe&#;s. I love Lowe&#;s as I think they are more of a &#;designer&#;s&#; store vs. Home Depot, which I feel is more of a &#;builder&#;s&#; store.
I knew the tile would most likely be in stock at my local store so I could get started right away. I found lots of options including glass tiles like these in lots of different colors, but I didn&#;t want the modern look that glass has in a space.
So I went in with a list of what I needed for this project and ended up choosing an inexpensive, white subway tile. As expected it was in stock so I bought the tile and all of the mortar, grout, etc. that I needed and got started.
Why did I opt for a plain, white, basic subway tile? The simple answer is it is classic and will outlast the latest trends. Especially when paired with a white grout! Did you know that subway tile has been around for about 100 years?
It has stood the test of time, used in a lot of different applications and I love it in a home. It will never go out of style. Sometimes a tile installation can date a home and I didn&#;t want that, either.
In addition to being timeless, I knew it would keep the small, dark bathroom bright and reflect any light in the space, rather than a dark tile that would make it feel like a hole.
I installed 700+ (yes, you read that right) 4&#;x8&#; White Subway tiles on the shower walls. One by one. The tiles didn&#;t come on a sheet, which would have been easier to install, but it is ok! I love, love it! It was worth the time.
At .79 cents per tile, it was an affordable option for the space. It took me days and days to lay each tile, one by one with my work schedule. Every night when I got done with my day job, I popped in my headphones and got to work!
Installing marble floors in a shower for a luxe effectFor the shower floor, I chose classic hex Carrara Marble 2&#; x 2&#; tile. It is so pretty with its faint gray veining running through it that you might not believe where I found it! The company&#;s customer service was great!
Contact us to discuss your requirements of hexagon glass mixture crystal tile. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
I was short a few sheets and when I received the new sheets in a slightly different shade, I called them and they went and looked for the sheets I needed in the warehouse to be sure they were from the same color lot to ensure that they matched the rest of my flooring.
The tiles are 2&#; x 2&#; but these tiles did come on a 12&#; x 12&#; mesh sheet so they were easy to install and cut to fit along the edges. The coloring is perfect to compliment the rest of the bathroom floor tile but not compete with it.
If you&#;re thinking that the water from the shower would ruin the floor because natural stone in porous, you may be surprised to find that it will not! And any dirt, grime, or discoloration will be kept at bay with a good sealer on top!
See something you like? You can see the entire design for my unfinished basement bathroom and links to all of the sources!
Best tile for a shower floorWhen choosing a tile for your shower floor you want to be sure that it doesn&#;t have a slick surface when wet. Try to avoid shiny tiles. For instance, glass subway tiles are beautiful and make a beautiful installation, but glass on a floor that gets wet is not ideal.
Take into consideration that you will be standing and walking on a wet surface. If it doesn&#;t allow your foot to grab or stick to the surface you can fall. You can find out whether the tile you are looking at is rated for floor or not.
In my last house, I chose to do a pebble floor in my primary shower and also in my basement shower. I loved it so much. It was beautiful, organic, and a safe installation for my family!
Is tiling a shower wall or floor first better?Your floor tile will sit under the shower wall materials along the edges of your shower pan. So, when deciding whether to tile the floor or walls first, whether or not you can safely apply an entire shower enclosure of tiles without damaging the new tile shower floor you just laid. Since I would be installing 700 individual tiles and using a lot of mortar, I knew that I would be making a huge mess when installing the wall.
You also need to consider the time you have available for the project. If you lay the floors first, you have to allow time for them to set, and then be sure that you can protect them while tiling the walls. You can use cardboard for this and then tape around the edges to protect them.
When I installed my shower I did the walls first and the shower floor last. I knew what a mess the walls would be (and they really were so messy) so I didn&#;t want any additional mortar on the new marble shower floor. My floors were marble and needed to be sealed, so that also played a factor in my decision.
I laid spacers on the floor of the shower that were the same thickness as my shower floor tiles and then began my first row of subway tiles.
Make your first row of shower tiles levelAs in anything you build that is vertical, your first row is your most important row. Be sure it is level and spaces correctly. Everything moving upward from there will be based on that first row.
If your first row of tiles is even slightly off-level, by the time you get to the top it will look completely off! I used a small level as I installed each tile to be sure it was level with the one next to it.
This is time-consuming and tedious, but necessary to give you that professional finish you want. Laying a solid foundation is key in any project!
For this tile installation, I used an inexpensive wet tile saw.
How to finish shower wall material edgesOnce you have installed your tile, you will need to finish the edges to make it look complete. You will most likely have to cut your tiles to fit the allocated space which will leave you with unfinished or raw tile edges.
To finish them you will want to do a simple edge installation. I used this exact white Schluter tile edge for my project. It is an easy installation and looks great!
Should a shower curb match the floor or shower wall materials?
I consider the curb part of the wall since it is vertical like the shower wall. So, in my shower, I opted to make the inside of the shower curb the white subway wall tile. Plus, the subway tiles were .79 cents each. So they were easier and less expensive to install than buying and cutting the marble.
But, then I got creative and tiled the outside of the shower curb (outside the shower in the bathroom area) with the darling bathroom floor tile. Since it is patterned I carried the pattern up the curb to show off the little faux hand-painted flowers in the floor tile and I LOVE it!
The best way to cap a shower curbOnce the shower was completely tiled I went to Lowe&#;s and found a pretty, basic, white shower curb cap for $60. I was able to get it longer than I needed so I could custom-cut it to size.
I chose this because the bathroom floor tile is patterned and I didn&#;t want anything to compete against it and the marble flooring in the shower, and didn&#;t want it to be too busy in the small space. It looks so clean and goes well with the classic white subway tile.
To add the shower curb I cut it to size and used Liquid Nails to adhere it to the top of the curb. I let that set overnight to be sure it was adhered well. Then I caulked around it with white caulk to match!
Of course, there are different ways to cap your curb. In my last house, I chose to use the shower wall materials for the top of the curb and I loved that look, too!
Below are the shower wall materials almost completely installed and before I added the curb and grout. You can get an idea of how a dark grout would look in this space with the dark lines. Adding white grout allowed me to brighten up the space even more!
And with 700+ tiles to install, this was really a labor of love.
Porcelain tile shower vs. ceramic tile for shower wall materialsIf you are debating purchasing and installing porcelain tiles as shower wall materials and are on a firm budget, they won&#;t be as affordable as ceramic tile. When you compare the two, you really have to know what you&#;re looking at to tell the difference in most cases.
In general ceramic tile is about 60% to 70% of the cost of porcelain. Until you get up to the really expensive tiles. Then they are within about 15% of each other.
If you want to know more, here is an article comparing porcelain tile to ceramic tile. A tile company is the best source to answer your more in-depth questions comparing the two!
Be sure to check out my other posts in this bathroom series. Up next? Adding my flooring to the bathroom and how I tiled it. Can&#;t wait to share!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a (very) small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. As a Lowe&#;s Partner I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!
Want more information on 3d mosaic wooden decorative tiles? Feel free to contact us.