Good Questions: Small or Large Tile in the Bathroom?

Hello AT,

I am planning total bathroom renovation. I live in a small one bedroom apartment, with a tiny bathroom (5x7). After reading the old postings/ debates about tub vs. shower- I've decided to take the plunge to remove the tub and have a walk-in shower instead. I was thinking about using glass mosaic tiles hakatai carter series, jade blend for the floor and perhaps pale yellow for the shower surround. I had a whole plan/ design in mind until I met with my contractor this morning.

When I told him that I want to use small mosaic glass tiles for the bathroom, he was pretty against it- saying that I should go with larger tiles, granite or marble...

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He thinks that small tiles would cheapen the value of the bathroom. I had thought that smaller tiles would make the bathroom seem larger.

So what do you think? small or large?

p.s. a little about my bathroom- the tub/shower area is at the far wall when you enter, next to the shower closer to the door is the vanity. Next to the vanity is the toilet. I was thinking of replacing the vanity with a floating/wall-mount vanity with a vessel since on top.The wall mount vanity would be tiled the same color as the floor, the same tile then would extend into the shower area, creating a contrasting band around the shower.

Thanks, Rita

Dear Rita,

We love small tiles if they are very nicely done. And the Hakati glass are gorgeous.

Never trust a contractor entirely when it comes to deciding your style. If you like it and you've seen it work somewhere else, go for it.

Anyone else?

Comments (4)

Plumbers Advice:
Small tiles work well for a shower floor and any area that would need drainage to a floor drain. They slope well and keep you from possible drainage problems in the long run. Any good tile guy knows how to install them. It's not that difficult. As far as grout goes...seal it and keep it clean. Big deal! A lot of big commercial bathrooms use small tile. Some smart residential people use small tile for bathrooms, on request only. Your contractor may just specialize in residential and not have much knowledge on the subject. He's not necessarily lazy. I suggest talking to a good tile man, ask them what he would do in his own bathroom (they love that), and getting him to price your project. I don't suggest you talk to your contractors tile man. Let him deal with his own guys. You can always contract the tile work yourself and have the contractor omit it from the original agreement. This may be a positive way to get the contractor to step up his game with his subs.

I recommend thinking about this in terms of the bathroom as a whole, incorporating a variety of tile sizes for visual interest. I suggest using larger tiles on the floor (hopefully this is an even surface), 12x12 or so. Then using 6x6 on the shower walls, and finally the 1x1 on the shower floor. The small tiles on the floor allow for easier accommodation of the sloped shower base, and becuase you'll need more grout, it will provide better traction. Using a darker grout to will help avoid having to clean it constantly. You can also use smaller tiles as a border or even inset soap dishes, etc. These and shower floors are the smallest areas, and so using the expensive small tiles in here will be cheaper than trying to do the entire shower walls in smaller tiles. Either way, you can't go wrong. Pick what you like - there is no harm done.

Small tiles give a lot of work, but you can mix them... on the other hand in small bathrooms, small tiles make the bathroom even smaller...

I have lived with both large and small tiles on the walls and floors of bathrooms. It is true that more grout lines with smaller tiles means more cleaning but sometimes that is ok. If your grout lines are sealed properly then they don't get dirty as easily. I usually worry more about the look I am trying to achieve. I have put together a bunch of pictures for bathroom tile ideas at http://www.icreatables.com/tile/bathroom-tile-ideas.html
I hope they help.