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Glass tile mosaics on bathroom floor?

9 years ago

I am all over the place on what tile I want for my teeny master bath remodel. I've seen pics on houzz of baths where they used glass mosaics on the bath and shower floor. The bathroom is tiny....4x8 so I thought having the same tile go straight through into the shower might help make the space look more uniform. Can anyone tell me about the reality of having a glass mosaic floor?

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Comments (7)

sofla
9 years ago
I saw a pic on houzz that was glass penny rounds. gorgeous and glimmery. I guess w the grout it would not be slippery.
enduring
9 years ago
Floor tiles need to be stronger, more durable, and provide traction when wet, when compared to tiles that can go on walls. I would look at the rating of the glass you are looking at. I've linked a site that explains the durability to some extent. The strength factor is not addressed in this link. Another concern is the slipperiness factor. There is a code for that too called the C.O.E. and here is some text I too off of the Build Direct web page:

Coefficient of Friction: Wet/Dry
The skid resistance scale is used to determine the degree of slippage on a tiled surface. While assessing different tile surfaces, wet and dry conditions along with the speed of the subject are monitored. Also, the required force to move that subject and the angle of the tiled place are considered too. The Ceramic Tile Institute identifies tile in the following three categories:

Slip Resistant: Coefficient of friction is 0.60 or greater (wet). Meets or exceeds general safety and health regulations, ADA and OSHA requirements.

Conditionally Slip Resistant: Coefficient of friction is 0.50 to 0.59 (wet). Meets or exceed general safety and health regulations and OSHA requirements.

Questionable: Coefficient of friction less than 0.50

One important fact is that the more textured a tile is, the less slippery it is. And that's why, polished or highly polished tiles are not recommended for high traffic areas or for residential sites with children and the elderly. Also, as a rule the greater the anti-slip finish on the tile, the harder it is to keep clean.

I doubt if glass can meet the strength, C.O.E. and durability factors. But I am only assuming.

Here is a link that might be useful: floorelf's durability explaination
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It should be a no shoe environment, as heels or bits of gravel caught in the soles can chip the glass and make sharp edges. There are specialty glass tiles that have a textured surface that are designed for a bath area, because glass is slippery. If you use the small 3/4" size, that may not be necessary, but you also need to make sure that you use a sanded grout for traction. That can scratch the surface of the glass slightly, and that can hold a bit more dirt than installations with unsanded grout. If you have family members who will be using the bath who are mobility challenged, you may want to be sure that you only use it in some type of decorative "stripes" and combine it with a regular tile with good traction, plus prep the walls to install grab bars now or later.
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Dottie - I could not have done this without an educated designer - it's not just about the design choices although I would never have come up with design choices as my brain isn't hardwired in those kinds of visually imaginative ways. I can appreciate things but I don't know how to pull them together and I wouldn't have the ability to figure out where to even start in terms of the sea of vendors. I am good about researching appliances and functions but get lost in the sea of visual possibilities :-) And I can't even imagine dealing with codes and such since Los Angeles is code crazy - I wanted to move some floor electrical outlets up a bit from the floor as I found it difficult to reach them when I had some hip issues so I was thinking about for the future - I was told that if I move a plug, the whole thing has to be rewired back to the panel box. And the darn kitchen sink has to be approved by the UL LOL - who would think a kitchen sink could be dangerous.
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Imagine walking over broken glass while in the shower....now imagine you paid good money for such an experience. Glass is not acceptable on a floor. The tiles you show are backsplash/decorative tile....It would take a tile specializing in GLASS tile (there is special thinset/colour used behind glass; special tools to cut them; special grout to finish them). Before you purchase anything expensive, please show photos of the water proofing and the 'water test' for the shower pan. Once that's done, you can spend more money on the pretty stuff. As L_W_O points out, the water proofing has yet to be done.
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remodelfla
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for all the valuable info enduring. I've been looking at the PEI ratings but not so much the other so that's helpful. I need to find more info on specific glass tiles I guess
emily_mb
9 years ago
I have the small glass mosaic on the shower floors. No problem with traction because there is enough grout. I small square looks a little cracked because the shower head fell on it. The crack doesn't run all the way to the top surface. Other times the shower head has fallen and it hasn't cracked a tile.
enduring
9 years ago
Hey Remodelfla, aren't your in FL? A thread that I just found on the JB forum contains info from a poster Ceramictec who is from FL. He has a link to some glass tiles. One that he shows is a glass fused to a porcelain base I think. I can't link the John bridge site because GW blocks it. But the title of the thread is "Thassos Glass Floor Tile Installation"
remodelfla
Original Author
9 years ago
I just read through the threads on John bridge. Interesting read. I'm talking about glass mosaic tile though...not a larger format tile
remodelfla
Original Author
9 years ago
Anyone else or anyone have some real life pics?

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