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What tile in the shower with slate floor?

16 years ago

Hi all. I want to do a slate floor in one of my bathrooms, however I am stumped at what to do for tile in the shower. I considered an oversized matte ceramic subway, or rectangular shape (Dado beautyline 5 x13)in a brick pattern. I am putting a white console sink in the bath and am having second thoughts that maybe there will be too much white with the shower tile being the same as the sink. I really want the slate to be the feature of the room. The white tiles cost almost as much as the slate, which I find crazy!! I haven' seen too many pics of bathrooms with slate period too help me out either. Most have slate throughout the whole bath, which I like, but there is no window in my guest bathroom and have heard of maintenance issues with slate in the shower. Any suggestions or alternatives for the shower tile? Appreciate any comments or help. Thanks!

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Comments (5)

susi_so_calif
16 years ago
I don't have any photos I can post, but we've had two showers in our last 2 houses tiled entirely with slate with no problems at all. Loved the way it looks. Our slate guy said to use liquid soap, or glycerine bar soap, and we wouldn't have problems with soap residue on the tiles. We took his advice and it was correct - no problems with soap scum. Good luck!
lisaworrell1234
8 years ago
Swb921,. I am in the process of designing the abberley lane house. We plan to build next year. I read comments from you regarding your house and would really appreciate it if I could see pictures of your house for ideas. We live in Virginia but haven't been able to see a model of this hone. Really would appreciate it.
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tile guy just told me not to use porcelain 'slate' in shower...
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Sounds to me like tile guy's wife is an orthopedic surgeon, and he's trying to drum up business-- shiney tile is usually too slick to be safe on the floor of a shower. My sister has a glossy 6 inch tile on the floor of her guest bath [though not in the shower, thank heavens] and you have to be very, very careful in there: any water at all makes it slick enough to skate on. That would be my concern with 12 and 6 inch pinwheel on the floor-- too little grip. I'd either saw it down, smash it with a hammer and do a random mosaic, or get a different tile.
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I don't have a current pic but I have slate tiles in entry going down hall to laundry, guest bath and to garage door. The bath has an insert that looks like white subway but is actually fiberglass or whatever. But it looks like white tile. I have white crown molding in room. It looks very nice and actually I never even considered what the floor would look like with it because the "tile" in shower is white and neutral. I think your floor would look great with white or even an ivory tile. But if your baseboards and trim are white I would stick with white. Then you can use whatever color to accessorize the room or pain the walls.
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tile guy just told me not to use porcelain 'slate' in shower...
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I have the textured porcelain look on my shower walls for the last 8 months. I am faithful to drying out that shower every time it is used and running the fan. I have not had a problem what so ever and it is a breeze to clean...Just my two cents...
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What shower tile (and possibly sink backsplash) with slate floors?
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Comments (6)
There are still some old names around :) I know what you mean about the grout in the shower. I think its important to not use white grout too. We are redoing our masterbath-finally- and we are going with 8x20 glossy(not matte) white plank tiles. Matte seems to be the more popular choice, but I have soft water and we never have any spotting, and I want the reflective quality. What size tiles are in the floor, if the floor tile is 12x24 in the slate I would do a different size in the shower or I think it will look off.
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PRO
Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
8 years ago
The general feeling in the industry is that slate really shouldn't be used in a shower because of the absorbency of the stone. I've used this slate in two showers now (the latest one being just ALMOST finished this morning). For some reason I can't seem to upload pics to the thread from my hard drive, so as soon as I finish uploading them to my account, I'll come back and post them from both projects. In fact, the project I'm working on right now-- the homeowner is actually a member here. :-)
PRO
Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
8 years ago
Here we go. This is all Indian slate, in both projects.
Lighthouse Lane · More Info

Lighthouse Lane · More Info

Lighthouse Lane · More Info
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Creative Ceramic & Marble/ Bill Vincent
8 years ago
This is the one I've been working on. I'm still waiting for the stone pieces for the curb and niche. Other than that, though, it's finished.
John and Wendy · More Info

John and Wendy · More Info

John and Wendy · More Info

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