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Slate mosaic on shower floor?

6 years ago

I have my heart set on a slate mosaic for my shower floor. Merola Tile, Crag Spiral Multi Sunset Slate
Mosaic Tile.

According to the specs, it’s appropriate as a shower floor, but
as slate, is it practical? The specs
indicate:

Grade 1, first-quality stone tile
P.E.I. Rating IV
Water absorption of less than 0.5%

I’m very worried about maintenance and cleaning. When I asked Merola about cleaning, they
said, “We always recommend cleaning these products without using any harsh
chemicals, including bathroom cleaners. A safe option is a mild detergent and
warm water or a natural stone cleaner.”
Is that enough for cleaning off the gunk that sometimes shows up in a
shower?

There is no mention of sealing in the specs. Would this type of slate floor usually need
to be sealed?

Thanks so much for any input.

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Comments (2)

MongoCT
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
"According to the specs, it’s appropriate as a shower floor, but
as slate, is it practical?"

A high quality tight-grained slate will perform marvelously in a shower. I've written this before, but I live in New England and have a high quality slate as the waterline tile in my swimming pool. It still looks great.

Is what you chose practical? I'd say no. It has a rough texture. It isn't uniform in height/thickness. It's a mosaic.

Those three properties can result in a shower floor that will slow the flow of water towards the shower drain.

Shower floors clean themselves when water flows across the floor towards the drain. With that mosaic floor, the floor texture will hold water. The bulk of the water will indeed flow down the drain, but there will be residual water held in the texture of the floor and in some of the grout lines. That'll slowly dry via evaporation leaving soap and shampoo residue behind.

Unless you were devoted to washing down the floor after each shower? I'd recommend not using it. But if you were to use it, I'd recommend increasing the pitch of the shower floor to 1/2" per foot to facilitate drainage. It would be a good opportunity to use a non-porous grout. And you'd want the grout even with the tops of the stones as much as possible, you would not want the grout joints raked. I just described a somewhat difficult and meticulous installation.

"I’m very worried about maintenance and cleaning."

And rightly so.

Unless you're committed to rinsing down the floor after showering, I'd suggest you look towards slate-looking ceramics for the shower floor. Even with a slightly textured surface, 2" to 4" faux-slate tiles on the floor will be much less of a maintenance hassle than the natural stone mosaic you referenced.

Try to incorporate your stone on the walls, perhaps as a deco liner, a framed mosaic inset, a border, or within a niche for example.

It's hard for me to not recommend slate because it's one of my favorite stones. I think slate can work well in a shower, just not that slate. Simply my opinion.

Good luck with your shower.
gardenburgher
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks so much. I appreciate your insight.
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It looks similar to the stuff I have a picture of below, the stuff below is described as slate and marble, which is similar to what your material is described as. Slate and/or marble mosaic on a shower floor? Yes, you could use it...but honestly, there are some really nice looking porcelain faux-slates out there these days. I'd give those a good look before you commit to a somewhat soft, somewhat porous material in a shower floor. I'd want to make sure that the slate is very tight-grained as well. And lastly, I'd really like to see something like that installed over Kerdi or another membrane to minimize water penetration into the substrate. I love natural stone. But I only like it in a shower. A potentially soft/porous natural stone in a wet area? Now I'm only luke-warm. It can be done, but know there is a downside. Mongo
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