Rundown on our bathroom tiles

Our tiles come in all shapes and sizes and in recent years have increased in size dramatically.

In the 1980's and 90's the choice of bathroom tiles in terms of design and size was extremely limited with many only available in 104x104 and 152x152mm

Colours were limited to plain finish with the occasional marble design.

Bathroom tiles are usually suitable for very light to moderate traffic and generally have a relatively high water absorption rating.

Common sizes for bathroom tiles currently are 250 x 400, 300 x 600, 316 x 447, with many larger sizes available such as; 1000x500 & 900 x 300

The larger the size of tile the larger it can make a bathroom look because there are fewer grout joints however you will have more waste and more cutting but most people will compromise on this for the finished look.

Bathroom tile colours are available in a mass of different shades. At present and for the past few years the beige stone affect look has been the most prominent due to the neutral "appeal to everyone" status.

Recently a shift towards panels or bands of vivid colours surrounded by white or cream has been popular. A good example of this effect is with the Millenium 3000 Range.

Matt and gloss finish bathroom tiles are of equal popularity, neither having any advantage. The shift towards manufacturers producing most of their range in porcelain as apposed to traditional ceramic has seen many consumers using the same tile on the floor and the wall.

Before this, there was normally a co-ordinating floor tile to the wall tile that rarely matched perfectly as the glaze of the floor tile is always slightly different to a ceramic wall tile.

Other tile trends in bathroom tiles and floor tiles are the introduction rectified edges. This is a machine sawn edge that gives a near perfect right angle as apposed to a traditional edge that is slightly cushioned or bevelled.

The advantage of this type of bathroom or floor tile is that tiles can be spaced closer together giving a more contemporary modern look.

The disadvantage of a rectified bathroom tile or rectified floor tile is that walls and floors need to be very flat otherwise adjacent tiles can look higher than others.

In the last few months some tile manufacturers have started to use digital printing on bathroom tiles and floor tiles.

This involves taking lots of digital images of for example a natural slate tile and reproducing it onto the face of the tile giving the affect of the real slate tile but with the benefits of a maintenance free porcelain or ceramic tile.

Some ranges have over 10 different patterns so when mixed it is very difficult to notice any repetition.

Examples of Bathroom Tiles

• Futura
• Elements
• Brooklyn Beige
• Tebas