It is not a must do. It is a luxury however. You will never have to repaint the area again. FYI if you are installing the yourself make sure to use the proper thin set so the tiles don't fall on your head. Prospec makes a nice product called #525 Lite that is perfect for the job.

I agree it's not necessary.

When we redid our shower, we tiled the ceiling. The installer took simple white tiles and tiled the ceiling with the tiles on the diagonal. While we like the look, more importantly, the function is fabulous. The ceiling just wipes clean after every shower, no more water spots, mold forming or peeling. It just feels cleaner and fresher - more spa like. We'll never have to paint that shower ceiling ever again. Worth every penney!

Hi missangel99, I agree with the other comments, and in answer to your question - the ceiling should be tiled when 1. It is low (less than 8ft), 2. When its part of a steam shower (which requires far more extensive waterproofing too) and 3. When its small (36" square or less) and has 3 walls and a single door.

These are all situations where moisture can build up quickly in the shower and having a tiled ceiling will offset the maintenance issues. They all should also have a good exhaust fan located *inside* the shower too.

Steve

Thanks BeautifulRemodel.com my shower will have three walls and a single door. Not sure of the square footage yet. Think I'll have the ceiling tiled to keep maintenance to a minimum. Thanks for all the comments.

I've lived in houses of my own design with both semi gloss/drywall shower ceilings and tile ceilings. Speaking from experience, for a shower that will get everyday use, I believe it is essential to tile the ceiling for the reasons others have noted above.

That said, having lived with fully tiled showers in my last two houses, I've decided that in my next one we will do stone (probably marble) slabs for at the walls and shower bench to avoid the ongoing problem of grout joints collecting muck. I would still do tile on the floor to create necessary slope, and the ceiling could go either tile or slab. I'm also going to see what I can do to configure the shower to avoid a glass door, as that is yet another maintenance headache....

We're building and ours will be tiled. I want floor to ceiling glass so no cold air escapes which almost makes it like a steam shower. Although it is a 9 ft. ceiling, i am still tiling and taking the door up all the way.

Sounds good beachinmom....although you say you will not be providing steam, you may want to consider providing a slight slope to the shower ceiling as is recommended for steam showers.

I agree tiled ceiling it is. We have always tiled the ceilings until just recently when the Tile installer said we didn't need to. I have always loved the ease of tiling the ceiling, just thought it might be outdated to tile it again.

great...glad to be of help. Please post pics post project!

Looks horrible in photos and hurts resale if the photos look bad. Must be a huge shower to look good otherwise,

the shower appears cavelike. Do not recommend, I have seen two condos not sell because the photos look bad. See image attached.

I don't think it's the ceiling tile so much as the thick frame of the shower door, choice of yellowish tile and dirty looking grout.

The post is still relevant today, comes up in searches and hasn't been archived so comments can't be made. Perhaps you should suggest it to Houzz.

if I tile the ceiling, I can match up the grout lines on the back walls but not the two sides, I/m using 4'' by 12'' tiles

is this ok, any suggestions

I've seen people line it up on the sides at times, and with the back wall instead at others. I think it all depends on where your shower is in relation to your main point of view in the bathroom. For example, if your shower was at the very end of the room and you could see the whole back wall when walking into the room - I would line up the back wall and ceiling. If your shower is on your side when walking in, it may make more sense to line it up with the sides instead. Keep in mind your mirror though. I'd make sure it looks good when looking in the mirror since that's where much of the time is spent.

http://houzz.com/sr/m=7/u=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91enouY29tL3Bob3Rvcy9zaG93ZXItYXQtbWFzdGVyLWJhdGgtYmVhY2gtc3R5bGUtYmF0aHJvb20tZGVudmVyLXBodnctdnB+MTg3MzIxNDk=

Sorry link didn't work as intended.

I’m trying to decide whether to tile my ceiling over my shower. My contractor says yes, I’m not sure I like the look. Can you post pics with tiled ceilings that look good? Just as a note- the ceiling isn’t so high and we do tend to get a lot of moisture... fan will be installed though.

We are redoing ours- the shower walls and ceilings will be in polished calacatta reale tile 24 by 48- It's beautiful so far.