robind THANKS! I have seen slate, but not cut like that...

starag I don't live in Hawaii so where can I find or purachase Lava rocks . Great Design

bepsf Some folks like slate and pebble tile - but I find that those materials still aren't as easy to clean as a nice glossy ceramic tile.

pldon I've had walls of solid lava. Such as behind woodstoves, etc. I hate it. It's like having a black hole in the room which sucks all the light into it. In the last house we had lava rock, I took cement patch, colored it with sandstone colors, adding mica bits here and there. I used some rocks I'd brought from Bryce Nat'l. Park to use as a mode for the markings and breakage patterns.

By using trowels, paint brushes, sponges and acrylic paint along with the cement coloring, I turned the wall into some very believable sandstone--a huge improvement. I then took an acrylic wash and turned the grout from gray to tan.

After having lived with it, I would never use lava rock for anything but as retaining walls in the garden. Period. But that's just me.
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In a shower I would never install a rough surface; I don't want to give mold ANY place to grow...and where I live, it will.

motherbear Looks like Duravit's Happy D tub.