I have 16x16 floor tiles and my baseboards are 4x16 cuts with the grout lines matched up. Since mine are cut tiles (travertine, so could have been finished off) I chose to top it with a pencil rail. That is a thought for your baseboard cut tiles if there is one to match/corridinate if your tile doesn't have a bullnose.

Baseboard is on wallboard only. Where I have tiled wall, I have no baseboard

Another thing I did, FWIW, is I had the toe kick to my cabinets tiled. I belive they are 3x3 cuts.

Sanitary cove base? Are those used in high end homes? Serious question. That makes me think of a cheap rental apartment.

^^^Or gas station bathrooms

Hahaha

Are any walls tiled like in enduring's or zoo's examples. If not I think your plan is more builder grade in my area vs what LWO suggests. If some walls are tiled than the tile base board works nicely like in enduring's and zoo's but if not it is not a modern look I see in my upscale neighborhood...

this is an example of a fixer up 1990 home in my area

vs

The second is what is done in upscale new or remodeled homes with no tile walls in the New York City suburbs and is a cleaner look with drywall walls.

I like that. Doesn't look like what I know a sanitary cove base to be. What is that called? Do you have a link to a product page?

Not your ordinary gas station bathroom. Clean and modern and easy to keep clean and modern.

I like what roarah posted but that base doesn't look like it sits on top of the tile. Almost looks like it would have to be installed before the tile and then have the tile installed right up against the base to get no gaps between the tile and a base that thin.

Can't say I love the last photo lwo posted. Looks very commercial to me. And that actually looks like a tile base to me.

Most likely a pvc simple molding, could also be true wood baseboard or solid surface too in my second picture, LWO is a sanitary cove base. My GC used PVC molding cut to match the rest of my baseboards used throughout the house. Tile was laid first baseboards added last...just like when you lay a wood floor in a regular room.

If that's PVC then isn't it might get scratched and scuffed and not age so well. Maybe even discolor on its own. Right? And if any of that happens you can't really fix PVC.

Which is why I suggested a Corian shadow molding.

Well, I will counter its maintance with the fact that grout lines will darken more on the floor than at wall base and tiles can crack... My PVC molding was painted to match the real wood trim in the room. It can easily be repainted and it is as easy to remove as wood baseboards which is a lot easier than removing grout or broken tiles. I think the maintance is ten times easier with PVC than a tile baseboard , my house has cove tiles in two other baths and the PVC is by far my favorite for looks and maintance....

ETA, if I did not have a 90 year old house I would have loved to use a corian shadow molding for ease and looks.

I'm a huge road trip chick LOW and I have not seen that nice of a gas station bathroom anywhere, even Buck-ees. Is that from a Hotel? Images online show solid black tiles rather than the patterned one.

Is this for the shower or the bathroom per se? And what's the wall gong to be?

This is for the bathroom, everywhere but the shower. The walls are drywall.

What is the wall tile in the shower?

It must be regional because depending on various factors tile base or stone base to coordinate with the floor or wall tile is an upgrade to wood or PVC baseboard, here, but many bathrooms still get a wainscot of tile all around rather than drywall down to the floor. I've seen it coordinate with the floor tile or with the wall tile depending.

Pal, wainscoting style is still very prominent here as well. But most new builds or recently remodeled baths now have no tiled walls with a wood looking base instead of tile meeting walls. It might have something to do with the popularity of wood like tiles... Here are today's newly built or remodel baths in today's first ten greenwhich ct listings. Homes were mostly 6 to 7 million range with the cheapest being 2 million. http://www.zillow.com/greenwich-ct/

The wall tile in the shower of this bathroom is colored glass. But whatever I decide to do for the base in this bathroom I will probably do in the others as well.

The more I think about this I'm not so sure I want a PVC baseboard. It looks fancy in the picture above but in person I think it's going to look like plastic. And plastic says "cheap". Also, isn't there a possibility of the top edge warping over time so it's not perfectly straight?

I've just seen so many cheap looking plastic baseboards (as someone said gas station). Maybe I need to see a high end PVC base (if there is such a thing) in person to get over the idea that it cheapens the house. If it's all the same as what you see in public restrooms and such I don't see myself using it.

I used Fusion Pro grout in the bathrooms so I won't have to worry about the grout changing color. I would not use a pure white grout with such big lines if I was going to worry about the color changing. I'm also not worried about the tile cracking on the base, porcelain tile is pretty strong, I can't imagine doing anything to the baseboard that would result in breakage.

Can you buy premade Corian baseboards? I have a feeling that would have to be fabricated which would be really expensive. And in any case incorporating a shadow line will be very expensive. It would look great but not in the budget.

roarah - Is there any chance that photo you posted above with the PVC base is a rendering rather than an actual photo?

Usc, the photo above I have had in my design files for over a year. I will try to google search it later. It might very well be as Sophie is suggesting. Cut the bottom of the drywall out and use a solid surface material for a flusher shadow molding efect.. It would be a very nice look in a modern leaning bath...

roarah, I think your are right, in that style of bathroom in a large new build in the city or the suburbs, you would see what you have pictured here, as well. But with the ones with marble floors you might also be likely to see marble base shaped like a baseboard. It really depends upon the style, size and location of the house. In an urban house where the entire bathroom might be the size of the toilet enclosures or showers above, there tends to be more tile because the clearances are minimal, and tile is durable. No one wants to have to lie down next to the toilet to repaint wood baseboards--very awkward.

Pal, it is like the dusting comments in jim's layered posts, the people in the upscale market that USC questioned LWO about do not paint their baseboards or clean around their toilet ;) so material and upkeep are moot in that price point, not mine though.

Honestly my molding USC, looks just like its neighboring wood. You could not tell a difference without sanding it.... And the corian would be very nice much higher end in your bath than your plan I believe....do not shut it out just cause Sophie recommended it... It is best both visually and functionally.

I like the idea of Corian for the baseboards but if that has to be fabricated that's way more than I want to spend on baseboards. There is a difference between high end budget and unlimited budget. I feel like Corian falls into the latter category.

If I did something like this it would be for my powder room or master bath which are more upscale than this pool/gym bathroom. My options here are the same tile as the floor, tile to match the wall or PVC. Corian base would look great but I'm afraid slapping white tile baseboards on there would look like I ran out of tile or something. Nothing else is white.

As I mentioned earlier, this bathroom has a sports theme. I played around with the idea of green baseboards around the brown floor to symbolize a grass field. But I was afraid it would seem random. What do you guys think of that?

I have PVC in my basement bathroom where the door casing covers the tile edge next to the shower. It painted just like wood. That bathroom has old school built up cove base in 2x2 tile on the floor and vertical coved corners up the shower walls. Commercial looking but no hard corners anywhere and super easy to clean.

I like the idea of the pvc, painted to match the walls.

Azek never needs painting. It's a bright white, and you just use a scrap to match the rest of the trim paint to it.

Buy the PVC and paint it the same color as whatever you paint the wall. It will look good because it won't compete with the floor and only you will know it's PVC. If you run the tile around the baseboard, it's going to feel like you made a lid for the floor and it's going to compete with your floor.

I am usually really good at finding things online but I can't, for the life of me, find PVC base anywhere. I've seen some vinyl and rubber bases but not PVC. Can anyone point me to some products?

What about using a low profile bullnose like this 2x12 tile - https://www.flooranddecor.com/finishing-pieces-tile/grand-calacata-wall-ceramic-floor-bullnose-914201350.html

Seems like that would be a nice minimalist way to get a base. The product in the link is calacata so I couldn't use that, but the photo looks solid white. I would use something that's solid white to match the walla. And preferably matte.

Thoughts on going that route?

Go to an actual lumber yard. Solid PVC trim is extremely common. It is often sold as exterior trim, because it will not rot. Ex-Cel, Versatec, and Azek are some easily found brands.

I used rings end lumber for they will custom make PVC moulding to order, they also use corian too for a more expensive option. The turn around was a few weeks for my mouldings I believe but they matched the trim in the rest of my home perfectly. This might be your best option for a simple profile in a modern design. http://www.ringsend.com/products/millwork/custom-millwork/

Are you using a GC? They should know where to look in your area for these options.

I also buy through Rings End.

PVC trim, there's good quality and there's not so good quality. Don't be afraid to use good quality PVC in a high-end installation. I'll usually built up profiles out of stock pieces, just like with wood. A stock 1-by PVC board, sometimes plain, sometimes with a detail I'll mill into it myself, tricked out with one or more pieces of cap and/or shoe molding to get a certain look.

PVC can be painted. It'll look just like wood, but if subjected to a flood it will perform better than wood.

If you're terribly concerned about a flood, consider water-sensing shut-off valves. With proper planning they can be inconspicuous. Valves that shut off at the fixture can protect more than ones that shut off the house's main water supply.

Home Depot

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Yes, I have a GC. But hiring this guy was a huge mistake. Doesn't know anything about modern materials or techniques. It seems like every time I mention something I want to do, he's never heard of it and never done it. He's absolutely useless on stuff like this.

I want something like the baseboard in the modern bathroom photo (which I believe is a rendering) that roarah posted. I hope I don't have to get something so plain & simple custom made. Having to wait several weeks could be a deal breaker.

Would something like this give me the look in the photo/rendering? https://www.lowes.com/pd/EverTrue-PVC-Board-Actual-0-312-in-x-5-812-in-x-8-ft/3340768

I'm not terribly worried about a serious flood in the bathroom but it could happen, or a toilet could overflow, etc. You just never know so I won't want MDF baseboards or no baseboards, as I am doing in other parts of the house.

Not sure why you think my pic is a rendering? It was most likely done like Sophie suggests. Cut the last few inches of existing drywall, use rabbet cuts in your moulding choice and the moulding would lay flusher to the wall as shadow moulding as is seen in that picture you like.

your lowes moulding applied regularly will give you a more traditional baseboard application but the flat board with no millwork added is more of a modern look so it would be a good compromise but the picture you like is a flush reveal and even more of a modern look and integration. Here is an article in houzz about different ways to treat modern baseboards or not using one at all. [https://www.houzz.com/magazine/design-workshop-the-modern-wall-base-4-ways-stsetivw-vs~33959288[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/design-workshop-the-modern-wall-base-4-ways-stsetivw-vs~33959288)

ETA if you go with the lowes baseboard the height is a few inches higher than the inspiration picture so cutting it lower would give you a closer finished look like the picture. PVC can be cut just like wood mouldings...

I think you are confusing vinyl cove base with pvc molding (which looks just like wood) and also with sanitary cove base (which is tile).

roarah - There is tons of sunlight flooding the bathroom but there are no windows. Also the back-right corner of the floor does not line up with the top-right corner of the ceiling. Maybe the architect of this bathroom was M.C. Escher ;-) Plus, who would put that little wooden table in a shower, with a candle and vase on top. Nobody would stage that. I don't think.

catbuilder - At first I was definitely confusing those things. I am very much learning as I go along.

It sounds like the best way to get this minimalist look without creating a new side project is to get the Lowe's PVC and paint it the same color as the wall. It is 5/16 which isn't as flush as the photo/rendering but is lower profile than most baseboard options.

This trim is nearly 6" high which is more than I would like. How easy are these to cut cleanly? And do you have to do anything special in corners or adjoining segments? Or are they installed same as wood baseboards?

Roarha, great link to the baseboard topic.

Cuts are easy peasy. New PVC moldings function, cut and look just like wood. If your contractor can cut wood base to size they can cut the PVC just the same...

here are my traditionally based PVC mouldings. This style will not work in your space but I wanted to show how much like wood it looks. You would skip the top details and bottom shoe cap for a modern look... I also by the way have a "wood" stool in my real picture of my shower ;)

So I went to Lowe's and got a piece of the PVC board I linked to above. But I also saw two other things of interest. They have a PVC board that is even thinner (probably 1/4 or 3/16) which I like but this one is only about 2" high. That's too short, right?

They also have these 8'x4' sheets of fiberglass. The product page shows the texture side but the other side is smooth. These things are pretty thin, like the thickness of a credit card. I don't know if fiberglass can be cleanly cut into strips and painted like PVC though. If so it will probably give me the same look in roarah's pic. Anyone have any idea if that would work?

FRP IS what they put in gas station bathrooms. And it chips like heck when you cut it with the wrong tool. The back side is not meant to be exposed, which is why it isn't glossy. It will attract and hold dirt.

Here is what the low profile trim looks like as a baseboard. I think I dig it. What do you guys think?

From what everyone has been saying the PVC trims can be cut and painted just like wood. What about attaching them? Can finish nails be used?

Thanks so much for the installation advice!

Think this one looks OK or am I on the verge of another big mistake?

Some of you have been so generous with your help whenever I have questions. I wish you were in L.A. so I could buy you a drink and invite you to the housewrecking party when this nightmare is finally over! ;-)

I like the look! Clean and modern...good luck

I think it's the perfect choice for your room.

I wish you were in L.A. so I could buy you a drink and invite you to the housewrecking party when this nightmare is finally over! ;-)

Actually my daughter lives in LA, so I'll be sure to ring you for that drink when I go to visit her. ;)

It looks great: Simple and clean.

ACK! Sorry to revive this but as I was buying the trim above, I noticed another PVC trim that I liked. The first Lowe's didn't have this one. Some photos are below but it's hard to see the curved profile of it in a photo because it's all white. In fact, it looks like a quarter round in the first two photos which is the opposite of what this is. This size is 3/4" high and 3/4" thick, vs the previous one that is 1/4" thick and 1.5" high.

I think this one also looks simple and clean and I like that it's half as high as the previous one but I'm afraid this profile connotes something that is commercial or cheap rather than modern and high end. Is that the effect this has?

Which do you guys like better?

Product image from Lowe's website:

IMO the overall smaller piece seems more contemporary and streamlined.

I'm liking this last one more and more. However, it is only 0.75" high so I wonder if it provides enough protection to the drywall in case of toilet overflows and such.

Will this do or am I better off with the previous one?

I think if you have the toilet overflowing to the point of you having that much water you have big problems anyway. My guess is a caulked gap still might let some water in at some point (eg, where the grout is porous and lets water through) regardless of how high the protective base molding is.

God point, I'd have a major disaster if the water was 3/4" deep. It's probably not even possible because the water would seep under the door before it could rise.

A potential issue is where the base and door casing meet. My door casing is 10/16" thick so this base is 1/8" thicker. However, only the very tip protrudes so I doubt it will be noticeable even with a dark floor. I hope.