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krisbry

Master bathroom tiles - Help me Gardenweb/Houzzers!

7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

We chose this tile for our master bathroom, planning to use the large format field tile for the floor and walls and the mosaic for the shower floor.

https://www.unitedtile.com/products/HOME/PRODUCTS/PRODUCTS-MANUFACTURER/VALLELUNGA/VALLELUNGA-CALACATTA.aspx

Then we got a sample tile, however, and discovered it's quite slick when wet. While the mosaic should be fine for the shower, we want something less slippery for the main floors. Mosaic everywhere would likely be too busy and involve too many grout lines to be cleaned.

I've been looking for an alternative floor tile, and I've officially made myself crazy. I'm going in to the tile showroom again tomorrow, but I also wanted to see if anyone here had suggestions. Other tiles that might work? Change to a different calacatta look porcelain? Something else entirely.

To complicate things, we had planned to use the same tile for guest bathroom, as we like it better than any of our other alternatives. This could change, though.

Our vanities will be a mix of light white oak and white, counters Caesarstone Organic White, and faucets etc. will be polished nickel. We're generally trying to keep everything pretty streamlined without being boring/stark, hence the original choice to use the calacatta porcelain everywhere.

Help!

Comments (22)

  • 7 years ago

    P.S. just wanted to add...although I used this tile in my bathroom and on the shower wall, I did use a different (coordinating) brand of tile that I felt had more texture for the shower floor. It’s still a mosaic and not quite as good of a match as the same family but definitely more textured.

    Kristin S thanked ILoveRed
  • 7 years ago
    I love that tile and am using something similar for my remodel as well. I agree with ILoveRed - all large format tile is going to be somewhat slick when wet. Two things to consider - 1) I will assume you’ll have rugs where you stand and get out of the shower - so simply make sure you’re dry before walking around. I’ve had shiny tile for years in my bathroom and have never slipped, even with little kids, because I always have fluffy rugs. And 2) see if they offer a matte version of the tile. Typically I see that. It won’t be AS pretty but if you’re concerned than it might be worth looking into.
    Kristin S thanked K R
  • 7 years ago

    ILR - thanks for the info! What did you use for your shower floor? Are you happy with how the tile turned out?

  • 7 years ago

    I would use a 4" or 6" hex tile in a warm white for the floor just to add more interest with a different shape. I'm not a fan of every surface the same so that you feel like you're inside a stone box.

    Kristin S thanked User
  • 7 years ago

    Karen - we’ll have a curbless shower, which makes rugs outside the shower trickier. I’m actually headed to the tile showroom that carries it right now to see what options they might have for something with a bit of texture.

  • 7 years ago

    Speaking as an end user, I would NEVER put any kind of tiles on my floor that were in any way slick and which depended on my feet always being on other surfaces.


    I am currently in a rental while my condo is being remodeled and the bathroom has 12" tiles and any kind of moisture makes them slippery and dangerous.


    For my current remodel, I have opted for small tiles on both the shower floor and bathroom floor. Current grout - especially if color is chosen wisely - isn't as much of a cleaning nightmare. Also, for a relatively small amount of money, one can hire professionals to clean the grout - my building has granite tile and periodically we hire a firm to polish the granite and clean the granite and it looks great after 20 years or more.

    Kristin S thanked Helen
  • PRO
    7 years ago
    That looks exactly like the tile we’re using in our master bath of the new build. It’s does it have a shiny surface. We’ve used it in the floor, the Shower walls and it’s going up and on the tub deck. We used a small, textured dark gray octagon shaped tile for the shower floor. We aren’t in the house yet, so I don’t know what this will be like when wet, but it should be fine since it’s not shiny.
    Kristin S thanked Window Accents by Vanessa Downs
  • 7 years ago

    Kristin, what about just going with a smaller size so more grout lines, which would make the floor less slippery? It's the large format, larger expanse of slippery material that's the problem.

    Or do you want less grout for less grout cleaning : ) ?

    Kristin S thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I found a beautiful Calacatta look porcelain by Happy Floors that had more of a grip to it. I loved it but didn't use it because it was more than what I wanted to pay. It's hard to find though. I've attached a picture with my vanity door. It's called Calacatta Natural.

    Kristin S thanked kayca
  • 7 years ago

    I would try to find floor tile that is the same color gray as the veining in your other tiles to pull it all together (you could also do white but it sounds like you are concerned with cleaning/upkeep).

    Kristin S thanked kariyava
  • PRO
    7 years ago

    Buy a bath mat. NOT a bathroom rug - a bath mat. It gets hung up somewhere to dry after your bath/shower. Buy slippers to put on after drying your body and feet.

    I know - bath mat? Slippers? Who uses such things anymore other than old people! Well, in fact, a LOT of people still do and they keep water from being tracked all over the bathroom/hall/bedroom floors, they prevent slipping, and are just a better way to live.

    Yes, I also have a robe. A REAL robe, not a wrap thing - one that zips up the front. And my late husband had a robe as well.

    Somethings may not be as popular as they once were, but they sure are useful!

  • 7 years ago

    One of the reasons I chose this tile is the fact that it has warmer colors with less gray than so many of the marble look alikes. I really prefer warmer colors and this was one of the few that had some gray and the warmer colors as well. The shower floor tile almost has a rough texture and is very much on the warm side.

    heading out to my house. I will get pics.

    Love the tile that kayca posted.

    Kristin S thanked ILoveRed
  • PRO
    7 years ago
    This large tile is what we used in our master bath shower. It may not be the same thing that you’ve linked that you’re thinking about. I don’t know style name of mine. I’d have to go back and look through the builders receipts. I love our tile. It isn’t shiny! It has a ever so slight texture. We chose a different shower pan tile than the gray penny tile in this photo. I went with a dark gray textured octagon tile.
    Kristin S thanked Window Accents by Vanessa Downs
  • 7 years ago

    Thanks for the suggestions, all. I spent the morning at three different local tile showrooms, collecting samples. We'll see if anything works. It's been a challenge to find a solid that coordinates, as the colors of the calacatta look tile are hard to pin down. I may have found a warm white field tile that would work, now I just need to decide how I feel about a white field tile for the floor.

    Just like ILoveRed, I also liked this tile because it was a nice mix of warm and cool colors. The tile kayca posted is beautiful - I think I recognize it from another recommendation I got somewhere, now I just need to see if anyone carries it locally.

    We're trying to stay away from just using a smaller tile for a few reasons. It's a fairly large space, so I'm concerned a small tile might look busy and out of proportion. The house also leans more contemporary, so while I love the marble, we're looking to balance it's more traditional look with a larger more modern size. And finally, we really don't want to have to worry about having lots of grout to clean.

    I believe the Vallelunga is probably fine for some, and if it was already in a house I bought I would probably add rugs, use slippers, and live with it just fine. Since I'm starting from scatch, though, it seems like I ought to be able to find a solution that doesn't require all that.

  • 7 years ago

    Good luck with your project, I am also in the process of finding tile in similar colors and following along...

  • 7 years ago

    I spent the mornings today and yesterday at the tile showroom. In case anyone else is looking, I'm getting samples of the following:

    • Surface Art Venetian Reale Collection Timeless Stone Calacatta Vein Honed
    • Surface Art Di Pietra Calacatta Stone Satin Series
    • Tierra Sol Gani Marbel Matte Calatta
    • Tierra Sol Portobello Marmi Classico Series Calacatta Gold
    • American Olean Mirasol Bianco Carrara Floor
    • Florida Tile Ainslee Park Calacatta Gold
    • Daltile Florentine Carrara
    • Pental Marvel Calacatta Extra Matte
    • Z Collection Livingstone Gold

    I'm hoping one of them coordinates well with the Vallelunga Calacatta, as I'd still like to use that for the walls. If anyone has one of these, I'd love to hear what you think! And I'll try to remember to report back once I have them all.

  • 7 years ago

    I'm following! I have 2 of the above samples in my bathroom right now. The

    • American Olean Mirasol Bianco Carrara Floor
    • Daltile Florentine Carrara Floor porcelain and ceramic polished.

    I am about to pull my hair out also trying to coordinate the floor and wall. I tend to lean toward the cooler tones and I really love the Daltile Florentine polished. One thing I learned is that the polished and honed or unpolished of the same tile do not have the same tones in white.


    I posted this link earlier on one of my posts which I had asked a question of the design firm and they actually answered. It may be a possibility for you.


    The tile used here is :

    Classic 2.0 Calcatta Oro 12x24 Honed Porcelain

    On the counter tops we used :

    Calacatta quartzite extra honed.


    https://www.houzz.com/photos/white-and-elegant-bathroom-transitional-bathroom-richmond-phvw-vp~124041246

  • 7 years ago

    Following! I'm going for a similar look in my master bath. Leaning towards Daltile Florentine Carrara (matte on floor and polished on shower walls). LOVE the polished wall tile (subtle veining) but floor tile is not as bright of a white and looks more fake. I am doing chrome faucets, solid white quartz countertops, and wood-tone vanities. Please keep us posted.

  • 7 years ago

    Jaclyn - I'm learning toward the Daltile for my guest bathroom. I agree the matte isn't as realistic for the floors, but it coordinates well with the white I want to use for the shower walls, as well as with the Ikea white porcelain counter/sink material. I'm hoping to find something that's a bit better match to the Vallelunga for the master, though.

    While the Daltile is called carrara, I found that it had more of a calacatta look, too.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    You know I’m really irritated....maybe at myself.

    Just looked up my DCOF test results on my tile as mentioned above and it meets the minimum 0.42 So is my tile floor an accident waiting to happen as mentioned by Chispa? Maybe.

    my tile is laid and bathroom is done. I knew nothing about this number and wouldn’t you think that all of the tile experts that are involved in planning and selling my tile to me would have mentioned this number at some point in the planning of my bathroom?

    if I had it to do again I would pick a different floor tile and pay close attention to this number.

    glad you guys have the opportunity to plan better than I did.

  • 7 years ago

    ILR - I'm sure you'll be fine, just need to be a little cautious (never a bad thing when tile and water are involved). I've been shocked at how little my designer knew about or paid attention to the actual technical specs of the tile. She recommended some others for the guest shower, and thankfully Sophie flagged that they got a whopping 0 for abrasion resistance, and another poster said they had used the same tile and it had looked worn just from water hitting it.

    As for what we'll choose, it's a work in progress. About half my samples are in and some are too slippery, but the Florida Tile is a possibility - I need to dump some water on it to really know.

    I also discovered tonight that my husband has apparently not been paying attention to the plans (despite the fact that he's been giving opinions!) for the past six months. He's afraid the marble-look will be too much on both the floor and walls, so now we're trying to decide whether to do marble-look floors and an off-white subway tile for the walls, or marble-look floors with an off-white hex tile for the floors.