Tile Manufacturer:

Florida Tile, Inc.

Tile Manufacturer:

Florida Tile, Inc.

Due to the very high amount of moisture, only certain tiles can work in the shower.  Couple that with the need for skid resistance (for the shower floor pan) and you’ve got a number of factors to satisfy before you can find the right type of shower tile.

Best Shower Tile Material

For showers, you’re looking for any type of glazed ceramic or porcelain tile.  “Vitreous” means that water absorbs into the surface of the tile very relucatantly–if at all.  So, with truly glazed, vitreous tile, the surface is completely waterproof, and the grout seams are the only potentially non-vitreous area you will need to worry about.  Not to worry, though, grout lines can be sealed.

What About Slate For the Shower Floor?

Slate looks great, and can be used to some degree on shower walls.  But slate and other non-vitreous natural stones will need to be sealed.  Never use these materials for shower floor pans.

But if you’re dead-set on slate in your shower, use tile that looks like slate.  These are regular waterproof porcelain or ceramic tiles that tile manufacturers have mimicked to look just like slate.

The Best Size of Shower Floor Tile

In addition to the composition noted above, shower floor tile works best in smaller sizes.

• Large Tiles – Large tiles such as 12″x12″ or even larger (16″x16″) are the absolute worst for shower floor tile.  They are slippery and, to put it frankly, they look weird on shower pans.  That’s because you will only be able to fit 4-8 of these large tiles on the shower pan, and this causes the eye to note the grid pattern.  Not only that, this necessitates lots of cutting of tiles.
• Medium Tiles - Medium tiles such as 4″x4″ or 6″x8″ can be used.  As noted above, the smaller the better.  But the best of all are…
• Mosaic Tiles – Mosaic tiles are excellent on shower floors for two reasons.  First, they create lots of grouted seams, which provide great slip resistance under your bare feet.  Second, these smaller tiles allow you to better form the tiles to the slope in the shower pan, needed to drain water.

Pictured Above: Slate shower from CJ’s Custom Tile, a company owned by Damon Johnson servicing the Oklahoma City/Edmond areas.

Why Do We Like This Luxury Kitchen?

• Dover in maple kitchen cabinets.
• Highly sophisticated kitchen design with stainless steel appliances and pendant lights.
• Mosaic 2″ x 2″ tile.
• Rimless sink.
• Undercabinet lighting.

Featured Company

Canyon Creek Cabinets

Next Luxury Kitchen Photo

Why Do We Like This Luxury Kitchen?

• Copenhagen maple kitchen cabinets.
• Unified one-wall kitchen layout.
• Wall oven neatly tucked away within cabinets.

Featured Company

Canyon Creek Cabinets

Next Luxury Kitchen Photo

Why Do We Like This Luxury Kitchen?

• Dover maple kitchen cabinets
• A suspended stove vent hood that attracts notice.
• Dual-level kitchen island–one level for food prep and cooking, another level for eating.

Featured Company

Canyon Creek Cabinets

Next Luxury Kitchen Photo

Why Do We Like This Luxury Kitchen?

• Charleston cabinet series.
• Contrast in natural wood and whitewash style cabinets.
• Decorative tile backsplash.
• Wall oven for easier baking.

Featured Company

Canyon Creek Cabinets

Next Luxury Kitchen Photo

Why Do We Like This Luxury Kitchen?

• The two-level kitchen island allows for both cooking and eating in the same area.
• Tasteful wood Belvedere series cabinets.
• Pendant lights illuminate otherwise dark section of kitchen.

Featured Company

Canyon Creek Cabinets

But how do you remove tile grout without damaging the tile?

Many products claim to remove grout from tile.  Let’s take a look at the main ones:

1.  Flathead Screwdriver and Hammer

Image:  www.cae2k.com

Hammer and flathead screwdriver are the traditional method of chipping out tile grout.  Unless you have just a small portion of grout to remove, this method will tire you out quickly, leading to inevitable tile damage.

• Type:  Manual
• Cost:  Around $3-5
• Effective (1-10):  1

2.  GroutGetter

Image:  GroutGetter.com

A slight improvement over the screwdriver/hammer method, the GroutGetter has a triangular head to better gouge out grout with less impact to the tile.

• Type:  Manual
• Cost:  Around $10
• Effective (1-10):  3

3.  Dremel Tool

Image:  Dremel

The Dremel is a 12V rotary tool which, though not specifically designed to cut out grout, has countless interchangeable heads that will accommodate this use.

• Type:  Electric
• Cost:  Around $100
• Effective (1-10):  8

4.  Ridgid JobMax Combo

Image:  Ridgid

This multi-tool set from Ridgid features a JobMax™ power base handle with a Multi-Tool head that includes saws to cut through tile.

• Type:  Electric
• Cost:  Around $200 at The Home Depot
• Effective (1-10):  6

5.  The Grout Remover

Image:  TheGroutRemover.com

The Grout Remover is a novel concept.  Rather than cutting or zipping out the grout with a rotor, The Grout Remover “vibrates and reciprocates which helps eliminate damage to the existing tiles during the regrout process.”

• Type:  Electric
• Cost:  $69-$149
• Effective (1-10):  ?

If you want to get down to brass tacks, not really.  In terms of texture, slate is a highly unique substance.  No doubt you have seen slate up close before and witnessed its multi-layered effect.

As a sedimentary rock, layer upon layer of slate are compacted together to form one cohesive material.

It’s hard to duplicate that layering in ceramic tile.  Even highly textured ceramic or porcelain tile tends to fairly smooth and rounded–rather than sharp and angular like real slate.

So, the best you can hope for is, literally, a tile that looks like slate. Rather than a tile that feels like slate.

DalTile and American Olean are two of the biggest tile companies around.  They also happen to be sister companies, both owned by Mohawk Industries.

DalTile has a line called Continental Slate Colorbody Porcelain.  These are tiles that look relatively close to slate.  Of the eight Continental Slate tiles, one of them looks the most like slate:  Asian Black, CS53.  That’s the product pictured here.

These tiles come in four sizes:  6″x6″, 12″x12″, 12″x18″, and 18″x18″.

Not perfect, but as close to slate as you will get in a ceramic tile version.