This shower is built around very large charcoal porcelain tiles stood on end, so each wall reads as a few tall panels with only a handful of grout lines. Tile that size is heavy and unforgiving. The wall behind it has to be flat, and each piece needs full thinset coverage on the back so there are no hollow spots that can crack under pressure later.
Before any tile went up, we rolled a red liquid waterproofing membrane over the walls and into the corners. Tile and grout shed most of the water, but the membrane is what keeps it out of the framing. The shower floor is a hexagon mosaic pitched to a square drain. Small tiles follow that slope without lippage, and the extra grout lines give bare feet more grip than one big tile would.
The niche is recessed between the studs and backed with the same hexagon mosaic as the floor, so the accent ties the top of the shower to the bottom. Metal edge trim protects the cut tile edges around the opening. Outside the shower, the charcoal porcelain continues across the bathroom floor, set with leveling clips so the oversized tiles stay flush at every joint. A wall-arm rain head and a hand shower on a slide bar finish the job.
What we did
- Rolled a red liquid waterproofing membrane over the shower walls and corners before tiling
- Set a hexagon marble-look mosaic shower floor around a square drain
- Installed large-format charcoal porcelain wall tile in tall vertical panels
- Built a recessed niche with a hexagon mosaic back, metal edge trim and a shelf
- Laid the same charcoal porcelain across the bathroom floor using leveling clips
- Mounted a wall-arm rain head, slide-bar hand shower and valve trim
Photos from this job
5 photos, starting with the work in progress. Tap any photo to see it full size.
While we were building it
The finished work
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