midmodfan When it is nicely done, floor to ceiling tile looks fabulous. I especially like the first example.

The funny thing is: I see the reverse trend here in Europe - floor to (almost) ceiling tile in the shower while the rest of the walls are left bare. The tile extending all the way to the ceiling or at least to the door's upper edge was once a quality feature but is now considered old fashioned. I'm sure we'll see yet another reverse trend in the near future ...

Stephanie Duerden With the right tile, floor to ceiling tile can be absolutely stunning! These are just some of my favorites. :)

kennedytarheel Ceiling to floor tile...the only way to fly! We redid our old bath last year with ceiling to floor tile in the tub/shower area and tile 4' up the other walls with wavy sea glass edging to save money.(Those walls have the toilet and sink and easily cleaned when stuff splashes on them.) For the floor and walls we used 16" x 16" porcelain tile to eliminate as much grout to clean as we could. One major benefit of ceiling to floor tile in the tub/shower areas was not having water streak marks on the painted plaster that used to cover the upper 18" of the wall in the shower. Clean up in the shower is a breeze now. Another added benefit is that the room looks taller and bigger. These photos are beautiful! Thanks!

olldbobbi I love the wall tile in the third picture. I have a question about these wet rooms - after you're done showering, doesn't everything then need to be wiped down, like the toilet and sink? Every time someone showers? That would drive me crazy!

ALPINE CONSTRUCTION I love the look

olldroo Bobbi, couldn't agree more with the open plan rooms, as nice as they look. I know families who wipe their bathroom down with their towels after every shower and then wash their towels every day.

When I was getting quotes for the renovation of my two bathrooms, I intended tiling to the ceiling to be "trendy" until the first builder came in and said he felt it made the rooms look like elevators. I now have minimalist tiling, the shower, minimum around the bath and a skirting tile around the rest of the room. I decided I preferred the option of painting the rest of the walls to change colours to suit my moods and to allow me to hang artwork.

paulinas My fiance and I renovated our bathroom and we also went with the tile to ceiling style. I think it makes the bathroom seem bigger especially with the white tile reflecting the light. We repeated the same tile pattern above the vanity and on the shower wall. We have yet to install a glass door for the shower, but that's coming next :-)
Below are some picture before and after for comparison.

paulinas Looks like it's cutting off parts of the pictures, but you can see those "after" photos better on my profile page.

Villa Lagoon Tile We love tile on the walls. On the first photo look in the mirror. You can see the tiled wall reflection. I think Americans moved away from tiled walls as a cost saving measure...too bad. Houses got larger and larger...but many times smaller but nicer is better. Click the photos to see the complete shot.

olldbobbi groovygranny, I don't think I could take wiping down my entire bathroom after every shower! In fact, I don't even like cleaning them when I have to. I can't remember waking up one single morning of my life saying "I'm so excited! I get to wipe down the bathroom today" so doing it everyday? I don't think so :)

Amanda Simons Bobbi P and groovygranny, I agree about the toilet. As part of my bathroom plan, we intend to turn the tub sideways to fit a standing shower next to it and create one "wetroom". In this case I wouldn't necessarily have to wipe everything down all the time because it's a tub. But I could see where the toilet is a different story

Studio NOO Design Floor to ceiling tiles: nice and easy care !

ALPINE CONSTRUCTION Im a fan myself

ameyc2 I love my little bathroom in chocolate brown taken from the ikea catalogue ...

BuilderFish Aside from style, wet areas are easier to clean, just spray'em down.

astraea I gotta say that the bathroom with the white subway tile & aluminum-framed shower positioned between 2 windows, makes me think that someone in that shower wouldn't be able to refrain from saying, "Beam me up Scotty!" It's like being in a display case!

custom-tiles.com Incredible floor to ceiling work here, in 100-year old home near Pittsburgh. Custom printed ceramic tiles, based on images sent by the client.

olldroo paulinas - when you put the cursor on the photos it brings them up full size. You must be feeling like me at the moment, how lovely and clean your bathroom looks going with the white tile. I love your new vanity, just what I wanted but couldn't find anything like it. My old vanity was similar in style to your old one and to save money I painted it to match the walls and am really happy with it, for now.

bobbi - we can get sponges here that have some chemical in them, very mild as there is no smell at all, and you just wipe them over the tiles for instant clean. I usually wipe the tiles down every 2 or 3 days while I am in the shower, takes about 2 mins, and the tiles are always sparkling clean. It has really taken the drudgery out of it.

amanda - I looked at that idea for my bathroom as putting the shower beside the bath meant I could put in a much larger double bowled vanity. No one else liked it so I lost but I also figured that as our bath rarely gets used spraying the bath from the shower would be a great way to keep it clean. It is under the window and gets a lot of dust. ANYTHING for easy housework.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch When we arrived in Canada, I felt to be transported back in the time of my grandparents. Yes, my grandparents had a bathroom which looked almost exactly like a standard bathroom here in Canada. Luckily my father was a Master Bricklayer and was setting tiles too. So we had already in 1968 a fully tiled bathroom.

Today we have so many possibilities to tile a bathroom all around from the bottom to the ceiling without having the look of a clinic or operating theatre. And such bathrooms are so easy to keep them clean. Honestly who LOVES it to clean his bathroom? I am at least like to use a bathroom without wiping and cleaning it everytime after I had a shower. Therefore I always try im my designs to build a good looking but also a functional and practical bathroom.

Here are a couple panorama-pictures of fully tiled bathrooms. Notice: These are just 3D-Tile-Designs ("Tile-Sketches") and not yet real tiled bathrooms. Please use the navigation buttons on the bottom on the pictures to turn around, to go up and down and to zoom in and out. You can also use your mouse to navigate. Just click in the picture, hold the left mause button down and move your mouse.

http://3dplan.visoft.de/panoramen/html5/ViSoft_3D_Fliesenplanung_Photo_Tuning_Panorama_Bad5/ViSoft_3D_Fliesenplanung_Photo_Tuning_Panorama_Bad5.html
http://3dplan.visoft.de/panoramen/html5/ViSoft_3D_Fliesenplanung_Photo_Tuning_Panorama_Bad18/index.html
http://3dplan.visoft.de/panoramen/html5/ViSoft_3D_Fliesenplanung_Photo_Tuning_Panorama_Bad17/index.html

Regards.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch
Maple Ridge, BC (Greater Vancouver)
http://www.3D-Tile-Design.ca
.

olldroo Bertram - you say bathrooms are easy to keep clean when they are fully tiled, but how much of the tiles do you clean on a regular basis? I don't clean the walls in the bathroom, unless something happened to be spilt, like any other walls they get a wash down at Spring Cleaning time to freshen them up, but if I had tiles to the ceiling, that's 8 feet of tiling instead of 6 feet in the shower recess. Now, 6 feet I can reach easily, but 8 feet I have to get a ladder and climb. That's just not going to happen, but if I only clean as far as I can reach, am I going to eventually get a high tide mark?

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch granny you wrote: "...Now, 6 feet I can reach easily, but 8 feet I have to get a ladder and climb..." You'll need always a ladder to reach 8 feet high, no matter if its tiled or painted. However tiles are easier to clean than paint. Or not?

"...but if I only clean as far as I can reach, am I going to eventually get a high tide mark?..." I think you would get earlier a high tide mark on the paint rather than on the tiles.

Cheers Bertram

olldroo Bertram - you misunderstand me. The tiles go to 6 feet then there is 2 feet of paint above that. I'm not talking 8 feet of paint, as I said the painting gets a wash down annually in every room and it is no different in the bathrooms. The tiles are only in the wet area where they do need constant cleaning, hence the reason for the tiles, but I only have the tiles to 6 feet, above that it doesn't get wet or collect any soapscum so there is no need to clean the wall, but with the division, there is no tide mark. If I had tiles to 8 feet, then I would feel the need to clean them every time I clean the bathroom.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch Hi granny, I understood however I think I was not clear enough in my explanation. I was also talking about the area (the two feet) above the 6 foot tile-line and meant for this area you'll need a ladder no matter if this area is tiled or painted. But you pointed it out: "...If I had tiles to 8 feet, then I WOULD FEEL the need to clean them every time I clean the bathroom.

"...but with the division, there is no tide mark..." I also understood this. What I meant was, if your wall was fully tiled (from the bottom to the ceiling) you wouldn't have a tide mark either. You would only get a tide mark if you would "wipe" your tiles with really dirty water however I assume you use clear water and a sponge or rag to clean them. And with clear water you'll not get a tide mark on tiles. ☺

astraea My master bathroom has a 10' cathedral ceiling .. with tile all the way up. Anyone feel like washing it down all the way to the top, on a regular basis?! (and I wouldn't be washing down painted walls either)

paulinas groovygranny, thanks! Yes it does feel very nice, and I refer to it as my mini spa. I was going for a modern spa look and feel. I also wanted modern and simple vanity. I actually designed it myself and we built it. Thanks for the tip about the photos ;-)

olldbobbi groovygranny, go to discussions, other, look for OLLD 10/25 (or current date) and join us!

tallie_rt I'm going to buck the trend. floor to ceiling tile, which I have seen many times, appears very institutional. I makes me think of a high school gym locker room. It steers my impressions to a hospital. These things are not"bad", just not what I would want for my personal use.

astraea @tallie_rt - I think that depends on the type of tile; I don't think my large to-the-ceiling tiles look "institutional" at all, and they have a nice border about 5' up.

mrsben Okay, I will not dispute that there are some beautiful selections of tile on the market and tile in the bathroom does have its place however due to the fact that it is a cold 'n hard surface to the touch plus is costly to install or change out, I personally feel 'less is more' may be your best option as a little goes a long way both for aesthetics and maintenance and there is no need for overkill.
P.S: My intentions is not to insult anyone who may have wall-to-wall/ceiling to floor tile or Becky who has posted this idea book for those who love it.

astraea @MrsBen - I kind of wonder how the walls hold up, if you don't have tile at all, where you have steamy showers or baths regularly.

mrsben @Astraea: To answer your question, a good bath exhaust fan takes care of moisture. (In Canada it is mandatory in residential homes to have one where a tub or shower is located. They are ceiling or wall mounted and normally vented to the outside.) As for the walls themselves, specialty gyproc (plasterboard) is available for bath installation and so is primer and paint for application. Personally, I wouldn't risk using just said latter products in a shower stall. (My earlier comment 'tile in the bathroom does have its place". )

olldroo Astraea - here we use a product called Villaboard in bathrooms, it took the place of fibro and the asbestos problems. It is non porous and therefore works very well, even wet towels hanging against it are no problem. We also have specific bathroom paints that have built in anti mould and generally use a full or semi gloss according to preference.

We used to use gyprock but I did end up with problems in the ceiling of the main bathroom, even with a ceiling fan and open windows and once the mould got in, removing the gyprock is now the only way to get rid of it.

I definitely agree with mrsben, I do like the minimal tiling as it is certainly a lot easier and cheaper to apply a couple of coats of paint to change colour schemes or even add wallpaper - I once used a vinyl wallpaper very successfully.

astraea I think they used to use (and maybe still do) something called "Wonderboard" in the US, but maybe because it was more expensive, it would only be put on the walls around the tub or shower .. and then tiled. I guess you could use that all around the bathroom, as long as it wasn't more expensive than tiling in the first place!

olldroo Astraea - Villaboard is a pretty cheap product - it is all everyone uses these days. There used to be a product years ago called Tilux that was similar but had the look of tiles - pretty gross, and probably has asbestos in it too. Of course I still have tiles in the shower, at the back of the vanity and around the bath to take splashes and for easy cleaning.

I must say, I like your bathroom too. Your tiles are very similar to my new ones - will get round to posting a photo one day, my camera battery has gone flat and with all the upheaval I can't remember where I put the charger. I thought you were looking at a blue marble or is that another bathroom. Is the trim the marble also?

Cassie Green We plan on full height tiling on all our bathrooms & powder rooms. Here (Australia) most people only go 1 tile high, or half height, purely because funds don't stretch far enough.
I wipe down the glass every time I shower... At this point I make the (4) kids bath so I don't have to wipe it down. In the new house I will have large format rectified tile with minimal grout to avoid water marks. Showers won't be completely open though, there will be tiled walls on one side to prevent splashing into the rest of the bathroom. Showers have big windows in them to prevent it looking dark in any way, although the walls are mostly light so this shouldn't be an issue.
I really love powder rooms with dark floor, white walls and the dark tile continuing up behind the white toilet.
Tip: If you have lovely white tiles, make sure you don't go with a warm light that makes them look yellow! My white lappatto tiles look yellow or white depending on the light source.

olldroo Astraea - thinking about you, hope you stay safe in the storm, it sounds horrible.

olldroo Cassie - I don't think it is so much the cost of the tiles here, it is the cost of the labour. I get the impression US labour costs are way below ours. Also for people renovating old bathrooms, the large tiles are a nightmare for tilers as walls and floors aren't always perfectly flat and even and getting it right adds more to the labour cost too.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch Indeed, to be tiled walls and floors have to be always plumb, level and even otherwise you'll get lippages and just horrible looking tile work. And it is a lot of work and time to fix such inappropriate surfaces.

Granny you wrote: "...for people renovating OLD bathrooms..." unfortunately this appears for new bathrooms as well. I am now 4 1/2 years here in Canada and honestly I have never ever seen a 100% plumb, level and even floor or wall at this time here. It seems like nobody knows how to do it right or just nobody cares about it.

Here are a couple pictures of my current project. All the walls in this room got new sheet rock however no wall was balanced/fixed before the studs were covered with sheet rock. The walls were more than 1 inch out of plumb of a height of approx 8 1/2 feet and it is impossible to tile such a wall in thin bed method.

Regards.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch
Maple Ridge, BC (Greater Vancouver)
http://www.3D-Tile-Design.ca
.

olldroo Bertram, that is so bad!!! I was trying to be polite, and giving today's tradies the benefit of the doubt, but obviously things never change. The guy who did my ensuite, although is only qualified as a tiler, still did a lot of other things to make sure it was right for his tiling. Hasn't done the main bathroom yet as he had a sudden trip to hospital, but when he is on his feet again he will be totally gutting it due to water damage so will make sure all the walls are true and the floor level and even. Nothing worse than being at the end of a production line.

What do you call "sheet rock"?

olldroo OK, thanks, fun trying to get the hang of all the different terms. It looks like our gyprock but it is porous so not a good idea in bathrooms anymore. I like it because I can hammer spikes and hangers in anywhere I like to hang art or photos whereas I'm not allowed near the the Villaboard we now use because it shatters if you don't use the right thingies first.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch Sheet rock, Gypsum board, Gyprock, it has so many names. It is the "stuff" to build dry walls resp. to cover the studs.

http://www.google.ca/search?q=sheet+rock&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-CA:IE-Address&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zWiPUKXINoP-iQL42YEQ&ved=0CDUQsAQ&biw=1396&bih=888
http://www.active-ceramic.com/linee-prodotti.php

http://www.google.ca/search?q=sheet+rock&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-CA:IE-Address&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zWiPUKXINoP-iQL42YEQ&ved=0CDUQsAQ&biw=1396&bih=888#hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-CA%3AIE-Address&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Gypsum+board&oq=Gypsum+board&gs_l=img.3..0l10.54470.58933.0.59214.12.6.0.6.6.0.119.441.5j1.6.0...0.0...1c.1.TlgSHEXFQ98&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=a7a71f2d03a25ac8&bpcl=36601534&biw=1396&bih=888

http://www.google.ca/search?q=sheet+rock&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-CA:IE-Address&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zWiPUKXINoP-iQL42YEQ&ved=0CDUQsAQ&biw=1396&bih=888#hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-CA%3AIE-Address&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Gyprock&oq=Gyprock&gs_l=img.3..0l10.5816.9383.0.9929.9.9.0.0.0.0.70.514.9.9.0...0.0...1c.1.njB1SkSSKGw&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=a7a71f2d03a25ac8&bpcl=36601534&biw=1396&bih=888


BTW: What you see in the picture shown below is the only way how drywall should be installed behind the tile-work !!! Always use one full sheet VERTICAL from the bottom to the ceiling like shown in this video: -

NO PATCHWORK behind the tiles and do NOT install the sheets HORIZONTAL !!! All seams must be placed ALWAYS on a stud !!! Furthermore ALL sheets has to be SCREWED with proper drywall screws and NOT NAILED !!! (like shown in the video)

And yes, this stuff should be avoided in wet areas like showers and around bathtubs behind the tiles. It is possible to use gyprock however you have to waterproof it PROPERLY because insufficient waterproofing of gyprock will be result in a failure in the near future.

This does not mean when you use water RESISTANT material like hardy backer board, green board or cement board without waterproofing it properly, you won't get water problems at all. These problems appear just later.

Therefore: Surfaces in all wet areas behind the tiles MUST be waterproofed at all times !!! There are only a few sheet materials available which are 100% watertight. One of them is my favorite material - Wedi board: http://us.wedi.de/training-videos/videos.php

All other materials are only water resistant (which means those materials will be not destroyed by water however they accumulate water), or just water-repellent like some kinds of gyprock.

Cheers Bertram

olldroo Bertram - apparently here too they have widened the distance between studs, reduces the need for as much timber but does allow for play in the wall covering. Forgotten the distance now but it was quite significant. Closer studs is a bonus older homes actually have now.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch Granny, you are absolutely right! The distance between the studs behind tiles should be not exceed more than 12 inches (center/center) rather than 16 inches (center/center) which is mostly the case. When I sheet my own walls, I often add studs between the already existing studs. Tiles have NO forgiveness for weak walls. They will break very fast if the wall can be bent/moved before tiling.
.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch Cassie - Check out these new "self-cleaning" tiles for your shower. Its called active-ceramic.

- http://www.agrob-buchtal.de/en/ht/fuer_ihr_objekt/die_loesung.html?pe_id=26
- http://www.active-ceramic.com
- http://www.balconette.co.uk/Self-Cleaning-Glass/
-

There are also self cleaning emailed shower pans available:
- http://www.kaldewei.us/products/special-features/shower-trays.html

Regards.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch
Maple Ridge, BC (Greater Vancouver)
http://www.3D-Tile-Design.ca

Cassie Green Nano coating (as it is referred to here, same stuff) is good, but there are still metal fixings that age quickly. Too messy for my liking. You can use the nanocoat technology on tiles too if you want to go that far. We will be using it on some of our windows that face the ocean as well as the glass pool fence.

No shower pans here, just tiles and grate drains. Shower pans are a little cheap looking for my liking... And they don't come custom sized so how does anyone use them?

Those ceramic tiles have some really nice designs... We're going porcelain tiles.

3D-Tile-Design - Bertram Tasch Cassie - I know, the shower pans produced here in North America look cheap. Maybe this is the reason why so many people have tiled shower pans.

In Germany almost nobody has a tiled shower pan anymore. There are soooooooo many different models available and most of them look anything else but cheap.

Just this company has 14 different models with different designs which are available in more than 50 different sizes and also different colors. And there are a few more companies which produce also nice shower pans. They are easy to install, and it is also very easy to keep them clean. There are also no problems with leaking, smelling and mold.

http://www.kaldewei.de/produkte/duschen/avantgarde.html
http://www.kaldewei.de/produkte/bodengleiche-duschen.html
http://www.kaldewei.de/fileadmin/data/seiten/contentdownloads/KAPPD_Leporello_dw_ambiente____.pdf
http://www.kaldewei.de/fileadmin/data/seiten/contentdownloads/KAPPD_Leporello_dw_avantgarde__.pdf
http://www.kaldewei.de/fileadmin/data/seiten/contentdownloads/KAPPD_Leporello_dw_advantage___.pdf

Cheers, Bertram

olldroo When I built my house waterproofing wasn't mandatory, hence all the problems I have now. Fortunately it is now and the builder has done a really thorough job with it.

A&E RENOVATIONS As long as it,s done correctly and proportionally.. there is nothing like it.