Choosing bathroom tiles: size, material and finish

Ceramic tile or porcelain stoneware

Ceramic tile is fired clay with a glaze on top, cheaper to buy and easier to cut, and perfectly adequate for bathroom walls where it never sits in standing water. Porcelain stoneware (often labelled granito or porcelanato) is denser and fired at a higher temperature, with very low water absorption right through the body, not just on the surface.

For floors, and especially for a shower floor or anywhere water pools before it drains, porcelain is the safer choice because a chipped edge does not expose a porous core that can absorb moisture. It is also harder, so it copes better with dropped bottles and the weight of a bath.

The trade-off is that porcelain is denser and needs diamond blades and more care to cut cleanly, which shows up as extra labour time, particularly around pipes, drains and internal corners. For walls alone, ceramic is often the more sensible spend and nobody will notice the difference once it is grouted.

Large-format tiles or mosaic: where each one belongs

Large-format tiles (anything from roughly 60×60 cm upward) give a bathroom fewer grout lines, which reads as cleaner and makes a small room feel larger. They work well on walls and on flat, well-prepared floors, but they need a very true substrate — any dip or hump in the screed shows immediately as lippage at the tile edges.

Mosaic, whether glass, porcelain or natural stone on a mesh backing, is the practical choice for shower floors and any surface with a fall to a drain, because the many small pieces and grout lines follow a slope without cutting. It also handles curved niches and step edges that a rigid large tile cannot.

A common and sensible combination is large-format tile on the bathroom walls and main floor, with mosaic reserved for the shower floor itself. That keeps the look consistent while putting the more forgiving material where the geometry actually needs it.

Matte or glossy finish, and why it matters more underfoot

On walls, matte or glossy is mostly an aesthetic choice: glossy tiles reflect more light and can make a windowless bathroom feel brighter, matte tiles hide water spots and soap residue better between cleans.

On floors it stops being just a look. A glossy floor tile is measurably more slippery when wet, and a bathroom floor is wet often. Matte or textured floor tiles, sometimes sold with an R-rating for slip resistance, are the sensible default for any floor a bare foot will cross while damp.

If you want a glossy floor tile for the look, keep it out of the shower area and away from the space directly beside the bath, and accept that a bath mat is doing real work there, not just decoration.

• Shower floor: matte or textured tile, or mosaic with a slip-resistant finish
• Main bathroom floor: matte or lightly textured porcelain
• Walls: glossy or matte, either works, choose for light and looks
• Around the bath and basin: matte finish reduces visible watermarks
• Avoid highly polished tile anywhere feet will be wet

Grout colour and width affect upkeep more than the tile does

Narrow grout lines with large-format tile look sleek and there is simply less grout to keep clean, which is one more reason large formats suit bathrooms. Mosaic, by contrast, has a large total length of grout relative to its area, and that grout will need attention over the years regardless of how good the tile is.

Light grout looks crisp on day one and shows every trace of mould and soap scum within months, especially in a shower recess with poor ventilation. Mid-grey or a colour close to the tile itself hides the same dirt far longer without you needing to scrub weekly.

Epoxy grout costs more and is fussier to apply than standard cement-based grout, but it resists staining and mould far better and is worth it in a wet zone such as a shower floor, even if you use ordinary grout elsewhere in the room.

Tile choice changes labour time and price

Large-format tile is quicker to lay per square metre because there are fewer pieces, but it demands a flatter, better-prepared substrate and is less forgiving of small errors, which shifts time into levelling and setting rather than cutting.

Mosaic and small-format tile take longer to lay for the same area simply because there are more pieces and more grout joints to fill, and that labour time is the main cost, not the tile itself.

Porcelain adds time over ceramic because it needs sharper tools and more careful cutting, particularly around fittings. If you are choosing between two similar-looking tiles and the budget is tight, ask what each one means for labour hours, not just the price per box.

We quote tiling from 35 € per job once we know the tiles, the room and the layout, and for a full bathroom renovation, tiling included, quotes start from 3500 €.

Waterproofing sits under the tile — tile does not replace it

Whatever tile you choose, it is not the waterproofing layer. A proper bathroom build has a waterproof membrane painted or rolled onto the screed and walls before any tile goes down, with particular attention to corners, the drain, and the joint between floor and wall.

Grout and even porcelain tile itself are not fully watertight over time, especially at joints, so a bathroom that relies on the tile alone to keep water out of the floor structure is a bathroom that will eventually leak into the flat below, which matters a great deal in an apartment block.

This is why tile selection and waterproofing are two separate conversations with your tiler: choose the tile for looks, slip resistance and maintenance, and confirm separately that the membrane detail under it is done properly, particularly at the shower area and any floor drain.