Do you need tiles behind a freestanding bath?

[TheCraicDealer]

We're on the process of buying a new build, and one of the things we're currently considering is a freestanding slipper bath. I want an adult version of DD's shnuggle bath and I'm not sorry about it.

The builders have come back and said that we'll need extra wall and floor tiles for this style. Floor I understand for obvious reasons, but I'm not sure about the walls?

The walls are all finished in Dulux Diamond Matt which I've found is excellent for getting marks off and has worn well even in our present steamy ensuite. We're going to have a separate shower enclosure and I foresee the bath only getting used one a month or so.

What do you guys think? Could we skip the wall tiles? I've looked at plenty of pictures of freestanding baths over the last few weeks and is definitely a minority that have tiling behind.

I have a free standing bath that was fitted 5ish years ago and there are no wall tiles behind it and it's never been a problem. The DCs were 4 & 9 when it was fitted, so still pretty splashy, and the white walls are still very clean.

We’ve always had a free standing bath in at least one bathroom & zero wall tiles in a number of different homes probs spanning 20 years. If you’ve got splashy toddlers who like bath crayons then maybe.

When it comes to repaint you’ll not get right in behind it. Might that be the reason to tile? To avoid trying to repaint around it?

if you can around a bath to clean the floor you can get around to paint the wall.

If you have kids I would say definitely. Ours like to pretend they are swimming in ours! Also the shower head has been known to be left in attended and go haywire!