Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Home decoration

Half tiled bathrooms

20 replies

RoseAddict · 01/08/2021 19:57

Following the extremely helpful replies on my bath post I wonder what you all think of half tiled bathrooms. I had one that wasn’t tiled at all once and the paint kept peeling, also a huge crack developed in the plaster which I assumed was because of the constant moisture. It’s a small bathroom and we average 4-8 showers per day. It’s currently fully tiled in glorious 1980s style

OP posts:
user16395699 · 01/08/2021 20:05

Full tiles on walls with shower, toilet, sink. Half tiles on the other walls is fine as long as you prepare the remaining surface properly for painting, use a bathroom paint, and the room has adequate ventilation.

That's what all of mine have been like. No peeling paint, no cracked plaster.

I wouldn't want a bathroom with all painted walls.

I have wondered if fully tiled would be slightly easier for cleaning/maintenance but then you have more grout lines and if you pick tiles that you find hideous in a few years you can't refresh as easily as painting your half tiled walls!

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 01/08/2021 20:11

we average 4-8 showers per day

What each! What's going on in your house?

GrrRightBackAtYou · 01/08/2021 20:16

I would love a half tiled bathroom.
We have a big fully tiled bathroom with shiny tiles. The constant cleaning because of smudges, water splashes is endless -not to mention despite being only 3 years old it looks dated and they are beige tiles so it’s really cold looking. They were here when we moved in.
I would love half tiled so I could have a splash of colour on the walls.
DM & DS don’t have any peeling paint & their bathrooms are older. DS has 3 DC so 5 +showers/baths a day.

Badabingbadabum · 01/08/2021 20:20

We had a house that had half tiles round the sink and loo, tiled up to the ceiling around the bath and shower and the other walls just painted. It didn't get damp and no paint peeled during the nearly ten years we were there. Our previous house was full tiled and it was echoey, full of condensation after a shower and I had to constantly clean the grout and mildew patches of the ceiling, and that was with a window and extractor fan.

I think pp is correct in that as long as the walls are painted well and a shower is fully tiled there shouldn't't be any problems. We need to redo our current bathroom and are sticking with only part tiled.

Quickchangeartiste · 01/08/2021 20:23

Half tile is fine but you need ventilation, probably an extractor light/ fan over the shower and a window you can open.

RoseAddict · 01/08/2021 20:51

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles not each!! In total for the family.

OP posts:
RoseAddict · 01/08/2021 20:54

@user16395699 the thing is if we fully tile the walls the bath is against and the wall the sink is against the whole thing will be tiled as the other walls have a window and the bath sides against them.

OP posts:
RoseAddict · 01/08/2021 21:00

So I was thinking of fully tiling around the bath but half tiling the wall with the sink. Hmm. This is the current layout roughly. Would be great not to have the radiator next to the loo. Suggestions welcome

Half tiled bathrooms
OP posts:
VenusClapTrap · 02/08/2021 20:36

I would fully tile the wall with the shower and door on it, and the wall alongside the bath. Half tile the walls with the loo and sink. Move the radiator to the other side of the sink so it’s next to the shower and you can warm your towels on it.

dudsville · 02/08/2021 20:41

Hm, I don't like the look of a fully tiled bathroom but that is a lot of moisture. We're half tiled, but only 2 to 3 showers.
You'd need a good extractor. Do you have windows? Also, though it's not the current trend at the moment to have shower cubicles this would really help.

user16395699 · 02/08/2021 21:06

Would you be happy with non-1980s full tiled walls?

Radiator position looks slightly odd, I'd probably want that moved too like pp says I'd possible. You may already be aware, but if you replace a normal radiator with a heated towel rail you need to get one that's double the size of the previous radiator in order to still heat the space effectively. Can't remember if it's just double the height or double the width too - possibly only height.

You probably would be fine with half tiled on the wall with sink as long as they came up high enough (maybe a bit higher than strictly half). You could also extend them higher over sink but may look odd in middle of wall, so I'd probs go for two thirds or whatever height along whole wall to be enough for sink splashing up.

If I could afford full tiling, and there were tiles I liked enough, I might go with full tiled walls with your layout even tho I'm not normally that keen.

I wouldn't want horrible white glossy tiles like in a hospital or office or train station, but there are some lovely neutral wall tiles about that look great without the major dating problems of patterns or fashion colours.

You don't necessarily need to have the same tiling on all four walls either. Whether that's a single wall with different tiles or one pair of adjoining walls with slightly different tiles to the other pair (so 2 L-shapes on aerial plan).

Our current bathroom (which is small rectangle too) has an L-shape of 2 full tiled walls, and then the other L-shape of the other 2 walls are two-thirds tiles with slightly different but complementary tiles. I think in a small space it makes it feel less samey / like the walls/tiles are closing in on you!

It's a bit sad but I genuinely love our bathroom wall tiles. Grin

If you look at home interior and tiling brochures you'll probably be able to find well-executed examples of what I mean.

Bimblybomeyelash · 03/08/2021 21:47

I’m not a fan of fully tiled bathrooms. Mine is similar to yours, apart from sink is on the same wall as the loo. I have full tiles around the bath and then half around the loo and sink. Then no tiles elsewhere. The painted walls have held up fine these past 7 years.

Samanabanana · 03/08/2021 21:51

We have a half tiled bathroom that we put in around 5 years ago and I still love it. No problems with peeling paint and/or cracks. Buy decent paint and think about how you will finish the wall tiles- I opted for a dado rather than tile trim as it adds a bit more interest.

lazylinguist · 03/08/2021 22:00

I've never had a fully tiled bathroom in any house I've lived in. Always fully tiled around the bath and half tiled around the sink.

LittleWingSoul · 06/08/2021 00:48

@RoseAddict Our bathroom is the exact layout of yours, even the radiator! We have only tiled around the shower and then just a tiled back splash behind the sink.

Used a decent bathroom paint and as pp have said we keep the room well ventilated, window is always slightly open for most of the year (it is a velux so not overlooked).

DramaAlpaca · 06/08/2021 00:52

My bathrooms are half tiled and I regret it. I really wish we'd fully tiled them, they look so much neater.

MiddlesexGirl · 06/08/2021 00:58

No tiles at all here. A small glass splashback around basin and bath. A full height (not to ceiling but to top of enclosure) glass surround for shower enclosure.
Been in situ for 15 years and only the very smallest peeling paint in one room and none in the other. The third unfortunately has a lot of peeling paint but that's because the silly children treat it like a sauna and refuse to ventilate it. Will just redecorate it and open windows more.
Will never have tiles again. They're a bugger to keep clean compared to glass.

RoseAddict · 06/08/2021 15:41

Ooh lots of replies I hadn’t seen. Thanks everyone!

@VenusClapTrap that’s roughly what I was thinking but it has to be 3 walls fully tiled really as the one with the loo and the window is half window and half the end of the bath so needs to be fully tiled.

@user16395699 yes I think if I could find a a nice but fairly neutral tile I liked that I could live with fully tiled. I will look into the idea or different tiles in different areas. I have seen this done well come to think of it. Risky though as it could be easy to get wrong. Do post any tiles you think could work well for full tiling!

@LittleWingSoul Victorian/ Edwardian semi? We have big (by my standards anyway) rooms elsewhere but the bathroom is small

To everyone saying move the radiator to the other side of the sink, what my diagram doesn’t show well is that there’s only 30cm to the left of the sink! Sink can’t be moved nearer the loo as it’s already pretty tight. Smaller sink not an option. I think we are stuck with the radiator there unless I get a very very slim tall ladder type thing. It would be AMAZING to have somewhere warm to put towels

OP posts:
LittleWingSoul · 06/08/2021 15:48

Yes, Edwardian semi. I guess it's a pretty standard layout Grin We managed to shoehorn a bath into the loft extension though so ours is a large shower enclosure rather than a bath. You could tile to the edge of the end wall where the bath is. Have you tested how much it sprays out to the left of the wall?

mycatscausehell · 09/08/2021 19:09

We redid our bathroom recently, we used plastic panels that look like tiles, kind of like this www.mrplastic.co.uk/kitchen-bathroom/shower-bathroom-wall-panels/proplas-shower-wall-panel/proplas-pvc-tile-stone-graphite-matt-wall-panel-2800m-x-250mm-x-8mm-4-pack and attached using no more nails, then made a matching bath panel. super easy to install, really durable and WAY less cleaning than tiles. would 100% reccommend

New posts on this thread. Refresh page