Bathroom remodeling - what is your preference?

[Teresa in MO]

I am going to be remodeling my bathroom.  A complete gut job.  It is a small bathroom.  I am trying to decide whether to put a tub surround around the tub or to tile it all the way up to the ceiling.  It would be probably something simple like a subway tile with a mosiac strip all the way around.  I would also do at least one insert type shelf like you see on the home shows.  I am trying to modernize the bathroom in case I am needing to sell the house in a few years.  Which do you prefer?

[AK_Mom4]

I’ve done both.  When we remodeled the downstairs bath the first time, I did floor to ceiling tile like you described.  I’m not a Tile Expert and it took me many days to do the whole tub area and get it right.   Then we had a water leak in the wall and a rotten floor joist and ended up re-gutting the nearly new bathroom after just 3 years.  The second time around, I opted to do a surround because I just did not have time to mess around with tile again.

if I was paying a real tile guy and not doing it myself, I would have opted for tile again.  Easy to clean when done right and looks great.  But sooooo much work!

[catz]

We did subway tile with a mosaic stripe in a tub about 6 years ago.  We intentionally chose a darker grout.   I actually don't like white grout with white tile.  That makes it look like like a surround to me anyway trying to look like tile.  We have a historic home so it made sense to select historic grout color(grey).  

No regrets other than the initial caulking wasn’t done well and that could happen in a surround too.  

We did not do the tile ourselves however.  

Edited January 8, 2019 by FuzzyCatz

[Teresa in MO]

47 minutes ago, AK_Mom4 said:

I’ve done both.  When we remodeled the downstairs bath the first time, I did floor to ceiling tile like you described.  I’m not a Tile Expert and it took me many days to do the whole tub area and get it right.   Then we had a water leak in the wall and a rotten floor joist and ended up re-gutting the nearly new bathroom after just 3 years.  The second time around, I opted to do a surround because I just did not have time to mess around with tile again.

if I was paying a real tile guy and not doing it myself, I would have opted for tile again.  Easy to clean when done right and looks great.  But sooooo much work!

I would be having someone do the tile.

 

[Katy]

Tile to the ceiling.

[Scarlett]

Tile.  

[solascriptura]

1 hour ago, Thatboyofmine said:

I’d prefer big tile slabs with very thin grout lines.  I loathe cleaning grout.  

I think that this is the way to go.  It's a modern look and low maintenance.  I hate cleaning. period. 

[gardenmom5]

I have 12x24 horizontal porcelain tile about 3/4 up the wall.  I've thought of hunting down the tile and having it continued to the top (as well as tiling the wall where the towel rods are) - and dd did 12x24 vertical to the ceiling.  the tile is very dark, and the grout is the same color.  I've no idea how it works.  her hall bathroom isn't used much, and i almost never go in the bathroom off her master.

[Carrie12345]

It would be a tough choice for me. My eyes want the pretty tile. My cleaning energy wants the insert.  I have 2 inserts and love how easy they are to clean, but they're not much to look at.

[Hannah]

Aesthetics would win over pure functionality for me, so I'd go with subway tiles with dark grout.

[MEmama]

I'll be the dissenter.

I hate tile (and bathtubs) so I'd go with just a shower and an insert. Cleaning tile isn't worth any amount of potential prettiness to me.

I do understand the need for a tub for resale though, so if it's the only full bath I'd reluctantly let it stay.

[Pawz4me]

I agree that most (not all) tile is pretty. But I've seen some disgustingly nasty grout in some of the houses we've looked at. For functionality and ease of cleaning an insert wins, hands down.  We'll eventually need to remodel both of our bathrooms. I don't know which I'll go with. Perhaps neither, and instead look into some of the solid surface choices (Swanstone, Corian, Formica, etc.).

But tub/shower material wouldn't be a deal breaker for me as long as whatever's there is clean and in good shape.

[Soror]

I HATE tile and would not pick it for anything again- grout lines, I can't imagine willingly putting a bunch of little bitty tile w/ 1 million grout lines in my bathroom. In our first house we had tile w/ white grout, worst decision ever. We thought we wisened up and put in tan grout in my kitchen, nope, it needs to be the color of dark. My bathroom has a dark gray grout and that works ok but then again it is still not my favorite, I'd prefer the comfort of some engineered vinyl if I had it to do over again. 2 of my bathrooms have all in one tub/shower units and the other one has a jacuzzi tub w/ engineered marble- I love it, no grout lines and the variation in the color helps hide if it is not perfectly clean.

Edited January 8, 2019 by soror

[catz]

I was going to say, we keep a sponge, squeegee and a spray cleaner in that tub with the tile all the time.  Once or twice a week, I spend 30-60 extra seconds in there wiping sections down.  It hasn't been a big deal to keep it clean.  We do have hard water so the tub itself tends to college soap scum, etc more than the tile.  Our grout looks great (and it is a grey color).  The only place we've had issue is with the caulking.  And we should have just got in and replaced that much sooner.  

[Bambam]

I'd do a solid surface - so I'd do the insert. Because cleaning is easier/faster/less trouble. I'm not in the bath or shower to admire the prettiness, so who cares? I don't care how pretty something is, if I have to spend an hour cleaning it, I won't think it is attractive any more!

However, one thing to think about - a friend who has the inserty-thing, her children are now very tall, and so the water splashes out over the top of the protective surface and onto the regular wall. So if you may have very tall people using that bathroom, go to the ceiling. Or install an outdoor shower for the tall people! (JK)

[Bluegoat]

Neither would stop me from buying a place.  Tub surrounds are practical, but I don't like them aesthetically, especially in older homes.

I would prefer tile, normal sized or subway I both like - but I also would really want darker grout.  White grout just does not work practically, as nice as it looks in the beginning.

I don't like the larger types of time for the most part.  In part this is aesthetic too, even very expensive big marble tiles don't usually appeal to me.  I tend to be suspicious though of new beige or greige tiles in a house for sale, as I associate them with flipped homes where the reno might not be done very well.

[Scarlett]

34 minutes ago, FuzzyCatz said:

I was going to say, we keep a sponge, squeegee and a spray cleaner in that tub with the tile all the time.  Once or twice a week, I spend 30-60 extra seconds in there wiping sections down.  It hasn't been a big deal to keep it clean.  We do have hard water so the tub itself tends to college soap scum, etc more than the tile.  Our grout looks great (and it is a grey color).  The only place we've had issue is with the caulking.  And we should have just got in and replaced that much sooner.  

Same with me.   My shower is a zero entrance and has tile about  7 feet up.  I love it.  It is dark tile and dark grout and I spray it down and scrub it about every two or three weeks.  In fact I have been a little embarrassed about how seldom I clean it but it just doesn’t seem to get dirty.  

[Scarlett]

Oh and I don’t love the bigger tiles.. dh put a mix of 12 inch in 6 inch in a certain pattern that took math to accomplish.  LOL....I really like it though.  He has a great eye I think.  

[Pawz4me]

2 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

Same with me.   My shower is a zero entrance and has tile about  7 feet up.  I love it.  It is dark tile and dark grout and I spray it down and scrub it about every two or three weeks.  In fact I have been a little embarrassed about how seldom I clean it but it just doesn’t seem to get dirty.  

My experience (FWIW) is that all new tubs/showers are like that, regardless of material. And then one day . . . BAM! Gunk starts overnight and from then on keeping them clean can be a struggle. That was my experience in three new homes, with tubs/showers from different materials. Tile was far and away the worst.

[Scarlett]

19 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

My experience (FWIW) is that all new tubs/showers are like that, regardless of material. And then one day . . . BAM! Gunk starts overnight and from then on keeping them clean can be a struggle. That was my experience in three new homes, with tubs/showers from different materials. Tile was far and away the worst.

Interesting.  I wonder how long that takes?  I have had my shower for 5 years.  I do think grout has to eventually be regrouted. 

[catz]

We are at 6 years and have had no issues either.  I'm pretty sure the older surround in our basement looks worse.  But again, we have hard water so tend to get soap and mineral buildup.  Spraying down showers regularly after using with a vinegar/water mix can help prevent that too.   We did have our grout "sealed".  

If the OP is selling in a few years, she'll probably never have to deal with regrouting, etc.  

[J-rap]

I don't know the exact terms, but when we had ours redone, we installed big slabs of a smooth, marble-looking material all the way up to the ceiling around the tub.  Super easy to clean, and it looks nice.  There are no seams so nothing ever needs to be cleaned in-between, with the exception of where it meets the tub.  

[MercyA]

I vastly prefer no grout. 

[SamanthaCarter]

5 hours ago, J-rap said:

I don't know the exact terms, but when we had ours redone, we installed big slabs of a smooth, marble-looking material all the way up to the ceiling around the tub.  Super easy to clean, and it looks nice.  There are no seams so nothing ever needs to be cleaned in-between, with the exception of where it meets the tub.  

This is what we have. I love it Soooo much! I want to do every wall in my tiny bathroom in this stuff and dh doesn’t even think I’m crazy. 

[StephanieZ]

For my own bathroom, I essentially did tiled walls (didn't have enough room to spare for a real "surround" or "deck" that you could put stuff on beyond the actual footprint of the rectangular tub itself because I wanted a big tub and have a small bathroom), but I pulled the tub about 6 inches away from the long wall, allowing me to have a tub-length (6 ft) shelf there (out of the same granite I used for the countertop) a few inches higher than tub level . . . that is about 7 inches wide and the whole 6 ft length. Everything is tiled below that shelf and also for a couple feet above the shelf . . . but then there's a piece of marble trim and then regular wall above that.  

I did tile the walls on all sides around the tub up to about a total of 30 inches over tub height, so there's never any water that splashes on the regular painted walls. But, in my little bathroom, if I'd put tile ALL the way above the tub to the ceiling (it already goes to the ceiling in the shower, and also to about chest height on all the walls behind the toilet, etc), then it'd just look like a locker room because it'd be nearly all tile and glass/mirrors, and it'd just be overwhelming and feel too "cold" to me. I felt like I needed some "blank" walls to make it softer and have a more peaceful look. 

That long shelf is AWESOME for stashing pretty stuff (sea shells from trips, candles, pictures, etc) and could be used for practical stuff, too, if you needed the space (my small amount of tub-used practical stuff fits easily in the two corners of the tub material itself). 

I think subway tile is a nice classic look, but I would NOT want to be dealing with it on bathroom walls that actually got wet regularly, as the grout lines would kill me in maintenance. I went with a larger (10x20 inch or so) porcelain marble-look tile with grey grout, to minimize cleaning issues. (I also have a glass mosaic accent strip, and that same mosaic is what I used for the vanity backsplash, so it all ties together nicely.) (I used a grey subway tile for my kitchen backsplash, and that's great, but kitchens don't get mildew/mold like bathrooms do . . . plus, again, I used grey tile and grey grout, lol)

I doubt your choice would impact a future sale, so long as you don't get anything too loud or too weird. I am *really* into my tub, and take a bath every night, and the deal breakers for me are a BIG DEEP NICE tub and some form of reachable storage -- some sort of shelf or "deck" that allows me to store a bowl of razors/foot stones/etc and space for at least 4-5 bottles of big soaps/shampoos. As long as you have those basics, I doubt what exact design you choose will matter to a buyer, so just do something YOU like and that looks reasonably nice. 

[MEmama]

1 hour ago, SamanthaCarter said:

This is what we have. I love it Soooo much! I want to do every wall in my tiny bathroom in this stuff and dh doesn’t even think I’m crazy. 

I'm intrigued! Do you know what it's called by chance?

[May]

When we redid our 3 bathrooms, we went with tile to the ceiling. Yes, grout can be a pain but we are empty nesters so the other two bathrooms only get used when guests stay.

[SamanthaCarter]

3 hours ago, Seasider too said:

 

Onyx is one popular solid surface product for bathrooms. 

https://www.onyxcollection.com/

Yes, I think ours is Onyx, but not 100% sure. I’d have to ask dh. 

[MEmama]

10 hours ago, Seasider too said:

 

Onyx is one popular solid surface product for bathrooms. 

https://www.onyxcollection.com/

Thanks!