Top 5 Tile Must-Haves for the Perfect Bathroom

Incorporate these top 5 most-desired tile features for a bathroom with lasting appeal.

If you are planning a bathroom redesign, you may be feeling overwhelmed by all your options. While the bathroom is a great place to showcase your personal style, if you want to also ensure that your bathroom choices further the lasting appeal and resale value of your home, consider incorporating these 5 tile must-haves.

Heated Tile Flooring

Ceramic tile flooring is the number one consumer choice for the bathroom, according to a survey from the National Kitchen and Bath Association. The only drawback to this durable, easy-to-clean flooring is that it can be chilly on bare feet. Fortunately, this drawback is easy to remedy more affordably than you might think. Rather than tearing up the bathroom subfloor completely to install a radiant heat system, you can simply pull up your existing tile and lay down thin electric heat mats that cost just $5 to $15 per square foot installed. This makes for an ultra-efficient and luxurious way to heat the bathroom.

Non-Slip Tile

Obviously, non-slip tile is essential for any flooring application. It is even more important to get a tile with a high coefficient of friction (COF) in the bathroom, where floors often become wet, which increases the slip factor. Look for a COF of 0.60 or greater to keep kids and older folks safe from slip and falls in the bathroom.

Non-Staining Grout

Another must-have for your bathroom tile is a non-staining grout. New formulas made from epoxy are getting better and better at retaining their original color over time, as well as resisting cracking and peeling. Epoxy grout is a bit more expensive, but the improved performance and ease of cleaning is well worth it.

Curbless Walk-In Shower

One bathroom feature that is becoming more and more popular is a curbless shower. In this type of shower, the shower floor and the bathroom floor are one continuous tile surface with no steps or ledges. The shower area is typically set off with a sleek glass door. This type of shower not only adds nice flowing lines to your bathroom but also increases your home’s appeal to aging buyers who appreciate the safety of a curbless walk-in shower.

Soothing Colors

One final must-have for a bathroom design that will have enduring appeal is a soothing color palette. Using neutral tones or pale, cool colors will help enhance the appeal of the bathroom as a spa-like space for relaxation and pampering.