Tile is the most common and most practical surface for your apartment’s bathroom. The floors, walls, and shower are all ideally tiled, and luckily there are almost infinite styles of tiling to choose from. But with infinite choice comes an array of different potential price points and additional costs.
The color and shape might be up to you, but that’s just the beginning of renovating your bathroom.
What to Know About Pricing
Just to surround your shower with properly-fitted tile will set you back about $2,000 on average, and that’s just one portion of the room. There’s also backsplash to consider, and flooring, which is necessary to protect the building.
For the floor, both porcelain and ceramic tiles are popular. Both are common and durable options for wet environments, and can cost between $5 and $10 per square foot for just the tiles alone. This does not include installation costs, or the price to remove the old tile and grout. Marble, which is popular as well, costs at least $8 per square foot.
In addition to tiling your bathroom, there are other installations to consider, like the crucial elements of a toilet and a sink, on top of the bathtub, or at least a shower. You will also probably want shelving, or some type of storage, and can go as extravagant as a heated floor or towel rack.
Ultimately, tiling your bathroom will cost anywhere between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on its size and your taste in materials.
Does Size Matter?
In the US, homes under 2,000 square feet only have about 90 square feet of space allocated to bathrooms. With the average apartment size in New York City clocking in at under 900 square feet, your most important room can be lovely at about half that size.
Even if you’re currently happy with the color of the tile in your bathroom, eventually you will still need to re-tile the bathroom as grout gets old and ceramic tiles chip. Tiling itself–a crucial and understated decor choice—whether you go with classic white subway tile, or funky chartreuse penny tile—is also necessary for your bathroom to function properly and prevent warped floors.
Types of Tile Styles
Ceramic tiles, porcelain or non-porcelain, are a common choice for bathroom floors and showers. Porcelain is the more durable option of the two, as it is slightly more dense and less permeable by water. On the other hand, non-porcelain ceramic tiles are the most cost-effective way to tile your bathroom.
Mosaic tile, and penny tile, a subset of mosaic tile, are both quite popular options, and are commonly made of porcelain. They sport the durability of more traditionally shaped porcelain tiles. Black and white hexagon penny tile is popular for its classic look.
For your backsplash, you can keep it simple and match the floors with white porcelain subway tile, but glass tile is another option for a more stylized take on your bathroom. It comes in many colors and adds a dimension of depth to your backsplash, accenting the space behind the sink and along the wall. It’s highly customizable and effective at conveying your personal taste.
Options
Talk to your bathroom renovator about the types of tiling that will work best for your bathroom. There are infinite design blogs that can help you make choices about color coordinating and mixing tiles. Your renovation team will help you figure out the rest of the decisions, including finding a price that works for you.
Renovating your entire bathroom at once can mitigate the cost of remodeling, and will help ensure that your style and taste comes through. Tiling your bathroom properly is an excellent investment that is durable, lasting, and tasteful. From selecting the tile, to seeing the finished product, the process can be an exciting and rewarding journey to your perfect home bathroom.
