Bathroom Tile to the ceiling vs to chair height

i am sure you will get a zillion different opinions!!! i have floor to ceiling, windowless but a bigger bathroom in this apt. If it were me i would ask them if they could take to one to see, even if it not the same size or hunt through magazines to see how it would look. Maybe one side all tile and the other the half way??

I don't like the look at all of tile all the way up, esp. in a small bathroom. Do tile to ceiling around tub, and halfway up everywhere else.

Is this an ensuite bath?

almost ensuite, there is a dressing room between the bath and bedroom

Even if you tile to ceiling, steam creates problems on the ceiling, which is usually not cement board (make sure they use cement board, and not wonderboard). For this reason, if it's an ensuite bath, I always leave the door open while taking a shower.

Tiling floor to ceiling is an upscale look. It's more expensive because nice tile costs money. But if you can afford it I think it definitely adds value. I did mosaic spa tile up to the ceiling and it looks gorgeous.

My 1936 Deco building (with nine foot ceilings) had all four walls of subway tile from the floor up to seven feet. The remaining two feet was painted wall.

I think up to seven feet (or six feet, if the ceilings are only eight feet) looks better than floor to ceiling or chair height. Chair height looks like you cheaped out, and floor to ceiling CAN feel kind of mausoleum-ish.

The nice thing about leaving two feet of wall near the ceiling is that you can use this space for your splash of color. With a white ceiling and white subway tile (I recommend a black tile border near the top of the tile, but not AT the top -- especially if the floor is black and white tile), and white fixtures, the white can be a little overwhelming. That two feet of space for a splash of your favorite color helps balance it out. And when you get tired of the color, painting only the top two feet of the walls, up and away from all the fixtures of the bathroom, is much easier than painting MOST of the walls.

I would totally disagree with NYCMatt -leaving 2 ft at the top of the wall would TOTALLY look like you cheaped out and very strange. much more usual to do the chair height. You could also do all tile, but with a border pattern at the top 2-3 feet. So much of thhis is personal taste.

I'd tile all the way up, and tile the ceiling itself. Then you don't have to worry about paint again, except for the door. Towels for color.

nyc10023 - "make sure they use cement board, and not wonderboard"
Wonderboard is cement board, no?

You're right, I meant greenboard. Try to get your contractors to use cement board everywhere in the bathroom, instead of just the shower area.

They'll charge extra for it, of course, since it's considerably more expensive than regular drywall.

It's worth it, IMO. I would also suggest cement board behind the sink in kitchen area. Call me paranoid.

Yeah, two feet untiled at the top would look ridiculous.

My first preference would be to the ceiling, with a big (half a foot or a bit more in height) horizontal stripe of black (if white main tiles) or a complementary color (if colored main tiles), at least along one of the long walls. Like halfway up between the sink and the mirror/medcab. And as many other walls as you like. Use a different size tile. Like if you're using subway tiles for the main, use swimming pool tiles for the accent stripe. The point to the whole thing being to balance the verticality with some horizontal.

My next preference would be to shoulder height, except of course in the shower.

As for steam, I think you can get a superquiet on-all-the-time fan built into the vent duct, hidden entirely behind your existing grate. This will also prevent mold and odors from other apartments making their way into yours.

I always renovate bathrooms leaving un-tiled space enough in the walls so I can hang art (usually ephemeral, or pieces that can take the humidity). I personally dislike the look of completely tiled bathrooms. Too sterile.

columbiacounty, tell us again about the window in the bathroom shower of your rental that set you flying off your handle.

Just did 2 bathrooms, baby shower height, master to ceiling. Without question, if you can afford to pay for the extra tile, do to the ceiling.

depends on the building construction. many pre war buildings "breath" through out the year meaning the walls move, expand, contract, etc. If this is the case with your building do not tile the entire wall and the ceiling, if you do you will get massive cracks and gaps. Older buildings that move leave space near the ceiling and the tub for expansion.

"Yeah, two feet untiled at the top would look ridiculous."

You're only saying that to be contrary to me.

And if that looks "ridiculous", then most of the prewar buildings in this city had "ridiculous" bathrooms.

Matt, I grew up in a prewar, as did all of my friends growing up, and I've never seen the tiling arrangement you describe. Not even in the 1920s buildings. Unless you mean just the tub surround.

of course...yet another figment of matt's imagination.

on this topic, does anyone know a good supplier for bathroom tile?

I go to the bigger showrooms in Manhattan (Nemo, Ann Sacks, Cancos, Artistic Tile, Waterworks, Walker Zanger, Bella Tile) and then see if I can get a better price for the same thing in Bk/Queens.

I particularly like Nemo for looking (and I'm not sure their pricing is so bad).

There's a place in the Bronx that's legendary for great prices (less so for showrooms), but I can't remember the name. And you're welcome for that very useful lead!!!

There are (or were 2 yrs ago) lots of no-name tile places in the College Point area in Queens. For the more common stuff, price is unbeatable. There's also Classic Tile in Bk. Some stuff is truly custom to the higher-end places in Manhattan, and if you're talking about a small bathroom, labor far exceeds cost of material (btw, they should sell to your contractor/designer at trade prices).

i like nemo. i got very good pricing from them. probably could have done better price-wise elsewhere, but definitely didn't feel overcharged.

I should mention that online can be much cheaper as well, if you're looking for very standard stuff. Quality can be an issue.

Pricing is great at Nemo but you can't beat the service at Bella. They're just lovely over there.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

This is the place in the Bronx:
http://www.qualitytilecorp.com/

A total zoo ... don't expect servile salespeople. They're mostly used to dealing with contractors, but can be helpful once you pin one down to deal with you.

Also, I received invaluable advice from a tilist who was shopping there [1. fire-engine red glaze is extremely difficult to produce, and prone to chipping thereafter; 2. penny-round tiles are very difficult to install with even spacing on floors, and nearly impossible on backsplash, where I wanted them (in fire-engine red, of course)].

Personally, I like it with a foot or two left at the top, espcially if its white subway tile, you can add a nice color, otherwise it looks too institutional--thats my 2 cents

Nemo is good

thanks all for the leads on suppliers.. much appreciated.

this thread is very helpful, as I too am not sure whether to tile all the way up the walls or halfway as my contractor suggests. We have a small windowless bathroom. what did you decide to do in the end and how did it turn out?

Goldvonsimson,

We renovate bathrooms all the time, this is a personal preference but I like the tile going all the way to the ceiling. I think it is a cleaner look. Again just my opinion

Floor-to-ceiling is definitely a cleaner look, but it does make it more difficult to hang shelving later or install a wall phone.

I think it depends on the style you're going for. You usually see subway tile in a pre-war bathroom go up half way, and more contemporary and larger tiles go all the way. Check out houzz.com. You can get very specific with the search (like "subway tile bathroom") and you get to see tons of great examples.

We recently gut renovated our bathroom. We tiled to walls to the ceiling, and tiled the ceiling in the shower as well. Came out great, but after short use, we realize we are having condensation problems in the ceiling next to the shower as well as in a soffit next to the shower. The condensation is probably worse than usual because of the ceiling soffits (building pipes) as well as fact that the shower floor is elevated (shower was moved to the other side of the bathroom, and thus has a smaller venting surface at the top).

The bathroom has a window, but I tried leaving it open and the condensation does not seem to get much better. I rather not leave the door open because it opens into our walk-in closet

We may never be able to get rid of the condensation problem. I was thinking of having the rest of the ceiling tiled - that is, leave no exposed wall. The tiles are white glass anyway. At least if there is condensation/mold, is easy to clean as opposed to the painted wall. Any thoughts? Besides cosmetics, are there any issues in tiling the whole bathroom I am aware off? Thanks in advance

What about a de-humidifier? I used that in a bathroom with condensation problems complicated by living close to the water front.

Surely, your bathroom has a vent? some sort of vent leading to a chimney to the building, no?

I am about to install a panasonic 290cfm exhaust vent into a windowless bathroom, which probably only needs 150cfm's. I hate condensation, steam, and stink in a bathroom, which I am hoping this high powered exhaust vent will solve...

Just some food for thought.

I read somewhere that the building maintains a negative pressure in this chimney by having another exhaust vent leading out the roof to the atmosphere.

No vent. The bathroom has a window (28" wide). Not enough room for a de-humidified, even if it could work.

I had this problem. It was a gut renovated bathroom. There was a "vent" above the shower, but it seemed to barely remove steam. Our showerhead is amazing (Speakman 8) and that made the steam problems all that much worse. After a shower, there was a huge amount of steam. I wasn't worried about the ceiling so much as I found it to be unpleasant. Even with the bathroom door open it could still get a steamy in there.

Recently I had someone install a Panasonic 150 (?) cfm vent. It is much larger than needed for our bathroom. It connected through the ceiling to the "vent" above my shower. Now I can use the shower at full power and there is no steam. Simply amazing.

FYI with the panasonic the only hiccup is that you can't use standard timer switches. They have their own switch. So after some trial and error, I just installed a regular (non-timer) switch.

I wish I could add one of these, but there is no vent in this bathroom because of the window and is too late to break stuff again. Anyone has experience with a completely tiled bathroom? I guess would be like a steam room? I am thinking the tiles are a lot easier to clean than painted walls

I just looked at our bathroom which has a window but no vent. Realized that the shower had at some point been a steam shower (no longer functional) and that the shower doors are full height, so basically steam does not escape to the rest of the room, which never gets steamed up. Should note that the shower ceiling is mirrored (don't ask, not our doing) but tiles should work the same way.

mirrored shower ceiling? @-@
**applause**

Possibilities are ENDLESS !!! ;P

what about a towel warmer?

Somewhat surprising that opening the window does not work. You could put a window fan in the window -- they make ones that install like window a/c units with accordion sides, that have a fan and exhaust setting, but likely will be chilly in the winter. All you really need to get the steam out the window is some air pressure from inside -- if you have a ceiling light fixture, you can replace with a ceiling fan and the fan likely will push the steam out the window when open.

Most buildings in Manhattan will not let you attach anything to their existing vent. I would say 90% of of clients as well as the designers and architects I work with choose to tile up to the ceiling. My least favorite (I have renovated at least 100 bathrooms) is to tile up the wall and stop 2 feet before the ceiling. We also have recessed tile when going up to 4 feet. It is a very clean look. Click the link and go to the picture 8,9 and 10 to see what I am talking about

http://primerenovationsnyc.com/gallery/

Primer,
Only 1 picture of the dark slate bathroom do I see the whole ceiling tiled. Any pros/cons about tiling the whole ceiling, including any soffits? The wall tiles are already up to the ceiling/soffit. Thanks

UESprospect,

We only tile the ceiling if we are installing a steam shower. I don't think there are any pro's or con's. asthetically I do not like it.