How to Choose Bathroom Tiles You Won't Regret in 3 Years

Tiles dominate the look of a bathroom, take up most of the materials budget, and stay cemented in place for the next decade. Get them right and the room ages well. Get them wrong and you wince every morning.

Porcelain vs ceramic

Porcelain and ceramic look similar in the showroom. They behave differently once installed.

Porcelain

• Water absorption under 0.5 percent. Effectively waterproof.
• Harder, more scratch resistant.
• ฿800 to ฿2,500 per sqm.
• The right choice for floors and any wet area.

Ceramic

• Water absorption of 3 to 7 percent. Fine on walls, risky on floors.
• Wider range of colors and patterns.
• ฿300 to ฿800 per sqm.
• Works well on walls and dry surfaces.

The default for Bangkok bathrooms: porcelain on the floor, ceramic on the walls. Bangkok humidity tests ceramic floors before any water hits them.

Tile sizes

Bigger tiles look more modern, but they are not always the right call.

• 30x30 cm. Best for small bathrooms of 3 to 4 sqm. Easier to slope toward the drain, which matters more than aesthetics in a tight space.
• 60x60 cm. The default for most Bangkok condos. Few enough grout lines to look clean, small enough to fit awkward corners without heavy cutting.
• 60x120 cm. Looks impressive in a large bathroom. Costs more in waste, takes longer to install, and the contractor charges accordingly.

For a typical 4 to 8 sqm condo bathroom, 60x60 cm is the safe choice.

Color choices that age well

• Light colors (white, light grey, cream). The room feels larger and cleaner. Hard to regret in five years.
• Dark colors (charcoal, black). Stunning in photos. In daily use, every water spot and soap splash shows. Plan to wipe constantly.
• Wood-look porcelain. Warm and natural in a bathroom, as long as the tile is good quality. Cheap wood-look tiles read as plastic.
• Marble-look porcelain. All the visual weight of marble without the maintenance. The most popular choice in mid to premium Bangkok condos right now.

Four rules from contractors

1. Order 10 to 15 percent extra. Some tiles break in transit, some get cut into corners, and one always lands face down on the floor. You also want spares for repairs. Finding the same lot number in three years is unlikely.
2. Check lot numbers across boxes. Tiles from different production batches can have visible color differences when laid side by side.
3. Floor tiles need an R10 rating or higher. Slip resistance matters when you step out of a shower at six in the morning.
4. Use dark grout, not white. White grout looks pristine for two weeks and grimy for the next ten years. Dark grey grout looks the same on day one and year five.

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Want to see the tile you are considering in your actual bathroom before buying? HandyMango renders your bathroom with the materials you choose, so you can decide before any tile is ordered.

See your bathroom in a rendering