Tile for walls,
showers and
backsplashes

Flooring Correct sells wall tile at its Wentzville showroom, 15570 Veterans Memorial Pkwy, for showers, tub surrounds, backsplashes and feature walls. Formats run from 2X2 mosaic sheets to 24X24 field tile, and the wall samples sit beside the floor samples so the two can be compared. Call 636-332-0654.

What changes when tile turns vertical

The tile is the same product. The test it has to pass is not. A floor tile is judged on wear and wet grip because it gets walked on. A wall tile is not walked on, so the PEI wear class and the DCOF slip number stop driving the choice, and glaze, color and format take over. That is why the wall selection runs wider than the floor selection.

What starts mattering instead is weight and format. A 24X24 porcelain covers four times the area of a 12X12 and carries the weight to match, piece by piece, on a surface that has nothing but mortar holding it. That is a question to raise at the counter while the sample is still in your hand, because it can change which format suits the room.

A wall is also looked at from three feet away, under light that rakes across it. A floor is seen from six feet up and mostly walked over. The same small variation reads differently in the two places, so a wall sample is worth holding upright against the actual wall rather than laid flat on a table.

Large format on a wall

12X24 is the working size on walls. Laid horizontally it stretches a narrow bath. Stood vertically it lifts a shower. Adella Viso Gris 12X24, Fitch Cloud 12X24, Pietra Dassisi Bianco 12X24 Natural and the Kaleido Sp range in Beige, Cappuccino and Grigio all sit in that size, so once the color is settled the orientation is the last open question.

Bigger goes to Lefka Sand Natural 24X24, with Pietra Dassisi Beige 16X16 Natural sitting between the two. Fewer joints means less grout to clean and a quieter wall. Two costs come with it. The wall behind a large tile has to be flat, because a hump a floor would hide shows as lippage on a wall lit from the side. And a small bathroom turns big pieces into more cuts and more waste, so the box count climbs. Both are worth working out before an order goes in.

Mosaic sheets and the 2X2

Sheet mounted mosaic goes where a large tile cannot follow: a niche, a curb, a shower floor pitched to a drain, an accent band at eye level. Lefka Goldwalnutsand Natural 2X2 Mosaic, Pietra Dassisi Ocra 2X2 Natural and Pietra Dassisi Rosso 2X2 Natural cover that job, and Pietra Dassisi Noce 3X12 Natural gives a band without going to a mosaic at all.

Grout turns into a design decision at that size. A sheet of 2X2 carries many times the joint length of a 12X24, so grout color acts as a second field color. Matched grout keeps the area quiet. Contrast grout turns it into pattern. Both are easy to judge with the field tile standing next to the sheet under the showroom lights.

Where the slip rating still counts

Slip numbers stop mattering on the wall and start mattering again the moment the tile turns the corner and becomes a floor. A shower floor is a floor. So is the bathroom floor in front of the vanity, wet feet and all. That is one reason small formats keep showing up on shower floors: more joints across the same area gives more texture underfoot than one large panel does.

The part that does not reverse is worth remembering. A porcelain rated for floor use can usually run up a wall as well. A tile made for walls should not be carried down onto the floor unless its rating says so. Check the manufacturer's rating for the surface the tile is going on, and check it before the boxes are ordered rather than after.

One line, several formats

Pietra Dassisi Natural runs 2X2, 3X12, 8X8, 8X16, 12X24 and 16X16 across Beige, Bianco, Grigio, Noce, Ocra and Rosso. That is useful on a wall, where the field, the niche and the band can be three sizes of one tile instead of three near matches from three lines. Kaleido Sp does the same thing with color, holding a single 12X24 format across Beige, Cappuccino and Grigio.

Wet walls are a waterproofing question first

Tile is not waterproof and cement grout is not waterproof. In a shower or a tub surround, what keeps the wall dry sits behind the tile: the membrane or waterproof board, the treated seams and corners, and the way the pan is built. The tile is the finish over the top of that assembly.

It reaches the selection because tile thickness, trim pieces and niche size have to suit whatever that assembly turns out to be. Bring the plan for it, or the name of whoever set it, when you come to look at tile. It narrows the formats worth pricing.

Where wall tile ends up

• Shower walls and tub surrounds, usually a 12X24 field with a 2X2 mosaic for the niche and the shower floor.
• Kitchen backsplashes, where the tile answers to the counter and the cabinets before it answers to the floor.
• Feature walls and fireplace surrounds, where a 24X24 keeps joints out of the way of the material.
• Wainscot in a powder room or a mudroom, usually in a color that ties back to the floor.

Seeing it in the showroom

Tile here comes from Virginia Tile, DalTile, MSI and Emser. Wall samples sit next to the floor samples, so a wall tile and a floor tile can be judged in the same light rather than on two screens a month apart. Flooring Correct is family owned. Jonah Paup trained more than 25 years under his father Bobby, and the Paup family has been in flooring since the early 70s.

The showroom is at 15570 Veterans Memorial Pkwy in Wentzville, open Monday through Thursday 9:00 to 5:30, Friday 10:00 to 4:00 and Saturday 9:00 to 2:00. Free estimates, in home measure and professional installation apply to flooring. For anything to do with a wall surface, call 636-332-0654 and ask first.