Working out how to choose tiles for a bathroom or kitchen comes down to four decisions: the material, the slip rating, the size and the grout. Get those right and the colour will look after itself.
Most people start with the look and end up disappointed. A tile that photographs beautifully can be slippery underfoot, impossible to keep clean, or simply wrong for a wet floor. Here is the order to think in.
Ceramic or porcelain: the first real decision
Both are fired clay. The difference is density, and it changes where each one belongs.
- Ceramic: softer, more porous, easier to cut, cheaper. Fine for walls and light-traffic floors.
- Porcelain: fired hotter and denser, absorbs under 0.5% water, much harder wearing. The default for floors, wet areas and outdoors.
Ceramic material costs sit around R80 to R250 per m2, with porcelain around R200 to R500 per m2 and natural stone from R600 upwards. Porcelain is also harder to cut, so its labour rate is slightly higher.
Where each one makes sense
- Bathroom walls: ceramic is perfectly fine and cheaper
- Bathroom and shower floors: porcelain, with a proper slip rating
- Kitchen floors: porcelain, for dropped pans and constant traffic
- Kitchen splashbacks: ceramic, easy to wipe and easy to cut around plugs
- Patios, stoeps and balconies: porcelain rated for outdoors and frost
In coastal Cape Town homes porcelain has an extra advantage: it barely absorbs moisture, which matters when damp and salt air are constants.
Slip rating: the part people skip
Every floor tile should have a slip rating, and it is the one spec worth insisting on for a wet area.
- R9: dry indoor areas only
- R10: the sensible baseline for a bathroom or kitchen floor
- R11: better for shower floors, outdoor areas and ramps
- R12 and up: heavy duty and commercial use
Some suppliers quote a DCOF figure instead. As a rule of thumb, 0.42 or higher is the accepted minimum for a floor that gets wet.
Polished porcelain and gloss ceramic look superb and become dangerous when wet. If you love the polished look, keep it on the walls and use a matt or textured tile on the floor.
A quick note on small children and older parents
If anyone in the house is unsteady on their feet, treat the bathroom floor as a safety decision rather than a design one. R11 with a small format in the shower tray gives more grout lines and better grip.
Tile size, layout and how the room feels
Size changes the feel of a room more than colour does.
- Large tiles mean fewer grout lines and a calmer, bigger-looking room, but need a very flat substrate
- Standard 300×300 to 600×600 suits most bathrooms and is the easiest to fit well
- Small format and mosaics follow a shower fall properly and grip better underfoot
- Rectangular formats can visually stretch a narrow room if run the right way
Watch the cuts. In a small room, a big tile can leave slivers along one wall. A tiler who sets out properly will centre the layout so the cuts land evenly and out of sight.
Grout: the cheapest thing that ruins a bathroom
Grout is a few hundred rand on a job and it is what most people complain about two years later. Tile and adhesive standards are published by the South African Bureau of Standards.
- Cement grout: standard, affordable, needs sealing in wet areas
- Epoxy grout: waterproof and stain-resistant, costs more and takes longer to apply
- Sanded vs unsanded: sanded for wider joints, unsanded for narrow ones and polished tiles
- Silicone, not grout, in every internal corner and where tile meets bath or tray
That last point matters. Corners move slightly. Grout in a corner cracks. Flexible silicone there is standard practice, not a shortcut.
Grout colour, honestly
Bright white grout on a shower floor will not stay white. A mid grey or a shade close to the tile hides normal wear and still looks deliberate. Dark grout with light tiles is a strong look but shows every uneven joint, so it needs a tidy tiler.
Before you buy: a short checklist
- Measure the area and add 10% for wastage, more for diagonal layouts
- Buy the whole quantity in one batch so shade codes match
- Confirm the slip rating for anything on a floor
- Check the tile is rated for the location – indoor, outdoor, wall or floor
- Take a sample home and look at it in your own light, wet and dry
- Decide grout colour and type at the same time, not afterwards
Also budget for waterproofing in wet areas. It sits under the tile, you never see it, and it is the difference between a bathroom that lasts and one that leaks into the room below. If tile is not the only option you are weighing, the flooring installation Cape Town guide sets out the alternatives.
How to choose tiles with help from a tiler
Bring photos of the room and a rough budget to the showroom and the conversation gets much shorter. Tell them where the tile is going before you look at anything – a good sales assistant will steer you away from the wrong specification quickly.
Coastal homes have extra considerations around moisture and salt, covered in our notes on the best flooring for Cape Town’s coastal climate.
We help clients pick and fit tile every week through our flooring and tiling service, including waterproofing and full bathroom retiles. Assessments are free and there is no call-out fee – send us your room details and we will advise on specification before you spend anything.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use ceramic or porcelain tiles in a bathroom?
Use porcelain on the floor and ceramic on the walls if you want to balance cost and durability. Porcelain absorbs under 0.5% water and stands up to traffic, which is what a wet floor needs. Ceramic is cheaper and easier to cut, which makes it well suited to walls where wear is not a factor.
What slip rating do I need for a bathroom floor?
R10 is the sensible baseline for a bathroom or kitchen floor, and R11 is safer for a shower floor or an outdoor area. If your supplier quotes DCOF instead, look for 0.42 or higher. Polished porcelain and gloss ceramic are attractive but slippery when wet, so keep them on the walls.
What size tiles should I use in a small bathroom?
Standard 300×300 to 600×600 works well and is easiest to fit neatly. Larger tiles can make a small room feel bigger because of fewer grout lines, but they need a very flat substrate and can leave awkward slivers along one wall. In the shower tray, small format or mosaic follows the fall far better.
Is epoxy grout worth the extra cost?
In a shower or a kitchen splashback, often yes. Epoxy grout is waterproof and resists staining without needing sealing, so it stays looking clean much longer. It costs more and takes longer to apply, so many homeowners use epoxy in the wet areas and standard cement grout everywhere else.
How much extra tile should I buy?
Allow at least 10% over the measured area for cuts and breakages, and more for diagonal or herringbone layouts where offcuts are less reusable. Buy the entire quantity in one order so the shade codes match, and keep a few spares afterwards for repairs – discontinued tiles are very hard to match later.