Last week we released a new short series on 7 tile trends that won’t last another 5 years. Watch the video here!
The first trend Rob mentions in this video: Pebble shower floors.
They have been popular for a long time. They gotta go!
Before pebbles were so popular, we saw plenty of small travertine tiles. Then homeowners started moving toward natural pebble mosaics because they created a softer, more organic look.
Don’t get me wrong, they can still look great.
But if you’re choosing a shower floor today, Rob’s advice is pretty straightforward:
We’d probably steer you away from natural pebble.
And sure, pebbles can look amazing when they’re freshly installed, the question is: will they look pretty 5 years from now?
Natural Stone Changes With Use
We’ve talked about this.
Most pebble shower floors are natural stone, and natural stone is porous.
That means the material can absorb moisture and other contaminants if it isn’t properly protected and maintained.
One place we particularly watch is around the drain.
That area naturally sees a lot of water, and over time you may begin noticing discoloration or staining in the stone surrounding it.
Is that guaranteed to happen in every pebble shower?
No.
As Rob points out in the video, a lot depends on how heavily the shower is used and how well the stone is maintained.
But it is enough of a possibility that we want homeowners to understand the tradeoff before choosing the material.
Pebbles Also Mean a Lot of Grout
A traditional tile shower floor has grout joints.
A pebble shower floor has a whole lot of them.
Every irregular stone has grout surrounding it, which means the finished surface contains considerably more grout than many other shower-floor options.
That can contribute to the maintenance conversation too.
If you love the natural look and are willing to stay on top of cleaning and sealing where appropriate, that may be completely acceptable.
But if your goal is a shower floor that requires as little maintenance as possible, there are easier choices.
You Can Still Get an Organic Look
Steering away from pebble doesn’t mean the shower has to feel sterile.
There are plenty of mosaics available in porcelain and ceramic that introduce texture, movement, warm colors, and natural-looking patterns without relying on actual river stone.
Small-format porcelain mosaics also work well with the slope of a shower floor and can provide plenty of design interest.
The important thing is to think beyond how the sample looks today.
Ask yourself:
What is this going to look like after five years of daily showers?
That’s really the point behind calling this a trend we might regret.
Don’t get me wrong, pebble floors aren’t automatically bad, and if you genuinely love them, we’re not going to tell you that you aren’t allowed to have one.
You do need to understand the potential risks that come with that, and what to expect in 5 years based on what we’ve seen.
Thank you for reading!
Here’s another article where we wrote more on this topic.