Running Bond Tile Shower Walls

This is a clean and classic layout for subway tiles on walls and floors.

Running bond tile shower walls.

For our shower we chose a running bond pattern. It offers a classic look when using traditional tile materials such as subway tile or marble but it looks just as good with more contemporary porcelain or glass tile as well. Tile showers should not only be leakproof they should look good. Determine how much tile you ll need.

Measure each wall area calculating the width times height. Also known as a running bond this common brickwork pattern has each tile start at the center of the tile below it. You ll need a design plan before you start attaching the tile. On this project i ve protected against leaks by substituting densshield for drywall and using a liquid membrane to waterproof the floor all seams at corners and niches and all fasteners.

This creates a staggered but cohesive look. The next step is to set the 8x12 inch porcelain wall tile in a running bond or brick pattern so that it looks good and stays put. Stretcher bond uses square or rectangular tiles that are laid like bricks in a wall. You ll see it really often used for subway tile like here in nicole ben s eclectic family pad in western australia but you can lay square tiles or more unusual shapes in a running bond as well.

In this video i go through the layout process i used to figure out how to install my subway tile on a 1 3 running bond pattern. The center of each tile is lined up with the edge of the tile above it. Since it is a staggered tile layout the edges of the tiles don t line up in a straight line. The tile was a 12 x4 subway.

Scott has been completely 100 percent against it for years and so throughout every bathroom and kitchen we ve ever tackled we continue to use the more traditional running bond. The running bond pattern is popular for kitchen backsplashes flooring shower walls and bathroom wainscoting. Brick look tiles in this layout create an industrial vibe in your space. I ve wanted to implement a stack bond tile pattern tile that is literally stacked on top of one another as opposed to a staggered or running bond pattern for a long time.

The running bond tile pattern is a secret tool you can use to keep things like uneven surfaces crooked walls small differences in tile sizes along with other imperfections hidden from view. Add up the wall areas and add 10 so you have extra tile for mistakes or future repairs.