Two tips for homeowners who want their new bathrooms to be low-maintenance

Here are two tips for homeowners who want their new bathrooms to be low-maintenance.

They should opt for smooth bathroom tiles instead of embossed ones

One simple step a homeowner can take to ensure their new bathroom is easy to maintain is to have their contractor use smooth bathroom tiles in this space, instead of embossed ones. Whilst the latter can be beautiful, they are not the most optimal choice for a bathroom that belongs to someone who does not want to spend hours of time cleaning it each week. The reason for this is that embossed tiles have grooves that debris gets trapped in very easily.

As such, if a homeowner decides to use embossed tiles when renovating their bathroom (an area of a home where people are likely to regularly splatter things like toothpaste, hair products, mouthwash and skincare onto the tiles that are near the sink, the tub or the shower), these tiles' grooves will quickly become encrusted with this debris. Furthermore, the mildew that tends to form on bathroom tiles will also find its way into any embossed tiles' indentations.

To sanitise these tiles, the homeowner would need to use tiny, hard-bristled brushes to scrape the debris out of their grooves. In a frequently-used bathroom that gets particularly dirty, this could take many hours. In contrast, if a person instructs their contractor to use smooth tiles, that are free of deep grooves, the aforementioned bathroom debris won't get encrusted into them, but instead will remain on their surface, where it can quickly be removed with a few minutes of cleaning.

They should add tiles to as much of each wall in the bathroom as they can

Whilst having a contractor tile most or all of a bathroom's walls is usually more expensive than painting them, the former is likely to create a bathroom that is much easier for the homeowner to maintain. As explained above, a bathroom's surfaces are likely to get splattered with all kinds of toiletries. When products like face oils, hair dye and toothpaste get onto a painted wall, it takes time, effort and, in some cases, a fresh coat of paint, to remove or disguise the stains, as the painted surface is not very stain-resistant and so usually absorbs any liquid that lands on it.

Conversely, because bathroom wall tiles are usually sealed, they are non-porous and, therefore, highly stain-resistant. This means that if someone gets a few drops of their face cream or hair dye on one of the bathroom tiles, it's extremely unlikely to leave a permanent stain (even if they wait quite some time to clean the area) and result in the tile having to be replaced or resealed.

For more information about bathroom tiles, contact a local supplier.