Wow, Jill - love that! Do you have a before pic? Would be great to post in our [Before & After[(https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/dsbr0-bd~t_28624) section!

Looks amazing! Well done :)

Wow Jill - it looks fantastic. Our house is only just starting, so seeing this has excited me again!!! I just recently started thinking that I wish I went with subway tiles, I choose a large plain white to reduce grout cleaning, but now I wish I went with the subway. Your bathroom looks amazing - hope you are enjoying nice relaxing baths.

Gorgeous

Loving your timber floors Jill, would you mind sharing what timber they are?

Love engineered oak! :)

Hi, I just picked these tiles for my bathroom but my builder is trying to convince me not to use them. He says they are way too much upkeep and will stain and I will regret it. I Really wanted to use them.. How are you finding them so far???

I've had them on my kids shower wall for around 4 years and no problem at all. I have them in my laundry with heavy traffic, no problems so far. The bathroom is less used as we all have our own shower rooms but no problems as yet. I think you have to put at least 3 coats of really good sealer on them. They do still soak up liquid unlike a porcelain tile, and you can see wet spots until they dry. But I don't mind that. I think builders don't like them as the work involved in cutting them, grouting them in, cleaning them really well and sealing them is a lot more involved than laying a porcelain tile. I wouldn't be dying my hair and rinsing off in the shower but, just incase.

Also Luella, they use them in trendy bars and restaurants now, on the floors and stairs. If they weren't hard wearing I doubt they would do that.

Luella, your builder doesn't know what he's talking about. I've sold tiles for 15 years and never heard of tiles smudging or running. They are fired at a high temp. and glazed. Bathrooms are considered soft shoe floors- a few people walking on them a few times a day. Not commercial areas with 20 people or more a day!

Chris, it sounds like you have never seen en-caustic tiles, they are neither fired nor glazed. they are a hand made tile, they are exactly what Jill has described, they are a pain in the rear to lay flat. I would like to add to Jill's comment by saying putting sealer on tiles before you lay them to make removal of any adhesive easier, would be advantageous. also remember that cleaning the tiles with any acid based cleaners will bleach colors.and if you do use an acid base cleaner you will need to reseal tiles again.

I'd also say to go with the tiles that you love but make the tiles the main feature of the bathroom. This means that all your other fixtures and fittings will complement, not compete with, the floor tiles. So make sure that the claw foot bath and particularly the chandelier are not 'over done' and are kept quite simple.

what is the the best sealer for encaustic tiles

This has also been my dilemma as I am remodeling our current home to go on the market and designing a new build. I have loved the encaustic/encaustic look tiles and wondered whether they were too trendy. I decided trend or no trend, if I pick out a pattern that makes me happy I will always have that feeling when I walk into the room. As for putting them in the remodel, anything to help sale the place is good and encaustics would be helpful at the moment. Hope this helps - JM