Bathroom floor tiles.

AS 4586 is the standard. Residential wet areas require R10 minimum on the floor. Commercial wet areas step up to R11. Pool surrounds use the wet pendulum test: P3 for residential, P5 for commercial. These are not suggestions; they are referenced by the National Construction Code.

Finish determines rating. Matte and textured finishes typically achieve R10 or higher. Honed finishes sit on the borderline and need to be confirmed product by product. Polished tiles almost never reach R10. If a polished tile claims a floor rating, check the test certificate carefully.

Large format in small bathrooms. Larger tiles make small bathrooms feel larger. A 600×600 or 600×1200 floor in a four-square-metre ensuite reduces grout lines and produces a calmer, more spacious read than a small mosaic. Plan the fall to waste with a linear drain.

Matching floor and wall. Running the same tile on floor and wall creates the spa look. The catch: the floor version must be R10 rated, even when the wall version isn't. The most common approach is a large-format wall tile (600×1200 polished) with the matching matte R10 version on the floor.

Falls to the drain. Australian Standards require a 1:100 fall minimum to the waste. Smaller tiles handle this fall naturally, since each tile sits flat and the slope happens at the joints. Large-format tiles require either a linear drain at one edge or careful planning with multiple falls.

Ordering. Calculate the floor area, add 10% wastage for straight layouts and 15% for diagonal or hexagon. Order the full quantity from a single batch. Talk to a tile expert →