In short, pebble shower floors are affordable, easy to install, and slip and skid-resistant. However, some of its cons include that it requires expertise to install and a proper maintenance routine.
Whether you’re renovating your entire home or you just want to give your bathroom a different look, there are all different types of flooring you can explore. One of the best types of shower floors is stone pebble flooring.
But, before you start checking out the design trends here, you should first know all about the pebble shower floor pros and cons. This is because even though having a pebble stone floor bathroom is a popular choice at the moment, it might not be right for you due to several reasons.
So, by knowing pebble shower floor pros and cons before going down this route, you’ll be able to tell for sure if you’ve found the right flooring type for you or if you still need to check out other bathroom flooring options.
Before diving deeper into all that the different types of pebbles for your shower entails, here are some of the most popular pebble stones being used in bathrooms at the moment!
1. White Jade Flat Natural Pebble Stone Mosaic Tile
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In many ways, this product brings out all the beauty of pebble mosaic tile floors in the bathroom with little flaws.
To start with, the beauty of the natural materials used for these pebble stones gives it an overall naturalistic finish that’s sure to go with any décor style you might have in mind. It’s also perfect for outdoor showers.
In addition to the fact that it comes with minimal installation costs, you won’t have to spend so much on additional maintenance as this beautiful shower floor is built to last!
Altogether, using these products in your bathroom design is an excellent choice for homeowners who want something simple yet elegant.
Pros
- Truly aesthetic
- Cost of materials and stone flooring installation is relatively affordable
- Highly durable
- Very low water absorption rate
- Doesn’t require frequent maintenance
Cons
- Toughness of these pebble tiles on the shower floor can be challenging to get used to at first
- May shift out of configuration sometimes, giving the bathroom floor a bumpy surface or uneven floor feel
2. Hominter Glazed Porcelain Tile Shower
- First-quality porcelain tile for floor and wall use, almost zero water absorption, is marginally skid resistant.
Another great product guaranteed to transform your bathroom environment into a truly beautiful environment is the Hominter Glazed Porcelain Tile Shower.
With this tile, you don’t have to worry about skidding. This is one reason why we consider the Hominter a wonderful choice for cautious homeowners who want to reduce bathroom accidents.
Another thing that’s sure to make you fall in love with this clean pebble-like shower floor is that its water absorption rate is almost zero. This not only makes it even safer, but it means that proper maintenance will be even easier.
In addition to offering you a very beautiful finish, these pebble floor tiles are highly resistant to abrasion. The amazing part is that it provides you with all these benefits in a manner that’s not cost-prohibitive.
So, if you want pebble stones that’ll give you a solid footing, brilliant texture, and transformed bathroom surfaces, you’ll find it tough to do better than this product!
Pros
- Highly resistant to water damage and moisture damage
- Very low water retention
- Affordable flooring option
- Vibrant array of colors adds splendid patterns to your bathroom environment
- Offers adequate texture and excellent traction
- Comes with excellent packaging, limiting the risk of damage to the pebble stones while in transit
Cons
- Extra care needs to be taken during installation
- Requires lots of grout
3. DOEWORKS Shower Floor Tiles
- These pebble bricks are composed of 3/8" thick of natural stones which made these tiles very neat and beautiful.
Another type of stone you can rely on for your bathroom remodels is DOEWORKS Shower Floor Tiles.
Beyond coming with the numerous basic perks of having a pebble stone shower floor, using these particular tile shower floor pebbles in your bathroom has a lot of advantages.
Made of 3/8” thick natural stones, these pebbles give bathroom surfaces an especially modern and refined natural finish. These black stones also offer splendid patterns that can redefine the character and aura of any space they are placed in.
After proper installation, these mosaic floors have a smooth yet firm grip, ensuring you have the right level of traction without having the uneven edges of the stones digging into the tender soles of your feet.
What’s more, the attractive floor finish of these pebbles can be leveraged beyond the bathroom as they can also work great in pool surroundings and gardens!
Pros
- Surface of the pebbles has a perfect finish that’s slip-resistant
- Impervious to moisture damage and deals with excess water efficiently
- Natural stone flooring can’t only be used in the bathroom both in other areas of the home
- Very beautiful bathroom tile flooring visage
- Good value for money
- Remarkably easy to clean and maintain
Cons
- Choice of colors is vastly limited
- Type of tile isn’t as resistant to skids as many of its counterparts
Understanding Pebble Shower Floors
One question we often hear from homeowners is, “Do we really need to know pebble shower floor pros and cons?” The short answer is yes!
Pebble shower floors are one of the highest bathroom design trends at the moment, but you have to look beyond that if you want to find one with a lasting look and feel. In light of just how important the bathroom is, it’s even more crucial to move with caution.
With this in mind, here are some things you should know before you opt for a pebble stone floor in the shower!
What Is a Pebble Bathroom Floor Type?
A pebble shower tile or floor isn’t like other floor types.
Since natural stone or natural materials are used for a pebble tile floor, the biggest advantage to getting one is that it gives your bathroom a very zen look and feel.
Just like with other floor types, there are different types of pebbles you can go for. These pebble stones can vary in everything from color and design to shape and size. As a result, you can’t adopt a one-size-fits-all approach here.
As such, you need to consider more than just your bathroom floors when making this decision. Your choice for shower floors with pebble stones should also factor in variables like your intended design and the extent of your shower interior.
When it comes to pebble stone shower flooring, what every homeowner ultimately wants to know is whether they are good or bad.
While it’s important to remember that it all depends on your personal preference, knowing the advantages and disadvantages of this floor type can also help inform your decision.
Without further ado, here are the pros and cons of pebble shower flooring!
Pebble Shower Floor Pros
Starting with the good, here are the major pebble shower floor pros every homeowner should know.
Cheap Flooring Solution
One of the reasons that this type of tile is becoming increasingly popular is that it’s one of the cheapest shower flooring options out there at the moment.
This is because all you need to take care of here is the remarkably cheap cost of materials. You won’t need anything beyond the stone pebbles themselves, plenty of grout, a thin set, and a sealer.
The best part of the deal is that you can reduce the cost of this option even further by collecting the pebbles yourself if you have access to a riverbank or beach!
Easy Installation
Unlike teak shower floors and many other natural wood shower flooring materials, you don’t need to be a seasoned expert to put this type of shower floor in place.
One reason for this is because the larger percentage of the installation process of the individual pebbles, uneven mosaic or rounded pebbles, involves simply placing one stone next to the other on the underlying floor cement base.
If you can handle this solo, then you can make your bathroom environment beautiful without a ton of extra cost!
Doesn’t Wear or Scratch Easily
If you want a bathroom floor for the long haul, then pebble flooring is just what you’re looking for! Be it actual pebbles or pebble shower tiles, you won’t be seeing any scratches or wear on the surface for a long time to come.
In the unlikely event that you drop something especially heavy on these mosaic floors, the worst that will happen is that you’ll damage a pebble or two. However, you can comfortably replace them as they require little to next to no repairs.
Slip and Skid-Resistant
A World Health Organization study revealed that a staggering 37.3 million people experience serious falls to warrant medical attention in the home every year! Perhaps not shocking, most of these falls happen in the bathroom.
Outside the aesthetics that these stones bring to bathroom flooring, the fact that these types of floors are one of the safest is one of their biggest appeals.
Even when you use the most common types of pebbles, you can rest assured that you’ll get firm footing while you’re stepping out of the shower wet.
This is because, in addition to having the stones properly and firmly placed on the ground, the coat of grout and sealer added to it serves to further increase the amount of traction the bathroom surface offers you.
Offers Variety in Abundance
Another one of the biggest pebble shower floor pros you get to enjoy is variety in abundance.
These stones come in various patterns, shapes, sizes, and colors. You can get even more variation when you experiment with spacing and several other elements!
A classic example of this is the Bali Ocean Standing Pebble Tile collection which can be subdivided into Tahiti, Orion, Jubilee, and many more. There’s an endless list of options you can go with here. The list can be made even longer by the fact that you can also mix and match!
The best part is that the price difference between these pebbles is almost insignificant so you have no reason not to explore!
Now that we’ve looked at the major pros of having a pebble shower floor, it’s time to look at its potential drawbacks!
Pebble Shower Floor Cons
May Require Expertise to Properly Install
While you can indeed choose to go solo with your installation efforts, the fact remains that you might not be able to bring out the true beauty of your pebble stone shower floor this way.
Aside from the installation process, you’ll probably need the services of a professional plumber. This is because it’s important to ascertain the quality of the underlying floor you want to set the stones on.
In addition, performing necessary exercises like properly mixing shower pan mortar can prove challenging if you don’t have experience in this area.
Proper Maintenance Can Be a Challenge
While the pebbles themselves might be durable and long-lasting, other components might not be.
For instance, you need to carry out relatively frequent and consistent maintenance services on the floor in order to keep the grout in place. The same thing goes for the sealer.
The reason for the need for constant maintenance is due to the uneven nature of the floor. Due to this, it constantly loses grout and sealer, especially if it’s frequently used and is subjected to regular cleaning.
Additional grout and sealer also need to be applied to replace whatever’s lost. If you don’t do this, you risk damaging the structural integrity and aesthetics of your bathroom floor.
Needs Plenty of Grout
Aside from the copious amounts of grout you’ll need for maintenance, a large chunk of grout might be necessary for the proper installation of this type of floor.
While other floor types, such as basic tile floors and mosaic floors, may take a considerable amount of grout as well, the quantity used is nowhere near what you’d have to get to install a pebble stone floor properly.
Since you’ll be using the grout as a sort of filler to cover the space between two individual stones, you can only imagine the quantity of grout you’ll need if you are installing hundreds of stones!
The only viable workaround you can employ to solve this problem is to use larger pebbles. However, even this might not be an option for some people, depending on what bathroom design they have in mind.
In essence, it’s best to prepare to get large quantities of grout if you want river rock flooring in your bathroom.
May Have a High Water Retention Rate
Before anything else, we have to point out that this particular problem is more common with certain pebble stones, such as river rock flooring in particular, than others.
This problem is further aggravated by the fact that the floor is naturally uneven, making it easier for water to lodge between the pebble bathroom floor. The longer the water stays in this position, the higher the risk of mold and mildew growth in your bathroom.
As we mentioned earlier, this is a more common phenomenon with river rock flooring. One possible way to avoid this problem is to let the floor dry for longer and give it a more potent sealing.
Conclusion
Faced with so many pebble shower floor pros and cons, it can be difficult to make a decision.
Choosing can be made even tougher by the fact that there’s no definitive answer as it all comes down to personal preference.
However, by weighing the pros and cons, you should have a better idea of whether this type of floor is for you or not.
If you like your shower floors comfortable, safe, and affordable, then a pebble floor bathroom design might be right for you. However, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of constant maintenance, you may want to avoid these floor types.
If you still don’t know which way to go, you can always get a specialist’s opinion here!
