Dark Slate Master Bath in Palos Heights

About This Project

A master bathroom in a Palos Heights home with dramatic dark slate-look large-format porcelain tile — floor-to-ceiling on all walls and across the floor. The contrast with the freestanding white tub is the design intent, and it required careful planning of how the tile layout related to the tub's placement so the tile pattern didn't land awkwardly at the tub's visual centerline.

Dark tile shows lippage more readily than light tile — the shadow cast by a high tile edge is more visible on a dark surface. We used a leveling clip system throughout this installation and checked flatness at every course before moving on. The final result has lippage well within ANSI standards and reads as a continuous surface from any angle in the room.

The chrome towel radiator required a blocking detail behind the tile — we installed a backing board at the correct height during the substrate phase so the radiator had a solid anchor point through the tile without disturbing the surrounding tile field. That kind of coordination with other fixtures is something we plan for during the walkthrough, not after the tile is up.