Paver Tiles are real brick tiles. They’re just thinner and designed for indoor flooring as well as certain exterior applications. They’re a great choice for bathrooms because the surface is less slippery than ceramic or vinyl tiles. And it gives the room a warm rustic look.
If you’re a do-it-yourselfer with some basic geometry skills, it’s a fun family project.
Those are Pine Hall Brick clay pavers on the walkway, too, by the way!
We recently rehabbed this hundred-year-old home in a historic neighborhood near Old Salem in our hometown, Winston-Salem. The home had one small bathroom off the kitchen that needed a facelift to get the property ready to show. There’s a lot of brick around the Old Salem streets in this part of town, so brick tile just seemed at home.
The job is flooring 101. You need to remove any existing flooring and old underlayment as needed, then lay down a cement board underlayment on top of the subfloor. You can get this at most home improvement stores. While you’re there, pick up a bucket of thinset mortar and a square notch flooring trowel. You’ll need a tile saw, which can be rented or purchased.
Rumbled Autumn Paver Tiles around a bathroom.
Closeup of Paver Tiles
Because Paver Tiles are 4″ x 8″ you have more pattern options than you have with square tiles. Feel free to get fancy with a basketweave of just keep it plain with a running bond. This is where flooring meets paving! For this Old Salem job, we chose a herringbone pattern.
You’ll want to start with a chalk line on the cement board to line up your Paver Tiles as you would conventional square flooring.
Then the fun begins.
Apply a coating of thinset mortar using the square notch trowel, creating a grooved pattern in the mortar. Then place your Paver Tiles in your chosen pattern with a 3/8″ inch space between all edges. Cut tiles as needed around floor vents, cabinetry, and baseboards. Fill in the gaps with grout using a pastry bag, just like frosting a cake!
Because they’re real brick, Paver Tiles work outdoors, too.
We rehabbed the front steps with Paver Tiles. The old brick has a fresh surface with real brick tiles now.
You can get Paver Tiles in the same colors as Pine Hall Brick full-size pavers because Paver Tiles are actually cut from full-sized pavers. Once installed they’re extremely durable and easy to care for.