Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Tiling around the toilet

I want to box the toilet in and then tile it. I have boys who seem to keep missing and peeing on the floor. This means the carpet is ruined (again)....so I thought if I had 3" tiles in front this would be better as tiles are easier to clean than carpet. Has anyone done anything like this??

Yes, you can do this but I would like to suggest that the entire area around the comode be tiled. Pull the comode and pull the carpet back. Put down tile backer board in the area you want the tile to go in. Follow the mfg. instructions. Set your tile on the backerboard using thinset. Let dry overnight and then grout the joints. Reset your comode using a new wax gasket. You may have to use an extender flange on the toilet flange because of the extended height of the floor. Put down tack strip around the tile edges and lay your pad and carpet back in. Cut it to fit and stretch it over the tack strips.

If you were to tile just the front of the comode and run the tile under the comode, it would not sit level and would be impossible to seal correctly plus a unlevel comode would be uncomfortable.

May I suggest that you consider ripping the carpet out of the bathroom and putting inceramic. Carpet and hardwood are two floorcoverings that do not belong in a bathroom.

Chez:

Ceramic tiling is fine in a bathroom, but it's also cold on the feet. Sheet vinyl is a good choice for a bathroom, but it's not the most durable floor out there.

For the cost of ceramic tiles, you can have a synthetic rubber floor. Synthetic rubber is just as waterproof as sheet vinyl, ten times as strong, you can't damage it with a cigarette, and it's pretty well maintenance free. Synthetic rubber is very popular in commercial settings where the flooring has to stand up to a lot of traffic. Because it's much more expensive that sheet vinyl, it's not nearly as common in residential construction. Probably the biggest name in synthetic rubber flooring is Johnsonite. You can see what's available at www.johnsonite.com (http://www.johnsonite.com)

I don't think I explained this properly, I didn't mean tiling the floor ...I meant around the top of the toilet basin and then down to the floor, so all you can see basically is the top of the toilet, the bottom of the toilet is kind of paneled (boxed) in and covered with tiles. I'm sure the toilet in the film 'sleeping with the enemy' was like this....the film is so old now I can't get a copy of this to see LOL