A few weeks ago I got to help replace some worn out vinyl bathroom flooring with new tile that would hold up better to everyday wear and look great too!  The vinyl actually extended out into the hallway leading to the backdoor.  The worst damage was in front of the door where the vinyl was actually worn through to the subfloor underneath. 

Before proceeding with laying tile, I first had to remove the vinyl flooring and replace most of the subfloor in the bathroom that had gotten wet and was no longer a stable surface to tile over.  I replaced the subfloor with new plywood and then installed 1/4″ Hardibacker throughout the bathroom and hallway over a thin layer of mortar.

The ceramic tiles were around 12″ square and I was able to come up with a layout pattern that avoided awkward sized tiles either in the hallway or in the bathroom.  The tiles were a larger version of the 6″ tile that I installed in another bathroom in the house.  (See it here.)  Using the same color of tile in a different size tied the rooms together and gave each one a unique feel.

The new floor was noticeably more solid and really improved the bathroom and hallway.  After finishing it off with some new baseboard (to replace the old vinyl base trim that was glued to the wall) the homeowner was delighted with her ‘new’ bathroom.