Northern Lights

What Is Northern Lights Tile?

Northern Lights is a pressed glass mosaic in two patterns, Hex Wheel and Raindrop, each available in five colors: Moon, Asteroid, Neptune, Cosmos, and Galaxy. It's a quarter-inch pressed glass with water absorption under 0.5 percent, which is what makes it a genuine option for pool waterlines and not just a backsplash material dressed up for wet areas. Browse pool tiles for the broader category, or glass tiles to compare other glass formats and colors.

Northern Lights Pool and Wall Tile

Hex Wheel: A 10.24x8.9 sheet of hexagon mosaic, linked by slim borders into a spoke-and-wheel pattern, in a matte finish only. The matte surface gives it grip, which is part of why it's rated for shower pans as well as pool linings.

Raindrop: An 11.61x11.1 sheet of elongated diamond pieces, mixing roughly 70 percent matte and 30 percent glossy glass so the surface catches light unevenly instead of reading flat. Raindrop is rated for walls and floors, but floor use is residential only, not commercial.

Installation: Both patterns are pressed glass with a Mohs hardness of 5 and resist common pool chemicals, and Tile Mart's vendor data recommends a 1/16-inch grout joint, tighter than most field tile, to keep the small-format mosaic looking continuous rather than broken up by wide grout lines.

Northern Lights Tile by Application

Pool waterline: This is the format's core use. Run Hex Wheel or Raindrop as a banded waterline tile where the pool wall meets the water surface, the spot that takes the most direct sun and chemical exposure and benefits most from glass's low water absorption.

Shower floor and walls: Hex Wheel's matte surface and shower-pan rating make it a practical choice for a shower floor, and either pattern works as a coordinating wall accent above it.

Backsplash: Hex Wheel or Raindrop both work for a kitchen or bar backsplash, where the small format and color saturation read as a deliberate detail rather than a full wall of pattern.

Fireplace surround: Both patterns carry a fireplace surround rating, so the same waterline-grade glass that handles a pool also wraps a fireplace face, with the matte Hex Wheel staying the safer choice near direct heat.

How to Choose Northern Lights Tile

Choose Hex Wheel for grip, Raindrop for shimmer. Hex Wheel's all-matte surface is the better call for a shower or pool floor where footing matters. Raindrop's mixed matte and glossy pieces are better suited to a wall or waterline band where you want the surface to catch light.

Use the 1/16-inch grout joint, not a standard one. A wider joint breaks up the small-format pattern and makes the sheets read as separate tiles instead of one continuous mosaic band.

Match color intensity to sun exposure. Moon and Asteroid stay cooler and read lighter in direct outdoor sun. Cosmos, Neptune, and Galaxy hold their saturation better in shaded or indoor applications, where they won't wash out under bright light. If you're set on a true black tile look, Galaxy is the deepest of the five and reads best out of direct sun.

Confirm frost rating before an outdoor install. Northern Lights is frost resistant, which matters for an outdoor pool waterline in a climate with freeze-thaw cycles, but always confirm your installer is using a freeze-rated setting bed and grout to match.

Order a sample before committing to a waterline band. Color reads differently underwater and in direct sun than it does in a sample box, and a waterline band is expensive to redo once it's set.