Porcelain tiles are practical, hardwearing and beautiful. They are a great choice for walls and floors but can also be used for counter tops and splash backs.
If you’re thinking of buying porcelain tiles for your home here’s a guide to help you decide.
What is a porcelain tile?
Porcelain tiles are made from natural clay, like ceramic tiles. However, a finely ground sand is added to the mix before being pressed. The mixture is pressed and fired at a much higher temperature than ceramic tiles. This removes almost all of the water content and results in a denser and less porous tile.
Where can you use porcelain tiles?
Porcelain tiles are suitable for use in any room in your home. As they are much harder than ceramic tiles they make extremely good floor tiles, which need to be hard-wearing.
Porcelain tiles are also water resistant so are a great choice for the bathroom and splash back areas in the kitchen.
Porcelain tiles can even be used to tile outdoor areas. They are resistant to temperature changes so won’t crack when subjected to frost.
What finish can you get on porcelain tiles?
Porcelain tiles are glazed or unglazed. Glazed tiles have a shiny and lustrous finish. This gives them more resistance to staining and makes them easy to maintain. For outside areas unglazed tiles are recommended, as they are more slip-resistant.
What are the drawbacks of using porcelain tiles?
The superior manufacturing process and quality of porcelain tiles means they are expensive than ceramic tiles. Their heavy density can make them difficult to cut and too heavy for certain areas.
On balance we think the benefits of porcelain tiles far outweigh the drawbacks.
If you’re thinking of using porcelain tiles in your home why not pop into our showroom and see our range of beautiful porcelain tiles.
