How To Choose Between Ceramic, Porcelain And Glass Tiles

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Tile flooring is always an awesome addition to your room. Whether it's the kitchen, the bathroom, or even tiling for the backyard, you'll definitely love the look after it's installed. But there's a lot to choose from especially when it comes to material and style.

Ceramic tile is a popular option that is broken into a variety of styles and choices. Ceramic tiles are made up of clay and quartz sand materials. It comes in either a glazed or unglazed surface. Glazed surfaces are like glass and can be slippery so it's better used on walls then floors. They'll give your walls a nice sheen. Unglazed ceramic tiles are better to walk on.

When looking at ceramic tile, you want to look into PEI factor. PEI lets you know how scratch resistant the tile is. PEI of 1 is best for walls and very light traffic bathroom floors. PEI 2 is light traffic and works for walls and counter tops. PEI 3 is for moderate traffic and this works best for residential floors and just you and your family and maybe a couple of guests walking on it. PEI 4 is for moderate to heavy traffic and can be used for restaurants and lobbies. PEI 5 is the highest ranking, and works for very high traffic areas like shopping malls and airports.

Porcelain tiles are also rated with the PEI system. Porcelain tiles are different from ceramic tiles in that the clay with which they are made is highly refined, making the tiles denser and more rugged overall. They usually cost a little more than ceramic, but in recent years prices have been dropping and good deals can be found. Porcelain is a great choice for flooring and can take a good amount of traffic in the home.

Glass tile is an option if you want a contemporary or high profile look in your room. It's incredibly functional and one of the easiest materials to clean, but can be the priciest. It may be a bit out of your budget to use it for a full wall but it looks lovely for backsplash projects. Backsplash is a section of wall behind a kitchen or bathroom sink, typically, that has a tile design. Usually it only takes up a small section of the wall and the rest will be of a different material.

Now that you have an idea of the differences between ceramic, porcelain and glass, you can narrow down what will work best for your project. You can completely change the feel of a room in a more positive way with tiles and make cleaning a floor or wall a lot easier as well, no matter what material you choose.

About the Author:
www.BuyTile.com is your #1 online tile retailer offering ceramic tile and all you need for your tile floors.



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