Thursday, May 6, 2010

Ceramic vs. Porcelain

I am often presented with the opinion that porcelain tile is to be the tile of choice and in contrast ceramic to be avoided as a poor substitute. My own attitude is nothing of the sort.

Most of my own home is tiled in ceramic. I recently (some 3 years ago) RE-TILED my house that I had tiled some 30 years prior - with a ceramic tile. Aside from the tile looking dated because 8x8 was fashionable 30 years ago and larger tiles are presently more in vogue, I frankly got sick of looking at the same tile finally.

People think that chips and cracks DON'T show, or show as much, with a porcelain. They do. If you have a crack or chip in your porcelain tile, it ought to bother you as much as with a ceramic. Even full bodied porcelain tiles show if there is a crack or chip. THE ANSWER IS TO HAVE SPARES.

As for porcelain being harder than ceramic - it is. But a can of soup, landing the right way, can damage a porcelain as easily as a ceramic. And most tiles can withstand a lifetime of traffic in a home, whether or not they are porcelain OR ceramic!

No comments:

Post a Comment