Adding tile to the kitchen floor is a perfect way to give it an elegant appearance. But it can be challenging to pick out which form of tile is right for your home. There are some great choices available, so it’s essential to consider each individual’s pros and cons for making a decision. Use this guide to determine which is the best tile for kitchen floor, so you can choose the right material to upgrade to your home.
Ceramic Tile for Kitchen Floor
Ceramic tile is one of the most common kitchen tiles, thanks to the inexpensive price tag and stylish appearance. Homeowners praise that ceramic tile is obtainable in a wide range of colors and designs, allowing them to build a unique kitchen floor tile. Moreover, this is one of the most straightforward tile styles to cut and mount on your own, making it a perfect option for a DIY revamp.
It’s a fun challenge to layout the tiles beforehand to determine which style you’d want for your floors, such as a checkered pattern or a colorful border. Ceramic tile has a few downsides to bear in mind. They are not as hard and nonporous as other forms of tile, but they are relatively durable, so scratches or stains can grow over time.
The choice of glazed ceramic tiles is one way of making this form of flooring a little more durable. This makes the tile more challenging and more rust and scratch-resistant. However, when wet, the glaze can be a little slick, and this tile type is usually more costly than unglazed ceramic tiles.
Special cleaning solutions must be used on ceramic tile, or a greasy buildup can form on your floors. Be sure to follow properly on the cleaner’s directions, particularly when applying to the grout. Usually, this includes combining the solvent with water and letting it stay on the tiles before mopping for a few minutes.
Porcelain Tile for Kitchen Floor
Porcelain tile is, in reality, a type of ceramic tile, and it provides many of the same benefits for the kitchen floor. However, compared to standard ceramic floor tile, it is more durable because it is fired at a higher temperature, which makes it less porous. Porcelain is also made of sand and other materials that make it tougher than ceramic tiles.
This makes porcelain one of the most stain proof tile styles on the market. It’s a common option for busy households, where frequent spills occur in the kitchen. Maintenance with porcelain tile is easy and trouble-free. Their flat, nonporous surface makes it easy for them to clean off with a mop as appropriate. When caring for porcelain tile floors, you should never use any rough or coarse cleaning equipment or washing solutions.
Unfortunately, the method of installation is complicated. If you are looking for a DIY project when installing kitchen tile, this is not a good idea. Definitely, you would need a specialist to do any porcelain tile installation. With this type of kitchen floor option, an important aspect to remember is whether you want porcelain tiles glazed or unglazed.
Unglazed tiles are usually more durable since they are stronger, denser, and more resistant to scratches. The unfinished surface also poses safety issues for those with slip-resistance. Glazed tiles are lower in toughness and slippery when wet. These tiles, however, come in a wider variety of colors and designs, and the glazed surface makes them more stain-resistant.
Factors to Consider while choosing tiles for Kitchen Floor
Be sure to keep the following considerations in mind when selecting a form of floor tile for your kitchen:
Density and Moisture Absorption
The potentiality of density and ability for the absorption of moisture is more in porcelain tiles than in ceramics. The firing process and the raw material grained render porcelain tiles denser than ceramic tiles. The density of porcelain tiles also provides more resistance to scratches and chipping than ceramic tiles and absorbs very little moisture from rain, spills, and foot traffic.
Moreover, porcelain tiles are more resilient to staining when cooking and food splatter, sauces unintentionally on the surface. Some ceramic tiles have a thin glass glossy finish that is added to the surface during the manufacturing process; this glaze helps to enhance stain absorption and moisture resistance of the tiles.
Wear Ratings
The Porcelain Enamel Institute has developed a grading system that helps to decide which tile holds best under defined conditions. For all ceramic tiles, the grading scale applies. For each type of tile, the system assigns a PEI Class Rating of 1 to 5, with one recommended for use only on walls and five identifying tiles used for any residential, commercial, or industrial use.
Porcelain tiles carry a PEI ranking of 5, making them the hardest tiles available. Select those with a PEI rating of at least 2 when selecting other ceramic tiles, even though higher ratings mean better wear resistance.
Costs and Cuts
While porcelain offers high-end performance in terms of toughness, stain resistance, and humidity, it tends to cost more than ceramic tiles. The density provides also makes porcelain such a tough tile, which makes it harder to work with. If you’re planning to install porcelain tiles on your own, you’ll buy or hire a wet diamond blade saw to cut individual tiles. Porcelain would not work well according to other tile cutting methods. Although ceramic is harder to install than porcelain, it’s an investment that pays off, increasing your home’s value.
Standing Up To Traffic
Porcelain tiles durability and consistency provide superior performance in heavy foot traffic areas. Furniture, such as kitchen chairs, tables may damage porcelain less than ceramic tiles. Some porcelain tiles have an additional bonus, keeping the same color all over the floor. Either way, these tiles do chip or rust in the end, but the damage is less noticeable.
