How Are Porcelain and Ceramic Tiles Different?
If you're planning to re-tile your bathrooms or kitchen the other from the main factors affecting which tiles you choose is the place they appear; could they be the proper colour, texture and size to produce the appear and feel that you are after? And, of course, will they match your financial allowance as well as your design ideas?
But there's more with a wall or floor tile than that they feel and look; regardless of how beautiful a tile may appear furthermore it will be suitable when it doesn't qualify of the installation. For instance, if you intend to make use of floor tiles in the wet-room is it slip resistant? Safety should always be a consideration when tiling the bottom.
Firstly, do you know the tiles made from? It isn't uncommon for customers to make reference to all wall and flooring that are not created from gemstone as "ceramic". Whilst, technically, this can be true there is a massive difference between your manufacturing systems for traditional ceramic tiles as well as the more technologically advanced approaches for making porcelain tiles.
There is certainly confusion with the terminology because both forms of tile are manufactured from clay or from the clay mixture but that's where the similarity ends as the different manufacturing processes produce a quite different result. There is a marked distinction between just how much stronger, more hard-wearing and much more frost resistant a porcelain tile is than the tile.
To generate a ceramic tile the mix of clay and water is formed into a tile, that is then fired inside a kiln. A glaze is then applied to the outer lining to produce the specified colour. Whilst not as strong or hard-wearing as porcelain tiles they may be still perfectly suitable for domestic installations and particularly for tiling walls.
Porcelain tiles on the other had are produced by mixing the clay with coloured minerals and finely milling it. The shaped tile is then produced by pressing a combination into moulds under high pressure. The kiln firing is then done in an very high temperature and this process results in a dense and extremely strong tile. Some porcelain tiles are glazed in the same way as ceramic tiles but many have become "full-bodied" which means they have along with and pattern running through the entire tile as opposed to just as a surface layer on top. The main advantage of a complete bodied tile is that any chips or damage to the tile will be less noticeable since the chip is not going to reveal a clay coloured base layer. But even glazed porcelain tiles less difficult more durable than their ceramic cousins.
An additional of using porcelain tiles in your home is they are also highly waterproof so can be great for today's modern wet-room style bathrooms. The fact they may be waterproof entails that they are highly frost-resistant so specific kinds are suitable for use outdoors; but do check this with the supplier as specific kinds are not. Most porcelain tiles is going to be graded which are more suitable form of use so ensure that you look at the PEI rating on any tiles you are looking at buying: 0 means they are probably the most fragile and just suitable as wall tiles and 5 ensures they are suitable as ceramic tiles in the supply settings.
For more information about porcelain vs ceramic tiles take a look at the best webpage.