What is Good Ceramic or Porcelain Tile
Ceramic vs Porcelain tiles; is a never-ending rivalry. Ever since I have started studying and analyzing tiles, I have seen people asking the same question: Which one is better among porcelain and ceramic? Today, I have decided to address this question and explain how they are similar, different, and if one option is better than the other. Before moving further, I want to clarify that both ceramic tiles and porcelain tiles are equally popular. You can measure this from the skyrocketing porcelain and ceramic tiles sale. So, there is a whole bunch of people who love both ceramic and porcelain tiles.
Porcelain Tiles:
Porcelain tile is one of the popular types of tiles that are made with a clay solution. These tiles are used to adorn both domestic and commercial areas. A wide range of porcelain tiles in terms of colours, designs, textures, and finishes in the market attracts a bunch of customers.
How are they made?
Porcelain tiles are made with clay, sand, feldspar. These tiles have had been used for years, so the conventional method of making these tiles is by burning them in a kiln. The mixture goes into a kiln where it faces an extremely high temperature. The exposure to high temperature makes the tiles highly dense yet extremely strong.
How do they look?
These tiles look extremely beautiful; in fact, these tiles mimic other materials like natural stone and wood, yet they retain their high qualities. It means that buying porcelain tiles can work if you want to get a wood-like of stone tile-like finish.
Benefits:
Hardness:
As we have mentioned earlier that Porcelain tiles are highly dense because they bake at a high temperature. These tiles are extremely hard, robust, and vigorous. This quality makes them hard-wearing, which is an amazing quality of these tiles. But this particular feature makes them brittle due to inflexibility.
Water-resistance:
Porcelain tiles are the perfect solution for areas that are prone to water, like kitchens and bathrooms. It is because these tiles are impermeable to water that makes them excellent water-resistant tiles.
Water absorption:
The sole reason for the popularity of ceramic tiles is the way they deal with moisture. The water absorption rate of porcelain tiles is negligible; the rate is about 0.5% or even less.
Cleaning and maintenance:
Since porcelain tiles are non-porous, they do not let moisture, dirt, and other disease-causing elements clog in the tiles. As a result, these tiles are easy to clean and do not need frequent maintenance.
Ceramic Tiles:
Ceramic tiles are another excellent option for tiling. They come from the same family as porcelain tiles and therefore bear almost the same qualities as porcelain tiles. These tiles are used as a cheap alternative to porcelain tiles.
How are they made?
Ceramic tiles are made of red, brown, or white coarse clay. Like porcelain tiles, the mixture that makes these tiles is fired in a kiln. But the temperature is kept quite low than the porcelain tiles. So, they go through the same process as the material of porcelain goes through but at a low temperature.
How do they look?
Ceramic tiles look extremely perfect and alleviate a sophisticated and alluring look of the place where they are fit. Mostly, these tiles are glazed in different colours, which are easy to coordinate with room décor.
Benefits:
Hardness:
The firing process makes ceramic tiles strong, but they are not as strong as porcelain tiles. However, they are soft that makes them less brittle than porcelain tiles.
Water-resistance:
Ceramic tiles are water-resistant and show good strength against moisture.
Water absorption:
The ceramic tiles have a very low percentage of water absorption. They absorb less than 0.5% of water. Therefore, they are a suitable option for all areas, including the kitchen, bathrooms, and patios.
Cleaning and maintenance:
Ceramic tiles are non-porous and do not absorb dirt. Therefore, they are very easy to clean and maintain.
Final verdict:
Both ceramic and porcelain are two types of tiles, and none of it is better than the other. They have almost the same nature and qualities, so choosing from them depends on the matter of your preference.
