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Tile Flooring Buying Guide
Tile continues to grow in popularity as a floor covering, with good reason. It has a natural, handcrafted look that's durable and easy to care for. Tile also works well in areas with high foot traffic and is especially suited to entry areas where water and dirt enter the house. The design patterns are limitless with all of the possible combinations of size, texture and color.
Selecting Tile
Flooring
Finding a tile you like is easy. Make sure it's the right one for your floor, and choose a tile that's rated for the area where you plan to install it. Entryways need a hard, abrasion-resistant, moisture-proof tile. Baths require a moisture-proof, nonslip material. Slip-resistant tile is treated with an abrasive material to rough up the smooth surface for safety. Some tiles are rated for indoor or outdoor use only; others can be used in either application.
Floor tile is usually 1/2 inch to 3/4 inches thick, manufactured in squares measuring 4-inches-by-4 inches up to 24-inches-by-24 inches. Other shapes, such as octagonal and hexagonal, are available. (Wall tile is thinner and comes in squares from 3-inches-by-3 inches up to 6-inches-by-6 inches.) Mosaic tiles are 2 inches a square or smaller and can be installed individually. Mosaic tiles are also available in premounted paper or fabric mesh sheets.
Tile Ratings
All tile feels hard, but some types of tile are actually harder than others. Tile is rated by a series of standardized tests. The tests evaluate a tile's relative hardness (the Mohs scale), its ability to stand up to wear and the percentage of water absorbed.
The Porcelain Enamel Institute hardness ratings are:
Group I Light Traffic: Residential bathroom floors where bare or stockinged feet are the norm
Group II Medium Traffic: Home interiors where little abrasion occurs. Don't use in kitchens or entries
Group III Medium-Heavy Traffic: Any home interior
Group IV Heavy Traffic: Homes or light-to-medium commercial areas
Group V Extra-Heavy Traffic: Use it anywhere
These ratings are important, but don't get too bogged down in analysis. They serve to help you find the right tile for your application.
Porosity
Pay closer attention to the ratings test that measures porosity, which is the percentage of water absorbed. A tile's porosity is critical especially when choosing tile for kitchens and baths, since these areas need moisture-proof flooring. Porous tile shouldn't be used outdoors where cold weather produces freeze / thaw cycles. The classifications for the porosity of tile are: impervious (least absorbent), vitreous, semivitreous and nonvitreous (most absorbent).
Firing
The firing process affects the hardness of tile. Usually, the longer and hotter the firing, the harder the tile will be. The raw tile material, called bisque, is either single-fired or double-fired.
For single-fired tiles, the glaze is applied to the raw material and baked once in a kiln.
Double-fired tiles are thicker. Raw material is baked a second time after additional color or decoration is added.
Installing Tile
On the do-it-yourself project scale, installing tile ranges from easy to challenging. Tiles usually require some cutting to fit. They're applied with mortar or other adhesives, followed by a final application of grout.
As with all types of tile, areas that require precision cuts may be more difficult. Flooring presents its own set of concerns. Since tile isn't a resilient material, it requires a very stable subsurface. Subfloors frequently have to be built up to the thickness required for tile flooring.
See the chart below for some common (and some less common) floor tile.
| Brick | Brick tiles are a good floor choice for informal or rustic décor. Available in several earth tones, brick tiles should be treated with a stain-resistant sealer. Floor brick is normally used in outdoor settings (such as patios) and can be arranged in interesting geometric patterns. |
| Cement | Cement-bodied tiles are poured into molds, then fired or dried naturally. Color may be added. Sealing is required after installation for moisture and stain resistance. |
| Ceramic | Ceramic tile is made from clay or other minerals. The extruded material is shaped and heat-treated (fired) in a kiln. Clay tiles are then further treated in one of two ways: Glazed color is added to the tile after firing. The glasslike surface is bonded to the tile. Glazing allows brighter colors to be used and adds stain resistance. Because of their slick, glassy surface, glazed tiles are used mostly on walls or countertops. Glazed tile offers more color choices than unglazed. Unglazed tiles are also called quarry tiles. The pigment or natural color is present during firing and is part of the tile itself. Unglazed tile needs sealing for stain resistance. |
| Mosaic | Porcelain or ceramic mosaic tiles are 2 inches a square or smaller. They can be installed individually or can be found premounted on mesh or paper sheets. Mosaics may be glazed or unglazed. |
| Pavers | Pavers resemble brick but are thinner. Shale-based pavers are used for patios as well as interior floors. Like quarry tile, pavers need sealing for moisture and stain-proofing |
| Porcelain | The material is fired at a high temperature, making a dense tile. The density makes porcelain tile more resistant to moisture. |
| Quarry | Quarry tile is unglazed and requires sealing in wet areas. Clay-based quarry tile is used extensively in commercial settings. Because it's a durable and relatively inexpensive material, it's becoming more acceptable in homes. The predominant colors are earth shades of red and orange. |
| Saltillo | Saltillo, or Mexican tile, is air-dried rather than kiln-dried. Drying outdoors in the sun makes this tile a little softer and less durable. The exposure to the elements also gives the tile a look that's unique. When used indoors, a sealer is required. |
| Terra Cotta | Terra cotta is the same material in construction and appearance as clay garden pots. These tiles are absorbent and need to be treated for indoor use. |
| Terrazzo | Stone or marble chips embedded in cement make up a terrazzo floor. The polished surface makes a durable floor material. |