Porcelain Tiles

What Are Porcelain Tiles?

To begin with, what is porcelain? Porcelain is ceramic which is made from certain clay material and heated to extremely high heat in a kiln until it becomes translucent and forms glass an a mineral called mullite. Porcelain originated in Chine and was used for tableware and place settings. We still call the dishes on which we serve our meals “china” although, on the most part, they are no longer made of porcelain. Porcelain is strong, hard and resistant to heat and most chemicals.

Porcelain is used as an electric insulator and in it is also used in building materials. Porcelain tiles are used commonly as floor tiles, counter top tiles, and wall tiles. We know it best as ceramic tiles. They have the hardness and resistances of stone and beauty of granite. The tiles can come in large one foot square tiles as well as the small mosaic style tiles so many of us are so used to seeing. There are many color choices for porcelain tiles making it easy to use with any household décor.

Porcelain tiles are used as roofing tiles and are sometimes in competition for this position with slate. Looking at slate we find that there is soft slate and hard slate. One really needs to have a professional choose the slate that will be used as flooring or roofing as most of the stores today sell the soft slate. Soft slate, although usable, is not as durable. As for using ceramic or porcelain roof tiles you will find that they are different from the tile you use in the interior of the house. The ceramic roofing tiles are shaped differently and are made of brown clay and are therefore, a brown color. Because of severe storms much of the porcelain roofing tiles are used in the New England area of the United States.

For the do-it-yourselfer the porcelain tile is the easiest to install whether on the floor, the wall or the countertops. You must however, remember not to use a backer board when installing the porcelain floor tile. For the best and longest result the porcelain floor tiles should be applied with mud (a special adhesive for porcelain tile not an outdoor mud, also called grout).

If you are building a new home or renovating an old one you should give porcelain tile for the kitchen countertops some serious consideration. Not only are they durable and can last as long as thirty years or more, they have a variety of colors and styles to choose from as many as natural stone or perhaps more. They are heat resistant and make them the ideal choice for the kitchen.

 If you have decided that you would like porcelain tile for your kitchen, be sure to buy the right porcelain tiles. There is more than the style and the color to choose from when you buy porcelain tile. Porcelain tiles are either vitreous or non vitreous which means that one absorbs more water than the other. The non vitreous or semi vitreous porcelain tiles absorb water more readily and are therefore, more suitable for use as a kitchen countertop or anywhere in the kitchen.