Home Interiors and Improvements: Porcelain Floor Tiles
Kashmira Lad
Designing and planning for home interiors is not always difficult. The main factor is planning and preparing for the improvements to make your house beautiful. Decorative porcelain floor tiles spice up home interiors. Let's see why these are popular among most designs in the market.
When it comes to the flooring, people love to go in for different looks that can enhance the appearance of the room. One can opt for cladding with stone or ceramic to spice up the entire place. There is also a marked confusion between porcelain and ceramic tiles for many people even today.
Most types of tiles that are available today are generally made from clay. These can also comprise other materials. Later, they are kiln-fired. They are generally classified into two groups, which are the porcelain tiles and non-porcelain (Ceramic).
Types
These are further divided into three categories-natural, polished, and glazed. They are generally made with the dust pressed method from porcelain clay. This gives a fine grained, smooth, and dense finish.
They have an absorption rate of 0.5% or even less. This is what makes them frost resistant. They are also available in an unglazed, matte, or a very highly polished finish.
Natural
This kind is unglazed and unpolished. Comprising only natural porcelain, they have an absorption rate of less than 1%. The absorption rate has no connection with the surface. These are also known as 'through body'.
They are sometimes treated with soluble salts or they can even comprise a different face or a different body. This is known as being double loaded. This means that the top half of the tile in terms of design and texture varies from the bottom half.
Glazed
These can be partially or completely glazed. This can be altered in the manufacturing process. Most of the glazed tiles have an absorption rate of 0.5%.
However, the absorption can be under 0.1% if the clay body is used on the face of the tile. The interesting factor is that, it can even be polished.
Polished
In this case, when you mention a polished tile, it means that it comes close to the granite finish. The surface is not actually glaze. These actually comprise natural porcelain that have a polished exterior. One has to employ certain methods to increase their resistance.
The process of polishing tends to open the pores. Therefore, whilst grouting, one must ensure that a certain sealer is applied. This would increase its resistance against staining.
Benefits
Porcelain Tiles have certain advantages over other options which are listed here
Porcelain is very resistant to tremendous wear and tear. This is because it has a hard, durable surface and the durability can be seen in most malls and places that have a high traffic of shoppers at all times.
They are ideal for the kitchen, which needs a lot of cleaning at all times. They can resist strong chemicals and acids and therefore are easier to clean.
Natural tiles are chip resistant. Besides, if the situation does arise that the tile does chip, you need not be worried. The chipped portion can never be seen too easily as it is of the same color.
These tiles have seen a meteoric rise in the industry. The past few years have witnessed many techniques and methods that been devised to create new patterns, textures, and such additional elements.
Glazed tiles offer one the option of creating limitless designs and colors. Sometimes, these effects can cause a few changes in the constituency of the tile. It may make the tile lose its resistance to certain chemicals.
The particular characteristics of the tile dictate the kind of use it would hold for the designer who is planning to use it his/her home interior designs. One has to know the performance, maintenance, the aesthetics, and the budget for its appropriate use.