Ceramic Floor Tile

Why Ceramic Tile Flooring is right for You

Ceramic Floor Tile is the perfect surface material for bathrooms and kitchens and just about any other room in you house.

With a lot of competition from hardwood boards and lock together easy lay laminate flooring, especially with regards to material cost and installation - floor tiles are surviving time and trends because when they are properly laid over a solid sub frame - they not only look fabulous but could very well last as long as the house.

This puts ceramic floor tile installations at the top of the investment list as a home improvement and financing project, especially as they are undeniably linked to the two most popular home improvement projects of today - making durable and attractive floor surfaces for both kitchen makeovers and bathroom remodeling.

Ceramic floor tiles are largely made of clay that has been heated to really high temperatures - this makes them so hard and durable that we have special cutting machines to cut tiles to size when installing a new floor surface.

This also means that they are really tough and when laid with the correct thin set mortar, grout and seal, you will have a virtually water resistant surface that will survive your bathroom splashes and kitchen spills.

Advantages of Ceramic Floor Tile

As well as being durable and water resistant, here are more reasons to invest in cermamic tile...

This is a natural surface material that comes in all the colors and shades imaginable.
You will be able to find a tile style to match the decor of any home.
Pale tones with a textured non slip surface really compliment, lighten and brighten kitchen and bathroom floors.
Tiles that are laid diagonally across a long narrow room will give the illusion of it being wider.
You can create your own unique mosiac style design with tiles.
You can give the floor tiles a border tile of a contrasting color.
Grouting can be the same shade as the tiles themselves or you can use a contrasting darker of lighter grout that will frame each and every square and become part of the ceramic floor tile design.
The most common size of floor tile is the normal 12" x 12" but you can also opt for tiles that are twice as big and look great in big rooms or you can go really small with tiny 2" x 2" mosiac tiles that are fitted in strips and which are well suited for smaller rooms.
Color tones are all the way through the tile and not just on the surface.
You can totally change the look of your home and rooms like your bathroom will also benefit from base trim tiles that help seal the floor where it meets the wall - like a skirting board around the perimiter of the room.
If you only think of ceramic surfaces as being slippery - chances are you saw a bad material choice - tiles are now ranked by their "Coefficient of Friction" - COF - which is the scale of how smooth or how rough a tile is. The scale goes from zero to 1.0.
The minimum COF for a bathroom is agreed to be 0.6 - but remember that this is the minimum - between 0.6 and 1.0 you have 4 more points to choose from - keeping in mind that 0.6 tiles are more slippery when they are wet.
Cementitious backer board is still a new product that makes the correct intallation of ceramic tile flooring much easier and quicker.

So you can have any color or tone that you choose - and you can create any unique floor tile pattern you want to, you can choose from different tile finishes, you can lay a non-slip ceramic tile surface that will give you enough traction to walk safely on when you get out of the bath - and what you get is...

A tough, durable attractive floor investment that is easy to maintain and clean and that will always look good, there is no wood to polish, no stains to try to remove and no bugs can burrow into the tile like carpets - tiles are a great solution for anyone with allergies and more people have registered allergies today than ever before.

Choosing Ceramic Floor Tile

One of the most common mistakes that people make in choosing ceramic floor tile is picking wall tiles instead - it's quite tricky sometimes without an experienced eye as wall tiles are getting bigger and many floor tiles are now available in small mosiac sizes...

But... this can now be overcome by looking for the "PEI Wear Rating" that should be clearly visible on the box as well as the "Grade Rating".

The Grade Rating will tell you what a tile should be used for, you will want a grade 1. Grade 2 tiles are similar to grade 1 but you may find good deals because they often have imperfections.

The PEI wear rating that you need for a floor tile is number 3 (lower than 3 is only for walls and higher than 3 is more suited to commercial use)

Another important thing to look out for is the "Water Absorption Rate" of the tiles - this is important if you are choosing tiles for the floor of your bathroom walk in shower - or if you are looking for tiles for your patio which have to stand up to the elements.

And as previously mentioned - always check the COF or the tiles to make sure that your choice of tile is the correct and safe surface to suite it's intended use in your home.

Ceramic Floor Tile Investments

If you are now planning to remodel your kitchen or bathroom, there is no better time to budget for a new floor. With all the upheaval of installing a new bathroom suite or new kitchen cabinets - the access provided to you or your contractor after taking out all of the old - before putting in the new - is a unique an excellent opportunity to create the floor of your dreams with kitchen ceramic tile or bathroom ceramic tile.

If you don't have experience tiling but you really want to have a go at installing ceramic floor tile yourself - you should read as much information as possible before you start.

You might consider trying to lay tile first in your utitility room where the floor is not so visible - or outside on your patio so that you can take your time without disrupting family life. It's really not an easy do-it-yourself project unless you already have some tiling experience.

One of the most important parts of your ceramic floor investment project is the sub floor - if this is not solid and level the tiles layed above it will move an crack over time and the mortar and grout will fail.

Being over creative in your ceramic floor tile design could result in a new floor surface you love now but may grow tired of much sooner than the long life of the tiles themselves. To ensure a good investment lay tiles that bith you and any prospective buyer of your home will also like - tiles that really compliment your home.

There is very little quite as beautiful in the home as a perfectly laid tiled floor, but when the installation is not done right it's not easy to hide mistakes and it is yet more costly in materials to correct.

If you want a classic, stylish floor that will last the tests of a busy family life, Ceramic Floor Tile may be just right for you and your home.

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