When planning a home renovation, it’s important for property owners to carefully assess all materials, colors and designs so that the end result can match the initial vision. When it comes to flooring materials, there are various different types and styles to select from – from hardwood to vinyl to tile. While any type of flooring material is appropriate in the right situation, one increasingly popular type of tile for renovation projects throughout the home is porcelain. In this post, we’ll discuss why porcelain tiles have become such a popular option in the home and some of the ideal applications during renovation projects. Here’s a closer look:
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Porcelain Tiles: What You Need to Know
A type of ceramic tile, porcelain tiles are crafted from fine clay and baked at high temperatures – two traits that help enhance its durability and toughness. Outside of those two benefits, other key advantages of porcelain tiles include:
- Return on investment: When cared for and maintained properly, a porcelain tile floor can last for up to 50 years.
- Resistance: Porcelain tiles are great for areas of the home that receive a significant amount of foot traffic. They’re also great with pets.
- Ease of maintenance: Because of their low porousness, porcelain tiles are easy to clean and resistant to stains – more reasons why they’re so key for high-traffic areas. Their moisture-resistant properties also help fend off mold and mildew growth. Testing shows that porcelain tile has a water absorption rate of as low as 0.5 percent.
- Fire resistant: Porcelain tiles are fireproof materials, meaning they won’t actively feed a home fire if one were to occur in your household.
- Variety: Porcelain comes in a wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes, designs and finishes, making it easy for homeowners to match the tile to the design inspiration of any home renovation project.
Porcelain Tile Applications for Home Renovation Projects
Here’s a closer look at some ideal applications for porcelain throughout the home:
Bathroom Flooring
Porcelain is a low porous material, which means that it repels water and doesn’t absorb moisture. For this reason, it’s an ideal material choice for bathrooms – areas of the home that tend to come into contact with a lot of water. If water comes into contact with porcelain, it will just sit on the surface of the tile, making it easy to wipe up. Porcelain tile also comes in a variety of colors, patterns and finishes, so it’s easy to find the right design to match the vibe of any bathroom renovation project.
In addition to bathroom flooring, porcelain is also an ideal tile type for walls and shower and bath stalls.
Basements
As we’ve said throughout this piece, porcelain tiles are low porous and resistant to water – two factors that make them ideal for basements. Basements are either partially or fully built underground, which makes them susceptible to water intrusion. And whether you’re fully finishing or partially finishing your basement, installing porcelain tiles can ensure that any water can easily travel to floor drains. Alternative flooring types, like carpeting or hardwood, would likely need to be replaced in any water intrusion situation.
Kitchen Backsplashes
While kitchen flooring is another applicable setting for porcelain tiles, so too is the kitchen backsplash. Porcelain is an ideal material for backsplashes due to its durability and moisture-resistant properties. Another reason why it’s ideal for kitchen backsplashes is porcelain’s design variety. A piece where homeowners are able to get a bit more creative with style, porcelain doesn’t limit the options.
Laundry Rooms
We’ll round out this list by discussing porcelain tile in laundry rooms and mudrooms. Again, porcelain excels in these more moisture-heavy environments. And while the laundry room or mudroom may not be designed with the same flair as a bathroom, there are more basic types of porcelain tiles to select from as well.
It’s easy to see why the porcelain tile home is so desirable when it comes to planning out home renovation projects. From its durability and long-lasting effectiveness to the variety of colors, shapes, sizes and patterns tiles are available in, it’s easy to find the right tile that best suits your next big home improvement project.
