Porcelain or Ceramic? How to Choose the Right Floor Tile for Your Home.

When it comes to choosing your floor tiles, porcelain and ceramic are easily the two most popular materials out there. If you’re new to the world of tiles, it can be hard to figure out which option you should go for, or even what the difference is between the two. 

Personally, we think that porcelain tiles are a better choice for a home – but that doesn’t mean ceramic tiles don’t have their place! We’ll break down the key differences between the two, and why we think porcelain tiles are the better choice in most cases. 

Porcelain tiles are tougher and more durable.

Porcelain is actually a specific type of ceramic tile that’s designed to be stronger. Both porcelain and ceramic tiles are clay-based and fired in a kiln, but porcelain uses higher density clay and is fired for much longer at higher temperatures.

This creates a tile that is harder and more durable than your regular ceramic tile. It’s also significantly more waterproof and stain-proof. For this reason, porcelain is easily the preferred choice for tiling a bathroom or a laundry, where moisture, stains and water are an almost everyday occurrence.

They’re also a better choice for an outside area, as they’re much more likely to withstand the weather – especially in the extreme climates of Australia! Additionally, porcelain tiles are usually a uniform colour all the way through. This means that if you scratch or chip them, the damage will be subtler and harder to notice.

Ceramic tiles are softer, cheaper and easier to DIY.

Ceramic tiles may be softer and less durable than porcelain, but this fact makes ceramic tiles so much easier to cut and work with. It also makes them slightly comfier to walk on. 

You need special tools to cut porcelain tiles, so they will usually require professional installation. Ceramic, on the other hand, can easily be cut and installed by a DIY renovator. If you’re looking to quickly spice up a room by yourself, you’ll have a much better time of it if you choose ceramic tiles.

Ceramic tiles are also easier to produce than porcelain tiles, so they’re generally a much cheaper option. Most ceramic tiles these days also come with a waterproof glaze, which helps against moisture damage and makes customising patterns easier. However, scratches or chips in the glazing will look much more obvious than in a uniform porcelain tile. 

In most cases, porcelain is the better choice for flooring. 

Overall, we think that porcelain is a better choice when it comes to choosing floor tiles. 

Ceramic may be cheaper and slightly softer on the feet, but it’s likely to degrade faster and cost you more in maintenance over time. Porcelain, on the other hand, is an extremely hardy material that will need very little maintenance.

If you just love the look or feel of ceramic, consider using it for a feature area like a sunroom or a splashback wall where it’s not going to receive too much hard use. It’s also worth considering for low traffic areas or if you’re committed to completely DIY’ing it, but overall it may not be worth it in the long run. 

Floors are something we walk on every day, so durability is arguably the biggest deciding factor. It’s for this reason that we generally recommend going with porcelain over ceramic, especially if you’re tiling your bathroom or kitchen!

Hopefully, this article has helped you better understand the difference between porcelain and ceramic floor tiles and made it a little easier for you to make the right choice.

At Multifors, we stock a huge range of high-quality porcelain floor tiles in a variety of styles and colours. If you’d like to find out more about porcelain floor tiling, or you just want to ask a few questions, get in touch with our knowledgeable team today!