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After seeing the cost involved in installing ceramic tile flooring, many homeowners immediately choose another flooring alternative. But, when it comes to flooring, you often get what you pay for. What you will need to decide is what is more cost effective in the long run? Can you afford to have any other, cheaper kind of flooring replaced after several years, especially if the floor is going to routinely get wet? The durability may be worth the extra cost you will need to pay up front. Ceramic tile flooring can end up saving you money for years to come.
Ceramic Tile is Versatile
Ceramic tile flooring does not experience the warp of wood flooring when the wood gets wet, even from humidity. That type of warping does not happen with ceramic tile flooring. If you have a bathroom, foyer or even a small changing room next to your pool, strongly consider ceramic tile flooring. The average life span for ceramic tile flooring is twenty years.
And there isn't just one kind of ceramic tile flooring. You can pick among many grades and thicknesses of tiles. The most expensive are the Italian ceramic tiles that rune about an inch and a half thick. Ceramic tiles are so are sold in grades called "Class numbers". To help you choose the correct grade of tile for your project here is a quick rundown of the specifications for each class:
Class 1: For walls only
Class 2: For light foot traffic, like that changing room by your pool
Class 3: This is for your higher room traffic like your bathrooms, or bedrooms
Class 4: This is for more extreme conditions, like for your foyer.
Class 5: This is usually for public places like school hall ways, so a private home will not need it.
Some added benefits of ceramic tiles are that they are great for allergy sufferers. They will not trap pollen, molds or dust. They are also fire resistant so they are great say for around a fire place.
Ceramic Tile is Easy to Clean and Maintain
The easy cleaning and maintenance of ceramic tile floors is one of the top reasons that people choose them. When they are properly installed, you will not need to worry about replacing the grouting or staining problems that other types of flooring have. Their colors not only last, they tend not to fade over time. Depending on the quality of ceramic tile you get, the color might even run all the way through. Compare this with porcelain tiles. If you chip a porcelain tile, you leave a glaring white mark. But with the higher quality ceramic tiles, the color will go all the way through the tile.
Because some people feel that ceramic tile flooring are slippery, they either get very small tiles to help their wet feet get a grip, or they get pitted ceramic tiles. These have nooks and crannies in them, so you have more texture. The pitted tile will be harder to clean than the other, smoother type of ceramic tile. Instead of one or two passes with a mop, you might need to several. For a small changing room, foyer or bathroom, this little bit of extra energy will be worth it. If you a larger area like you kitchen and living room you may be better off with the smooth finish.
Easy to Replace
No matter how careful you are you will inevitably crack or chip one of your ceramic tiles. The good thing is that you will not need to rip up the whole flooring in order to replace one tile. In fact, it is a good to keep a few extra tiles and a small thing of grout from the original installation on hand for just such occasions. You just pry out the broken tile and replace with the good tile. Even if you didn't keep a few spare tiles, ceramic tiles are often made to a standard. You should find something exactly the same or nearly the same at any home improvement center or flooring store.
A ceramic tile floor is a gorgeous addition to any room, giving it an air of luxury and beauty that is hard to match by any other type of flooring.
This article is sponsored by My Dream Home Registry, the gift registry for everything home. Visit them on the web at www.mydreamhomeregistry.com
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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