Which Tiles Are Best For Flooring? Home Cosmetica Guide

Hi, there! I’m William Baker, and our today’s topic is which tiles are best for flooring. In modern times, tile flooring is one of the most popular trends around the world. It needs different colored and textured floor tiles to provide a sophisticated look to your house.

Durable and stylish tile floors have been affordable alternatives to natural stone for years. They’re one of the essential home accessories for bathroom, kitchen, and other water-sensitive areas. Besides, floor tiles are eco-friendly and require low maintenance.

Many homeowners love to tile the floor of entryways, hallways, dining, and laundry rooms. They opt for tiles that feature eye-catching design, patterns, and shapes. If you want to tile your house like those people, you have to choose tiles that bring a lot of bright new looks.

When you’re going to select a type of tile for your floor, you may get overwhelmed to see a variety of options out there. Don’t be panic because we’re going to provide you with a dozen of tile flooring options. Decide on the one that suits your preferences and requirements.

Best Tile Flooring Options

When you’re going to use tiles on your floor, you have to figure out which tiles suit your home environment best, depending on material, color, and size. Here we’re going to provide some available options for floor tiles. You just need to choose one as per your preference.

01. Ceramic Tiles

Ceramic tiles, typically made and molded of clay, come in both glazed and unglazed forms. They’re 60 perfect less expensive options than porcelain tiles and will allow you to cut the tiles as your requirements during installation.

02. Porcelain Tiles

Porcelain tiles are the main competitor of ceramic tiles. These tiles come with higher density and water resistance compared to their ceramic counterparts. They’re also resistant to scratches and heavy feet usage, but they can crack in the case of falling heavy objects on them.

03. Cement Tiles

Cement tiles, sometimes are called concrete tiles, are one of the best options for driveways and exterior floors. Because of their strength and durability, these tiles feature excellent traction and reduce friction even if they’re under wet conditions.

04. Terracotta Tiles

Terracotta tiles, made from natural clay, are highly durable and water-resistant. They usually come with a glazed form to ensure durability. Regardless of being good tile flooring materials, they offer multiple color variations.

05. Mosaic Tiles

Mosaic tiles are manufactured from a variety of materials, such as ceramic, porcelain, glass, or natural stone. They come with glazed and unglazed forms like ceramic tiles. If you want to remodel your living room, kitchen, or bathroom floor, these tiles can be a great choice.

06. Natural Stone Tiles

Natural stone tiles include several forms of tiles, including marble, granite, and limestone. So, the durability of natural stone tiles depends on the construction materials. When it comes to installing tiles, granite, and marble tiles are ideal for the living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

07. Slate Tiles

Slate tiles are mainly produced from metamorphic rock, and they feature slip-resistance in both greasy and wet conditions. For ensuring versatility, these tiles come in different color options. They can be a good choice for renovating the kitchen, bathroom, and around the pool.

08. Quartzite Tiles

Quartzite is a stylish stone tile that can be installed in pool surroundings, driveways, and paths. While honed quartzite provides you with a smooth finish, sealed and crystallized quartzite tiles give you a darker shade that looks like a marble finish.

09. Sandstone Tiles

Sandstone tiles are available in plenty of designs, colors, and sizes and ideal for along walkways, patios, and around the pool. If you want to create a rich outdoor, then sandstone tiles can be your great choice.

10. Vitrified Tiles

Vitrified tiles are produced from some processed materials that are durable and resistant to scratches, stain, and acid. These tiles are available in multiple colors that allow you to install them in any room of your house.

11. Quarry Tiles

Quarry tiles are one of the building construction materials, which are made by press forming and firing natural shales and clay. These tiles are produced on how bricks are manufactured. They’re a great tile flooring option and ideal for both indoor and outdoor usage.

12. Vinyl Tiles

Vinyl tiles are flexible tiles that come in various sizes and colors. These PVC-made tiles offer multiple shapes, including plank-shaped and square-shaped tiles. You can use these tiles in your floating floor. Also, you’ll find some vinyl tiles in sheet form that needs professional installation.

Which Tiles Are Best for Flooring?

All tiles that we’ve mentioned above are top-notch and will be perfect for your floor, but it entirely depends on your requirements, preference, and the place where you’re going to install tiles. So, you have to decide by yourself considering some factors given below.

However, if you want to know our recommendation, we’ll say that vitrified tiles can be one of the best options for your floor. We’ve kept these tiles ahead due to their durability and resistance to acid, stain, scratches, and heavy traffic.

Factors that Determine the Best Tiles for Flooring

When it comes to choosing the best tiles for flooring, you have to consider a variety of factors, including hardness, Porosity, Resistance, and more. Here we’re going to provide some factors that you can consider to determine your best choice.

Tile Hardness

Tile hardness is the most important factor that you must consider during the selection of the best tiles for your floor. According to the Porcelain Enamel Institute, tiles are divided into 5 different classes to estimate the resistance to heavy traffic and scratches.

#Class I: Class I tiles don’t withstand any foot traffic, and so they’re not suitable for flooring. If you want to use these tiles, they’re appropriate for walls.

#Class II: Class II tiles can resist lightweight traffic, and so they can be used for soft traffic places. These tiles are suitable for areas that are less likely to scratch, like bedrooms and bathrooms. But, the best place for installing these tiles is interior walls.

#Class III: This type of tiles is ideal for light to medium traffic areas, such as countertops and walls. They’re also suitable for all high-foot-traffic home locations, including entryways and kitchen.

#Class IV: The fourth class of tiles can tolerate medium to heavy traffic areas, including entryways, hallways, and kitchen. Tiles with this rating can be installed anywhere in your home.

#Class V: Class V tiles come with the highest hardness and can be installed from heavy to extra-heavy traffic areas. Besides tolerating heavy traffic, these tiles are scratch-resistant. You can use these tiles for both home and commercial use.

Tile Porosity

Porosity is another essential factor to consider when purchasing tiles for flooring. You can examine tile porosity by comparing the ratio of air holes with the material. The less the porosity a tile has, the best it will be for flooring.

Classification of Tiles According to Porosity

• Impervious Tiles – 0.5 % and less percent of water absorption (Best for flooring)
• Vitreous tiles – 0.5 to 3% of water absorption
• Semi-Vitreous tiles – roughly 3 to 7% water absorption capacity
• Non-Vitreous tiles – above 7% (not recommended for floor use)

Moisture Resistance

All tiles are not created equally, and so don’t have the ability to resist moisture. In this regard, porcelain tiles can be a great choice due to its high tensile strength and resistance to moisture. As the quality of these tiles differs, you should verify the specifications before purchasing.

You’ll also find some above-average-strength porcelain tiles that have the extra capacity of moisture resistance. These tiles can be the best for bathrooms and kitchens. But, the downside is they’re a bit more expensive.

Slip Resistance

High-quality tiles come with a naturally slippery feature that you need to consider while making a purchase. If you have seniors and kids in your house, then you have to give a little more importance to this factor. Bathrooms are usually more prone to falls, so go for tiles that feature good slip resistance capacity.

If you’re looking to buy porcelain or ceramic tile, you should prefer one that has slip-resistant coatings. You can also choose non-slip slate tiles or mosaic tiles due to their good amounts of traction to the feet. For the shower floor, try to purchase small sized tiles.

Stain Resistance

Stain-resistance is something that you should consider when purchasing the best tiles for flooring. Some tiles come with more stain-resistance, such as porcelain tiles. For kitchen and bathroom flooring, porcelain tiles can be a great choice.

Ease of Maintenance

If you want to keep yourself away from the maintenance hassles, you should purchase a wood-like or PVC-made ceramic tile, such as vinyl tiles. These tiles can be used for the kitchen floor that wants you to clean frequently.

Final Verdict

Tiles are one of the best options to floor your new house or decorate your existing one. Choosing the right tiles are complicated, especially when there are so many options around you. Fortunately, we’ve already provided you with a dozen of tile flooring options.  

Now, it entirely depends on your preference and a few factors, including durability, budget, ease of maintenance, and the right place. We hope you’ve already known which tiles are best for flooring. You can share your experience (if you have) with us in the comment section below.