When you want extra flair added to your living spaces, look no further than stylish tile flooring. Tile has been a home staple for thousands of years due to its timeless beauty and durable material. In modern homes, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) floors create long-lasting, sleek finishes for kitchens, bathrooms and other areas in the house.
Check out these different types of tile flooring that can make your living spaces stand out.
Luxury Vinyl Tile
LVT has overtaken the market as the primary choice for new tile installations among today’s homeowners. Technological advances enable this option to outperform ceramic and porcelain at nearly every level. For these reasons, 50Floor has chosen to feature LVT as our exclusive tile product line.
Luxury vinyl tile contains four layers, each responsible for a separate function to enhance overall performance. The image layer has the pattern or color of the material and a wear layer rests on top to protect it. The backing is the bottom layer that provides padding and softer footing, while the core section adds strength and rigidity.
Ceramic Tiles
Ceramic tiles have been a popular option for kitchens and bathrooms for decades. With various style choices, you can install ceramic tile that resembles stone, slate or wood. You also have the creative freedom to match your current home’s aesthetic with many color options.
Unlike most flooring options, ceramic tile has only one layer. The thickness of the material helps protect your floor against excess moisture, heat, dents, chip and scuffs. Take a look at these types of ceramic tile flooring finishes:
- Glazed: Add an extra layer of liquid glass coating to your floor for more shine and protection. Glazed finishes are less porous than unglazed ceramic tile, so you can use them for tile in bathrooms and kitchens without worrying about potential water damage. However, cracks or chips in the top layer will appear in a different color than the tile, making the slight flaws more noticeable.
- Unglazed: Without an extra layer on the clay, ceramic tiles are considered unglazed. While they may not have as much water resistance as their counterparts, the clay remains the same color throughout the material. With this, chips and cracks aren’t as noticeable.
Porcelain Tile
Porcelain tile flooring is equally as stylish as ceramic tiles, with a few added benefits. While porcelain and ceramic contain the same materials, they meld at higher temperatures to create porcelain tiles. The extra heat makes the clay denser, so you can enjoy your home’s porcelain tile floors for many years.
Porcelain tile floors contain clay and other synthetic materials, similar to ceramic tile. With identical melded ingredients, porcelain tiles can also resemble natural wood, slate and stone at a lower price than real stone tile flooring.
Similar to ceramic tile, you can choose a glazed or unglazed finish.
Differences in Tile Types
Luxury vinyl tile’s ability to replicate natural materials such as stone and wood has made it the most popular choice for new flooring projects. Besides offering enhanced aesthetics and higher performance levels, LVT costs significantly less than ceramic or porcelain options. All three types of flooring require relatively similar types of care.
Although ceramic and porcelain can last up to a century when taken care of properly, they are more susceptible to damage, which can be very costly to repair or replace. Also, in addition to being prone to cracking, the grouting in ceramic tile can wear down over time, affecting appearance and performance. While ceramic, porcelain and LVT are all water-resistant, LVT ranks slightly higher in effectiveness.
What Type of Tile Floor Should You Choose?
50Floor offers LVT exclusively because of its many benefits over ceramic and porcelain options, particularly the value it offers for homeowners. In addition to providing significantly faster installation times, LVT requires no special tools or grouting materials to install. Trimming and cutting LVT materials produces less mess, as ceramic and porcelain tiles create excessive dust when trimming to size.
Despite its incredible affordability, LVT comes in a broader selection of patterns and colors than conventional tile. This range lets you choose an LVT color that complements your space’s existing decor and lighting, enhances its overall aesthetics, and makes it look larger or smaller, depending on your style preferences. Luxury vinyl tile designs can also blend well with nearly any home architecture or furniture scheme.
Choose Luxury Vinyl Tile With 50Floor
Install beautiful floors in your home with 50Floor. We offer a wide range of colors, designs and finishes at an affordable price, so you can enjoy enhancing the aesthetic of your living spaces. We prioritize your budget, styling preferences and time to save you as much money as possible while achieving the look you desire throughout your home.
If our LVT flooring options sound appealing, let us show you various samples during a free in-home consultation. Our flooring consultants will work with you through every step of the process so that you can be involved with creative decisions and final looks.
Schedule a free appointment with 50Floor today to start designing your perfect flooring.
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