How to Choose the Best Type of Tile for a Kitchen Floor

The flooring choice you make for your home's kitchen may be the most important in the home, as the kitchen probably suffers the most foot traffic of any room in the house! The tile should then be strong and durable, easy to clean, and also very attractive. To ensure the kitchen tile you choose for your home's kitchen is exactly what you need in that space, consider a few pros and cons of some favourite options.

Porcelain

Porcelain is a type of clay that has sand added to the mixture; it's then treated with heat so that it becomes very dense, and stronger than standard ceramic tile. This makes porcelain a very durable tile that can even be used outdoors, something to consider if your kitchen opens up to an outside patio or sunroom; you can run the same porcelain tile through those spaces for a cohesive look. However, porcelain is very heavy and difficult to cut and fabricate, so its installation is not typically considered a DIY job.

Ceramic

Ceramic tile is softer than porcelain and easier to cut and fabricate, so you can typically install it on your own. If you do opt for ceramic tile, note that the material itself is naturally very porous, so choose a heavily glazed type for kitchen flooring. The glaze coating will cover pits and pores on the surface of the tile, ensuring that dirt and food debris don't get trapped in those pitted areas. The porous nature and soft density of ceramic also makes it a poor choice for outdoor use, so avoid adding this tile to a patio or sunroom.

Stone

Natural stones are harvested from the outdoors, so they can also be used outdoors! Slate, limestone, and marble are good choices for matching kitchen flooring to an outdoor space, but stone tiles are very heavy and require professional installation. They also need to be consistently polished and resealed, so don't assume that their durable nature means that stone tiles will need no maintenance over time.

Vinyl

Vinyl is made of a synthetic material that is blended with adhesives for a tough and durable tile that is easy to clean, and vinyl tiles are often painted with a finish that makes them resemble stone or timber. The soft surface of vinyl is comfortable underfoot, and many vinyl tiles come in a peel-and-stick form, so DIY installation is very simple. The tile may have an artificial look to it that doesn't appeal to everyone, but otherwise, this is a very affordable and durable choice for the kitchen.

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