TILES SELECTION

Anyone who had undergone the tile selection progress will undoubtedly agree it’s not an easy task. With so many varieties and designs to choose and match, selecting the perfect tile combination that suits your unique taste and design theme is a very time-consuming process. In this article we share some basic information about tiles to help home owners, especially those who have had no experience selecting tiles before to have a better understanding before embarking on the tiles selection process.

TYPES OF TILES

Porcelain and Ceramic are the 2 main types of tiles you’ll come across when selecting tiles. The key difference to note is that Porcelain tiles can be used for both walls and floors, while Ceramic should only be used for walls as it is not as strong as Porcelain tiles.

TILE SHAPE & SIZE

There’s a huge variety of shapes and sizes available for tiles, with the most commonly used being rectangular 300 x 600mm. There’s likely an additional labor cost for installation of larger tiles as well as patterned tiles such as hexagon and subway tiles so be sure to check with your ID / contractor beforehand.

SLIP RATING

Tiles that are suitable for floor use have a slip rating tagged to them. This rating ranges from R9 to R12, with R12 being the most slip resistant (note its slip resistant and not slip proof). However, the drawback is that the higher the slip rating, the rougher the surface of the tiles. R9 and R10 would suffice for indoor use.

TILES FINISH

The common finish you’ll find on tiles surface are rough, matte or glossy. Rough tiles usually have good slip rating, but are not as comfortable to step on and is harder to clean. Glossy tiles are attractive as it looks grand and elegant, but water marks are more obvious and will be slippery when wet thus not suitable for floor application. Matte tiles are not as slippery when wet thus making them a popular option nowadays.