Two Classifications of Floor Tiles

You can be like an expert home designer and Raleigh home improvement professional with proper designing and effective planning. When you are properly informed of the functional and practical considerations about home improvement, you will easily turn your home into a most beautiful piece of property.

One of the more important aspects of Raleigh home improvement is the flooring of your home. There are many design and material options to choose from when deciding on the final finish and look of the floor and the home interiors. Are you going for the rustic or rugged finish with stone cladding or do you prefer the smooth finish of a ceramic or porcelain tile Raleigh. There are still quite a number people who can't distinguish ceramic from porcelain tiles. If you are serious about sprucing up your home interiors, then the types of tiles and other equally important aspects of home improvement must be adequately understood.

There are two major classifications of floor tiles. These are porcelain tiles and non-porcelain tiles. Non-porcelain tiles are also known as ceramic tiles. Under the porcelain tile main category, there are three sub-types, namely, glazed porcelain, natural porcelain and polished porcelain. The natural porcelain types are generally known as unpolished and unglazed. These dense tiles have 0.5% and less absorption rate making them extremely resistant to frost. Further, porcelain tiles also come in 3 common finishes; high polished, unglazed and matted finish.

The natural porcelain tile Raleigh has less than 1% absorption rate. However, the absorption rate has no relation to the tile surface as this type of porcelain tiles is referred to as through body tiles. This type of porcelain tiles follows different design and texture between the top half and the bottom half thus being referred to as double loaded tiles.

On the other hand, glazed tiles can be completely glazed or partially glazed. The degree is achieved by altering the process of tile manufacturing. The overall absorption rate of glazed tiles is 0.50%. However, there are a few glazed tiles whose absorption can go as low as .10% especially when the top layer of tile is made of pure clay. What is great about glazed tiles is that you can do further polishing.

Polished porcelain tile Raleigh comes with a near granite finish with an unglazed tile surface. This type of porcelain tiles are actually natural porcelain tiles that went through an extensive surfacing polishing process. They undergo additional process during the manufacturing of the tiles to increase their resistance. The manufacturing process creates pores on the surface. Thus, it is important that the prescribed sealer is used while doing the grouting work and tile setting. Failure to do the necessary sealing would lead to the staining of the tiles.

When deciding on the specific type of porcelain tiles for your home improvement projects, it is important that you consider the overall look that you want to achieve and the specific needs and requirements of the floor surface you are working on. In cases where the situation warrants expert advice, you may consider to get technical advice from interior design experts.

Chuck R. Stewart was very impressed with some porcelain tile Raleigh installation he had done in his home. He also was very impressed with some of the Raleigh home improvement firms he saw at the home improvement convention.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_R_Stewart