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Pick the Right Tile for the Use

How to choose the proper tiles for the use you have. Explains hardness, porosity and abrasiveness.

One of the most popular choices for flooring today is tile flooring. This is because tile floors combine beauty with long life and are available in an incredibly wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes and forms. There is no end to the style choices you have when it comes to decorating your home with tile flooring.

Tile flooring is used in bathrooms, foyers, kitchens and increasingly in other rooms as well. It adds an elegant touch that is noted for it durability. One of the few disadvantages of tile flooring is that is it a fairly permanent decorative addition to the home, because of the way it is installed.

There are some issues that have to be taken into consideration when you are considering tile flooring. The first is the hardness of the surface. The Porcelain Enamel Institute has a scale for determining the proper hardness for tile flooring, depending upon the use to which it will be put. Zero hardness is for tiles that will not be walked on at all, such as for wall tiles or other uses such as the tiles used in mosaic tables. A hardness of five, the highest, is for commercial use that will be walked on every day in a high traffic area. Quality is not in question here, only the amount of traffic the tile can take and still last a long time.

Most tile floors will only have to be somewhere in the middle of these one to five standards, in order to handle normal household traffic. But you should know about this standard so that you do not put a tile in the foyer that really belongs on the bathroom wall.

Another feature (mosaic tile dining room table) to watch for in tiling is its porosity. The amount of moisture the tile will be exposed to will determine the level of porosity you can have. In the bath, you have to choose a completely non porous tile and if it is going to be on the floor, it should also have some abrasiveness to it to make it less slippery. If you choose a design that is porous, you will have to have it sealed and glazed to reduce the porosity. Any questions you have about the tile flooring can usually be answered by the professionals at the flooring store.

The hardness, porosity and abrasiveness of the tiles you choose will make a big difference in the safety of your home and how the tiles wear over time.

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