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Ceramic or Porcelain what’s the difference?
The main difference between ceramic and porcelain is the way in which the tile is produced. Porcelain is constructed with a finer, denser material and is fired in extremely high temperatures making it much stronger and more resistant to scratches and chipping. Because of the dense body they will not absorb liquids as easily as ceramic which protects against staining. This process allows many porcelain products to be used in areas most ceramic is not suitable for including outdoor areas especially where temperatures drop below freezing.
This process also allows different looks. Porcelain tiles are much more representative of natural stone especially throughbody porcelain products. Porcelain products also tend to be thicker than their ceramic counterparts.
Ceramic is made out of clay and is fired at lower temperatures; the color coating is then added and usually sealed with a glaze. This glaze is what gives ceramic the waxy or glossy appearance. Ceramics maintain a much more classic tile appearance than throughbody porcelain products.
Throughbody porcelain or glazed porcelain what’s the difference?
A glazed porcelain is produced very similarly to a ceramic product. The only difference is the construction of the body of the tile. Like all porcelain tiles the body is comprised of denser material and fired at higher temperatures. The color coating is then applied and glazed. This provides the tile with a heavier body and better durability while maintaining the classic tile look.
A throughbody product maintains the color of the tile throughout the body of the tile. This is where the term throughbody comes from. The benefit in this is two-fold, it makes a tile which is extremely durable and very closely emulates natural stone products. If you chip or scratch the surface of a throughbody it is much less noticeable, chipping the color coating of a glazed porcelain or ceramic tends to reveal the reddish clay body beneath. Because of the process throughbody products tend to wear better than any tile on the market and are often used in commercial applications for this purpose.
Glazed porcelains tend to be less expensive than their throughbody counterparts because of lower production costs involved.
Important tile terms to understand
Shade Variation: This relates to the color of the tile. Due to the processes involved each tile can deviate slightly from one to another while maintaining the overall color tone. However; certain products are manufactured to cause the tiles to significantly differentiate from tile to tile in order to achieve a specific look.
There are 4 standards for color or shade variation.
V1 or Low: The color will not greatly deviate from tile to tile, providing a very uniform looking application.
V2 or Medium: Slight color deviations will be noticed providing a less uniform looking finished application.
V3 or High: Significant color deviations, the finished application will maintain very non-uniform look but many times maintain the similar color tone.
V4 or Random: Absolute color deviation, the finish product will look completely random. Often tiles will deviate from blue to green or red to orange or yellow. Often used to duplicate the appearance of natural stone products where mineral deposits cause significant variation within a quarried product.
It is important to note when purchasing products labeled as high or random shade variation to view many samples of the product. Often times you may purchase it based on a single sample only to find only 2 tiles in a box of 10 that look similar. These products are specifically designed this way and many people often incorrectly confuse this for a defect.
Nominal Size/Thickness: Many times you will see this associated with a tile. An example would be a nominal 13” x 13”. Many tiles sold in America are imported from nations which use the metric system, many times these products will not equal out to their standard rule counterparts. So in this case a nominal 13” x 13” could actually be a 12 5/8” x 12 5/8” tile.
Durability Classification: This describes the classifications given to ceramic and porcelain products based on testing and define what applications they are suitable for. There are 4 standard classifications.
Class I: Light traffic, suitable for certain residential interiors with low traffic. Class I is generally not recommended for areas other than bathrooms.
Class II: Medium-Light traffic, suitable for most residential areas with the exception of extremely high traffic.
Class III: Medium-High traffic, suitable for all residential applications also suitable for light commercial applications.
Class IV: Heavy traffic suitable for all residential applications and most commercial applications.
There are no available products under this category.
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