Vitrified
Tiles - Better than hardwood floors?
By Frederick M. Hueston, StoneForensics.com
Vitrified tiles are beautiful and very very durable - a combination of qualities most floors do not have. Here's why they could be an alternative to most other floors.
Hardwood floors are gorgeous and add a great deal of
elegance and charm to a home. But as with many things so beautiful, they are very
delicate. Hardwood floors require a great deal of care and maintenance to keep
them looking great. And for folks who cannot spare a lot of time to give them
the required care, vitrified tiles can be a great option.
Vitrified tiles are very attractive too. And unlike hardwood
floors, these are very tough - they are much harder than natural stones, and
pools of water can definitely not damage them ... unlike hardwood floors.
What are vitrified tiles?
Vitrified tiles are made by combining 40% clay and 60%
silica in a process called vitrification. The process of manufacture makes them
extremely hard and non-porous - a great advantage over natural stones like
marble which are porous and hence need a good deal of care.
Vitrified tiles are virtually maintenance free and have very
good abrasion resistance - which makes them very suitable for use in high
traffic areas.
And there is another huge advantage vitrified tiles have
over most other floors. The designs on vitrified tiles are printed with soluble
salts which are essentially penetrating pigments that penetrate to a depth of 2
to 3 mm below the surface of the tile ... and that means the design is present
at depths of up to 25% of the tile's thickness! And the high hardness and
abrasion resistance of vitrified tiles essentially means that the design is
permanent for all practical purposes. In contrast, some floor polishes exist
over the surface of the floor and have little abrasion resistance.
But on the other hand, vitrified tiles are not currently
available in a great variety of shades - at least not in as many shades as
natural stone tiles are.
Other advantages of vitrified tiles.
Vitrified tiles hardly expand or contract with changes in
moisture and temperature - unlike other floors like wood for instance. This
means that they may be used for a joint free application. But instead of a
joint free application, it may be better create uniform gaps between tiles by
fixing them using spacers and then filling the space with grout. This would
especially be recommended when the tiles would be exposed to extremes of
temperature - either very hot or very cold.
Vitrified tiles are virtually maintenance free. They may be swept clean. But still, it would be better to take a few steps to ensure that they keep looking great for several years or decades...
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