I have laid ceramic and porcelain tile someone just asked what is the difference between the two?

Question

I should state that I am just a housewife who has extra time on my hands and lay the tile for family & friends. I just lay the tile they pick it out. I can't say there is a lot of difference working with either one. Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

Porcelain is a finer grade of material and is fired at high temperatures which makes it more durable than ceramic...ceramic is fired at low temperatures and can be porous and brittle

Answer 2

Left Field basically has the answer. Each are CLAY, fired/glazed, and often Porcelain has the color all the way through the tile.

The substance of the clay is the difference, in that as LEFT stated Porcelain is a finer grade of clay. I use porcelain almost exclusively in clay scuplting.

The benefits are negligible, beyond the fact that with a tile color going through the entire piece, if a butter knife, etc. is dropped on the floor and it chips, the Ceramic would be more likely to show the chip,, as the base color for a beautiful looking Gray Glaze, might be Red clay.

Both are most often sold in 3/8th thick approximately, and as I said the strength difference is hardly noticeable. That said however... Floor tile, when obtained from anyone who has any knowledge... is sold in various durability grades. IE: assume 1 thru 5...5 being the most durable for traffic areas.

Steven Wolf

Answer 3

The main difference is that the "body" or "core" of the tile on ceramic tile is made from clay and yes it is usually fired at lower temps because if it is fired too hot can become even more brittle. Porcelain however is actually a porcelain "body" (in the case of what we call glazed porcelain) with a picture and glazing on the top similar to ceramic tile. There is alos what we call "through body porcelain" which mean that the entire product is porcelain top to bottom..in this case another advantage is that the color is consistent all the way through the tile and if it chips for example it will be much less noticeable than on glazed porcelain tile or on ceramic tile!
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Answer 4

If you have done both, can't you answer the question?

Answer 5

I know this, that porcelin is harder to keep clean.

Answer 6

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