Smart Home Buying Tips: Choose Vitrified Tiles

Are you looking for great flooring products for your home but aren’t sure how to move forward? Don’t worry, this blog will help you make the right decision and save money.

Vitrified tiles have many advantages over other flooring options on the market. They can give you the same look-and-feel of popular in-demand flooring products like marble, granite, wood or brick – and require the least maintenance.

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So what makes vitrified tiles so special?

Vitrified tiles are a modern-day version of ceramic tiles. Like ceramic tiles, they are made from clay – but also include elements like quartz, silica and feldspar (also found in granite). These elements, when baked at high temperatures, melt and fuse into a hard, glass type product. This makes the tiles strong, durable and highly resistant to water – as well as extremely versatile in terms of shape, design and texture.

Vitrified tiles are the most popular alternative to natural flooring products. They are gradually taking over ceramic tiles, made from earthen clay, and do not contain elements like quartz, silica and feldspar. As a result, ceramic tiles are not as strong, durable or water resistant as vitrified tiles. To overcome this, ceramic tiles now contain extra glazing for added protection and elegance. Being cheaper than vitrified tiles, they are a great and a highly popular choice for kitchens, bathrooms and verandas.

The seven things that make vitrified tiles such a fabulous flooring option for your home are:

• They Look Great!
  Vitrified tiles can fulfill an interior designer’s wildest fantasies because they can be customized into almost any texture you want, such as:
  • Natural stone texture such as slate stone, sandstone, Agra stone, Kota stone, terracotta, Italian marble, granite – and more

• Glassy texture
• Brick texture
• Wood texture – including natural wood finish

You can get vitrified tiles in both glossy and matt finish. The colour and texture of vitrified tiles can highlight or subdue the spatial qualities, thereby allowing you to balance the lighting and aesthetics of your room to your taste.

You can, for example, enhance or underplay natural or electric lighting, depending on the ambience you want in your room – light glossy colours to enhance brightness and darker matts to underplay it. And the choices are endless!

• • They Are Quick & Easy to Install
    Vitrified tiles require very little installation time because they are thinner (10-12 mm) than other natural flooring materials, and come in pre-polished, ready-to-use format. They can be used within a few hours after they are laid – unlike cement, mosaic, granite or marble which require at least 2 to 3 days to set before they can be polished and used, thereby making it a time-consuming, costlier and messier affair.Being machine-made, vitrified tiles are very consistent in terms of size, shape, thickness and composition than natural stone, wood or cement flooring. This not only makes their installation fast and hassle-free but also less labor-intensive.

• They Require Very Little Maintenance
  Vitrified tiles are among the most durable flooring materials available on the market today. They are colour permanent and abrasion resistant, and will not cut, tear or puncture easily. Natural stones, however, are more easily prone to loss of shine, staining, yellowing, and efflorescence (from too much exposure to water) – all of which call for extra maintenance, and cost money.Vitrified tiles, on the other hand, require very little maintenance. They can be cleaned very easily with soap and water without leaving any after-marks.   Wooden flooring can be prone to swelling, especially in places with heavy rainfall, high humidity and extreme weather conditions. Marble flooring can be easily damaged bycommonly used products in your home – like soda, vinegar, mustard, citrusy liquids like lemon or orange juice, etc. Moreover, marble tends to yellow over time, whereas vitrified tiles retain their sheen throughout their lifetime (unless they’ve been grossly misused). Vitrified tiles have a tough, glassy and almost non-porous surface, so they are more water resistant. They are therefore in a better position to withstand everyday household spills – such as from turmeric, ink, gum, mud, as well as mild chemicals (acids and alkalis) – which can be easily removed by a mere swipe. Moreover, they are safe to clean with a light detergent or a cleansing solution – something you can easily do yourself instead of having to resort to professional help (which can be costly).

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• They Offer You The Widest Possible Variety
  Vitrified tiles come in a gorgeous variety of designs – such as high gloss polish, lapato, satin, matted and rustic finishes and more (see below) – thereby giving you a delightful range of options to choose from.It’s not surprising, therefore, that even non-residential buildings are now switching to vitrified tiles for their rich and luxurious look. From hotels and airports to hospitals, malls, offices and restaurants, everyone is doing their bit to add to the look and feel of their interiors and exteriors.   Types of Vitrified Tiles – Based on Texture / Finished Effects*

Vitrified tiles are not only functional and durable but also extremely beautiful and elegant. You can get them in a host of popular in-demand textures – such as stone (marble, granite, etc.) wood and brick (as mentioned above) – as well as finished effects, such as:

• Glossy
• Matt, High Matt
• Semi Glossy
• Reactive, Channel
• Luster, Coloured Luster
• Vitrossa
• Smooth, Rustic
• Opaque, Transparent
• Raindrop
• Antiskid
• Embossed (Temptation, Impression, Creation, Sensation, Elation)

* http://www.icctas.com/faq.html Common Shapes & Sizes

And just in case you’re wondering what the most commonly bought shapes and sizes are, take a look at some of the popular ones in India:

Shapes

• Square shaped tiles
• Hexagonal shaped tiles
• Octagonal shaped tiles
• Floor Border tiles (come in different sizes to suit your requirement)

Sizes

• Bathrooms
  • Small to Medium sized: 8”x8”
  • Medium to Large sized: 12”x12”
• Living rooms
  • Small to Medium sized: 12”x12” or 18”x18”
  • Large sized: 24”x24”

• Lobbies & Verandas: 18”x18” or 24”x24”
• Halls & Public places: 18”x18”, 24”x24” or larger

• • They Last Long
    Vitrified tiles are extremely tough (like granite) and durable, and can last almost throughout the life of your home. Moreover, they are scratch and fire resistant, as well as fairly water-resistant (they are often used outdoors for their water and frost resistant properties).So you can safely expect them to last at least 15-20 years or more with minimal basic maintenance – even if you have small children and pets. That’s really something, isn’t it?

• They are Cheaper
  Although the cost of vitrified tiles depends largely on the brand and design you choose, it typically ranges from 50 to 200 per square foot, as opposed to:

• Approx. 90-200*+ per square foot for Indian marble flooring
• Approx. 750*+ per square foot for Italian marble flooring
• Approx. 120-300*+ per square foot for granite flooring
• Approx. 80-400*+ per square foot for wooden laminate flooring
• Approx. 150*+ per square foot for hardwood flooring

Vitrified tiles can burn a hole in your pocket if you want something truly spectacular, but chances are good that you will get a fabulous flooring option within the ? 50-200 per square foot price range.

Vitrified tiles are clearly more affordable than natural flooring products like marble, granite and wood. It is for this reason that they are among the most preferred flooring option both at a global and national level, and account for almost 50% of the total tile sales by value in India.

And that’s another reason why we so strongly recommend vitrified tiles for your home!

*Approximate prices, likely to vary from one location to another

• They Are Thinner, Lighter & More Consistent
  Being machine made, vitrified tiles not only provide greater consistency in terms of structural composition but are also:

• Thinner and lighter, and therefore save on both time and space without compromising on strength
• Odorless and without any toxic chemicals (such as certain plastics and laminates)
• Energy efficient and UV resistant

The hidden flaws of natural flooring products may often go unnoticed until months after you’ve bought them – by which time it can be too late. This is a lot less likely to be so with their machine made counterparts. Summary

Vitrified tiles are a more cost-effective alternative to natural flooring products like marble, granite and wood. They are cheaper to buy, install and maintain than natural flooring products. And because they are manufactured under controlled conditions using the latest technology, they are structurally more consistent – unlikenatural flooring materials which – while they are beautiful, elegant and timeless – are prone to natural defects that may not immediately be visible, especially to the untrained eye.

Vitrified tiles come in the widest possible range of designs, colours, textures and finishes, which helps you to customize your interiors and exteriors any which way you want. Their hard and non-porous structure gives them extra strength, so they look like-new for the most part of their life.

Now that you’ve read the 7 fabulous reasons to choose vitrified tiles for your home, please tell us what other great reasons you can think of that make these tiles so special – or not so special! Do let us know – we always love to hear from our readers!