Floor Tile Suitability Advice
THE TILE SOURCE guide to floor tile suitability

Floor tiles can be categorised in a number of ways, the way they are produced; dust pressed, extruded or moulded. The way they are finished; such as glazing or their porosity. Here we will concentrate on porosity, glazing and slip resistance which are the factors that dictate the suitability of a tile to be used in a particular environment. Do not forget to incorporate dirt barriers at external entrances. Dust and dirt will reduce the lifespan of any floor and make floors more slippery.

Absorption Range Description
10% - 20% Hand made terracotta. Terracotta will require careful sealing & maintenance. Suitable for most dry domestic internal areas.
5% - 10% Machine made terracotta, requires careful sealing & maintenance. Suitable for most dry domestic internal areas.
1% - 4% Vitrified floor tiles & quarry tiles, unglazed tiles benefits from sealing with modest maintenance. Unglazed products suitable for internal heavy wear areas.
0.5% - 1% Fully vitrified, unglazed tiles do not normally require sealing with modest maintenance, use inside or out in heavy wear areas.
Less Than 0.5% Porcelain, unglazed tiles don’t require sealing unless, polished or heavily textured, highly suited for outside  and very heavy duty use.

Porosity
All tiles are measured for porosity. The porosity of the tile dictates where the tile, glazed or unglazed, can be used. The less absorbent the tile the more frost and impact resistant it becomes, and with unglazed tiles, less sealing and maintenance. The following table is loosely based on the European standards, but can’t be precise because of different tables for the different methods of producing tiles. It only refers to unglazed product.		 Glazed Floor Tile Suitability
Glazed tiles are tested for wear using a visual test known as the PEI test. There are 6 grades and a description of each is given in the table below. All our glazed floor tiles are PEI grade 4 or 5 with a limited number of grade 3 for bathroom use.

PEI Class. Description & Usage
0 Unclassified, Wall tile only.
1 (I) Bare foot traffic, bedrooms & bathrooms with no scratching grit.
2 (II) Slipper traffic, domestic areas with no direct contact with the outside, no scratching grit.
3 (III) Medium domestic use with limited scratching grit, living rooms, dining rooms without direct access to outdoors.
4 (IV) Light commercial. Suitable for all domestic use and for limited commercial use e.g. small offices.
5 (V) Commercial. Suitable for all domestic use and medium commercial use e.g. hotel foyers and restaurants.

Measure of Hardness
Some manufacturers grade floor tiles by the MOHS measure of hardness scale, where 1 is talcum powder and 10 is diamond.

Slip resistance
There are several different tests for slip resistance which can provide contradictory results. Generally in a domestic situation any floor tile can be used in dry, clean areas on a flat floor. For domestic bathrooms a textured surface or ‘orange peel’ glaze (most of our co-ordinating floor tiles have this finish) will be sufficient, while a more textured surface would be required for ramps or commercial wet areas. In wet areas consider using an absorbent mat or use underfloor heating to reduce surface water. The more slip resistant any flooring is, the harder it is to clean. See also what type of tiles.
If you are still not sure what tiles are suitable for your application, ring us now!