WTK: what to look for when selecting floor tiles

[francis1979]

Other than appearance and cost what do you look for when selecting a floor tile?

How do you know if it is a quality tile?

If it is not a good quality tile what can go wrong either during or after installation?
.
Application is inside a house

[francis1979]

Bump

[amarmoonasar21]

Not so much of the tile but is the installation new? meaning was there tile b4 if not is the floor painted? If it is b4 installation use a grinding machine with the concrete disc cutter an mark the floor not too far apart make sure an use enuff thin set if the floor is wavy spread evenly an last wen grouting make sure don't leave out any spaces that's the life of the tile bcuz wen flooring is being mopped an also cleaning ur don't want water to get under the tile

[Tile Expression Ltd.]

In terms of quality of the tile there are a lot of factors to take into consideration.

The main being PEI rating: (porcelain enamel institute) which infact gives you an indication of the strength of the glaze from fading

For an indoor floor PEI 3-5 will be suitable
for an outdoor floor PEI 4-5 will be suitable

Another factor to look at is water absorption, however this will be difficult to determine and its not written on the box.

But usually most customers I've encountered rarely have quality problems..99% of the time its the tile man fault.
They either don't use enough thinset, they don't properly prep the surface example if its painted..

[Slartibartfast]

Aren't there stuff like "full body" tiles (porcelain, not clay I think) where the entire body of the tile is exactly the same as the surface colour? If you know what I talking about you have any idea of the price of that vs. normal clay tiles with enamel.

[pugboy]

simple test, walk with a piece of sandpaper in your pocket and see how easily the tile scratches
most of the cheaper tiles also have very soft clay part(red)
so once the glaze is scratched off the underside wears easily, so scratch the underside also.

Don't buy the matt looking ones, a dirty easy and a pain to clean
don't but the super glossy ones either, slippery and usually cheaper too.

[francis1979]

Thanks for the responses