What Are Vitrified Tiles?

It must be a very exciting thing to select your home furnishing materials which implies you will possess a new house or at least a more beautiful and comfortable home. However, there are a lot of trivia you need take into considerations such as the color and fabric of your curtain or the style and image of the tiles furthermore the thickness of vitrified tiles. In order to save your time, we have collected everything you want to know about vitrified tiles. Just for reference.

The definition of vitrified tiles

It refers to a kind of tile made by fusing 60% silica and 40% clay and its vitrification will achieved by heating with a high temperature. Vitrification (derived from the Latin vitreum, “glass” via the French vitrifier) means to become glass-like or to be transformed into a non-crystalline amorphous solid. With low porosity, vitrified tiles are usually used for vitrified flooring as a replacement to marble and granite flooring and are available in a vast variety of designs and colors.

The benefits of vitrified tiles

• Vitrified tiles have resistance to scratching and stain.

• Vitrified tiles are easy to lay and are easy to maintain.

• Clay is combined with silica, all the materials change to a molten liquid glass sate and then solidify to make vitrified tiles a very hard material. Therefore vitrified tiles are stronger than ceramic and porcelain tiles and can commonly found in high traffic areas and residential areas.

• Vitrified tiles allow underfloor heating installed beneath as they are excellent heat conductors.

• Vitrified tiles have a extreme resistance to water as it has ultra-low water absorption of less than 0.5%.

The shortages of vitrified tiles

• They are more expensive than ceramic and porcelain tiles.

• The tiles should be treated carefully otherwise the edges might crack and chipped.

The differences between vitrified tiles and ceramic tiles

1. Difference in raw materials. Ceramics are made by earthen clay while vitrified tiles are made by a compound of silica and clay.
2. Difference in appearance. Ceramic tiles look rougher than vitrified tiles, which are well known as its glass-like appearance. However, ceramic tiles have a more natural and earthy appearance than glass tiles. 
3. Difference in toughness. Vitrification makes vitrified tiles stronger than ceramic tiles. Since they are composed of a mixture of various materials like silica, quartz, and feldspar along with clay, baking at high temperatures fuses them together to make them more durable and resistant.
4. Difference in water-resistance. Vitrified tiles have a lower water absorption rate than ceramic tiles. This makes vitrified tiles a good choice for flooring.
5. Difference in scratching-resistance and stain-resistance. Vitrified tiles are more scratch and stain resistant than ceramic tiles while ceramic tiles are easier to install compared with vitrified tiles.
6. Difference in price. Vitrified tiles have more advantages than ceramic tiles so it would be understandable that vitrified tiles sell with a rather higher price on the market than ceramic tiles.

Conclude

Vitrified tiles can be used in both indoor and outdoor thanks to their toughness so no matter you want to pave them on your house or outdoor they would be a good choice. Besides that with a extreme low water absorption, they can be used in your bathroom and kitchen room as well and what’s more, they are stain and scratching resistant. Therefore it would be easy to clean this type tiles. But if you haven’t enough budget, ceramic tiles would be also a good choice because they have adequate tough and easy to install.

Foshan Kiva Ceramics Co. is a professional tiles manufacturer, founded in 2010, providing all sorts of tiles, such as johnson vitrified tiles 100x100,polished porcelain tiles, glazed polished porcelain tiles, rustic porcelain tiles, ceramic wall and floor tiles, wood tiles and subway tiles. If you have any need, please feel free to contact us.