Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Oct 06, 2008 8:38 am I thought I would write this up as we are seeing more and more problems with porcelain tiles remember there a good ones and there are bad ones an easy test is drop some coke or red cordial on them leave for 5 minutes and see if it wipes off, the more you pay the better the quality stay away from China Imports hope this helps also sealing will not help the tiles that stain.
Polished Porcelain Porcelain tiles are made from a clay called Kaolin, with other additives put in by the manufacturer. These tiles are typically fired at high temperatures under high pressure. They come out extremely hard, harder than granite. This means no absorption, no staining etc, wont scratch with a nail, throw hydrochloric on them- no dramas, clean them with a tynex(carbon) brush, scrub with a black pad, in a domestic situation they will last 100 years. BUT When they are machined and made into POLISHED porcelain, or honed in some cases, the grinding process opens up voids in the surface of the tile. Sort of like a honeycombe effect. Its these voids that will take a stain, and of course some stains cannot be shifted. This is why SOME of the polished tiles require sealing, and SOME of the manufacturers recommend pre-sealing, especially the dark coloured ones like choc-brown & charcoal, because when the darker grouts with all the oxides in them are used, they stain badly. Some of them have very textured surfaces, designed specifically for non-slip high traffic areas. When these are installed, the tilers often have difficulty with grout smear, especially when using grout additives and epoxys etc. They AINT porous. We often get called out to remove paint & adhesive from these tiles, its very difficult! Because the Kaolin is mined in many parts of the world, the size of the clay particle varies a lot, and therefore the staining issue varies with the clay used and also the manufacturing process. Its usually the Chinese & Turkish that are the worst, these types usually come with a factory wax coating on them to protect them during installation. The Italian, Spanish, UAE, Israel, Portugal, Indonesian, Malaysian stuff is usually ok. I always have a look for the tiles boxes when on a job site, it pays to see where the stuff came from, after a while you get a feel for the good stuff & the junk. Some of them now come pre-sealed from the factory, some have a glazed coating on top,they come polished, honed, textured, sanded, there are millions of them out there. The chinese also have a lot of quality control issues with them. A lot of them are not polished properly, they are dull, have machine marks in them etc. We often get blamed for these marks! There are other issues with them as well. There is no international standard yet that specifies what volumes of Kaolin need to be in the tile for it to called a true Porcelain. There are many chinese factories that have closed down because of poor quality and legal issues. Craig Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 2Oct 06, 2008 10:01 am Grout perfect,
Great to have an expert inform us. A quick question for you, if the tiles have a "factory wax coating on them to protect them during installation", does this generally mean a poorer quality tile or a tile that would require sealing?. Cheers, Casa Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 3Oct 06, 2008 10:20 am Hi
Most of the time there is a coating on there it does do two things it helps protect the tile during transport and for the grouting process so as the sand does not scratch the tile during the grout installation it does cost extra for this wax to be removed we use Nanoscrub from aqua mix to remove. Once that is done than we seal but not all porcelains need to be sealed it all depends on the quality well how much you payed as the cheaper porcelains that sell for around $35 stain like anything and sealing it does not stop the staining why? Because the sealer did not go in the tile at all most of it ends up back on the lambs wool application tool or the grout we tell our customers about this but they can not get the sealer protection out of there head so they want us to do it anyway but they always call us and say it stained well we told you so. What we do is pour on some liquid like rasberry soft drink see if it leaves a stain if it does than sealing may not help that either well it never has from what we have seen it is just cheaply made the good quality porcelains do not stain this easy. Your question does it mean a poorer quality tile NO I have seen very expensive porcelains layed with no wax coating as the tiler knows what to grout with. Craig Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 4Oct 06, 2008 10:34 am It sounds like before purchasing any tile, we should get a sample. Poor some raspberry soft drink on it, leave 5 minutes and if it stains, move onto another tile.
Does this sound like a good approach? It also sounds like those that stain will always stain, even if you seal them. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 5Oct 06, 2008 10:47 am Yes you are right samples please take home spill whatever you like on them and also try and see how easily it scatches that should tell you a lot more.
Stay away from polished porcelain in a wet area like a shower. Craig Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 6Oct 06, 2008 11:21 am Grout Perfect Stay away from polished porcelain in a wet area like a shower.Craig Yes dangerously slippery when wet. I can attest to that. My adult son has slipped & fallen after I've washed the floor & I have slipped but luckily saved myself before hitting the floor. Definitely NOT FOR WET AREAS !! Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 7Oct 06, 2008 12:07 pm Yes I agree there is a product out there called wonderstep that fixes these issues of slippery tiles.
The main reason is that polished porcelains in a shower create a maintenence nightmare very hard to remove the soil build up from the tiles, we can but it cost big bucks as we have to use restoration procedures to remove like Poultic. Craig Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 8Oct 06, 2008 12:36 pm Take a look at this tiling forum. There's a lot of interesting & informative threads. Also, lots of advice from tilers.
http://www.infotile.com.au/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Tile+Discussion&number=3&DaysPrune=1000&SUBMIT=Go Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 9Jan 12, 2009 5:27 pm Thought I would share my recent experience with selecting porcelain tiles. Let me start by saying all the advice on this thread has been spot on!
We were looking for a classic cream tile that would not date and go well with our neo-classic Georgian design, there were so many tiles that all looked the same from a construction perspective but varied from $30m2 all the way to $120 which made it pretty difficult. The double coat biscuit is pretty important to ensure consistency of materials used throughout and to prove the tile had been baked at a very high temperature. Apart from the raspberry soft drink test, we also tested olive oil, whiteboard marker, coke and a cherry. Thats right we smeared a cherry over a part of our tile and let it sit for 5 minutes! This was perhaps the most surprising test as we pitched an imported Italian pre-sealed tile costing $80m2 against a Chinese pre-sealed tile with nano technology costing $47m2. The Italian tile came off second best by a mile!! It stained the surface and left a pretty ugly purple stain, even metho struggled to take it off! The cherry stain came off the Chinese tile with a paper towel with ease. Nano is the next big thing in tiles as it uses a more refined sealing process measured in nano-metres instead of microns. The result is less pores on the surface of the tile for material to get stuck in. If you're up for a technical read, go to http://www.cleaningandrestoration.com.a ... lumn6.html Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 10Jan 12, 2009 7:35 pm thanks for that info grout perfect it was really informative I am going to pour soft drink on my sample tiles when I get a chance this weekend! Kylie handover happened 15/6/09...love living on an acre but still so much to do! Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 11Jan 13, 2009 5:13 pm Oh bugger!
I have finally decided on these tiles and I have no idea where they come from! I have only been trying to find a tile to match the cupboards and these are the only ones to come close as normal tiles look too grey or too yellow. I also want them in the shower, so now I have a dilema do I start looking again and try and find a nomal tile. Also someone told me 450x450 is heaps better to work with. What happens if I try the stain test and I have to take the samples back to the tile shop, what If I cant get the stain out!!!!!!! Know where your going in life............... you may already be there Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 12Jan 13, 2009 5:19 pm Taffy What happens if I try the stain test and I have to take the samples back to the tile shop, what If I cant get the stain out!!!!!!! Just tell them….that’s why you’re not buying the tiles! Might be something they didn’t know also. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 13Jan 13, 2009 5:25 pm Michelle Taffy What happens if I try the stain test and I have to take the samples back to the tile shop, what If I cant get the stain out!!!!!!! Just tell them….that’s why you’re not buying the tiles! Might be something they didn’t know also. Good idea, well here goes stain test comming up!! I will try the scratch test too. The ones I were looking at were $40 and theres is a more expensive one for $56 a metre. What would you do stick with porcelain or go back to normal ceramic. Hubby said god they look slippery do you want me to break my neck or something! lol. I could always use a rubber mat in the shower I suppose. Even normal tiles are slippery if you have wet feet or have just washed them. Know where your going in life............... you may already be there Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 14Jan 13, 2009 5:27 pm I tested mine with balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, undiluted bleach, cordial, beetroot juice, oil, red wine... and scratched them like crazy with a key! Both my wall and floor tiles came up fine afterwards Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 15Jan 13, 2009 5:32 pm I personally would never have porcelain, but that’s just me.
I love the look, but my girlfriend broke her arm when she slipped on hers. And your right, normal tiles are slippery enough as well. My shower tiles can be slippery, and I know this sounds awful, but I don’t clean them very often, just so we don’t slip in there. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 16Jan 13, 2009 6:04 pm I am feeling unsure about these too now.
I think I will change my laminex colours from moleskin (as this is what I had trouble matching up) to maybe parbury (wilsonart) wallaby to go with coco nougat in the kitchen. Then on the weekend I will look to see if I can find a normal tile to blend. It will make hubby happy lol and I may find something in my allowence of $33 a metre, Bonus! I think I would prefer a 450x450 or 400x400 as the larger tile and porcelain will cost me more to lay as well. I will be able to use that money somewhere else! I may just have to have pleasure looking at them in the display homes. I am very fussy about marks as well, and have just read that these show up everymark. Know where your going in life............... you may already be there Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 17Jan 13, 2009 6:15 pm Taffy I am very fussy about marks as well, and have just read that these show up everymark. And every footprint. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 18Jan 13, 2009 6:20 pm Just to clarify, these problems of showing every mark and slippery are with polished porcelain.
I'll be having glazed porcelain, I can get those very fine grout lines and the sharp, flat look I'm after, but not slippery, don't need to be sealed and as easy care as ceramic. Best of both worlds. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 19Jan 13, 2009 6:22 pm Does glazed prcelain look like normal glazed tiles then?
Does the appearance only differ because they are larger and have smaller grout lines? Know where your going in life............... you may already be there Re: Caution Porcelain Tiles 20Jan 13, 2009 6:32 pm And when layed they present flatter and more uniform in my opinion than ceramic. I can always tell the difference between porcelain and ceramic in a display home.
Check out MrT's thread... I'm familiar with his tiles, his are porcelain... not at all slippery. I love the flat, sleek effect you can only get with porcelain. But I would never have polished porcelain. Here's the link, you can get a glimpse in the last pic in the first post. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... ht=overlay I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Firstly the ableflex that has been installed needs (manufactures specification) a sealant cap over the top, preventing water draining down between the slab and the… 3 7794 Our house was completed 8 years ago. Builder did not leave any spare roof tiles behind. Just found out that one tile is cracked. Wanted to replace the tile but most… 0 2785 1 15766 |