Outdoor man-made Porcelain tiles are preferred by many as an excellent alternative to natural outdoor stone tiles, let's discuss the pros and cons of outdoor porcelain tiles and help you determine whether porcelain tiles are the best choice for your outdoor installation project.
In the past outdoor porcelain tiles were much more expensive, the recent costs of outdoor porcelain tiles, however, has reduced as man-made porcelain tiles for outdoor installations have grown in popularity.
Porcelain is a type of ceramic tile that is characterized by its strength, hardness and even more water resistance than regular ceramics tiles that are already quite durable, comparing outdoor porcelain tiles to natural stone tiles, they are many times less porous than their natural counterpart. Their degree of reduced porosity is achieved by the use of clays with finer particles fired at a higher temperature for the porcelain tiles, which creates a harder, much less porous surface than any natural outdoor stone tile. The manufacturing process used to make porcelain tiles allows this material to imitate all kinds of other building materials like real natural Marble, Travertine, Limestone as well as even real wood effect with a remarkable natural appearance that can be hard to tell them apart from the real thing unless you look closely. This versatility gives outdoor porcelain tiles the ability to provide several benefits for outdoor use such as durability and design flexibility. However, porcelain tiles can be a bit more brittle and hard to work with during installation.
One of the main advantages of modern porcelain tiles is that they can imitate all kinds of traditional flooring materials such as marble, granite, wood or even steel very convincingly. Visually, it can be hard to tell the difference from the real thing which is one their main selling point.
The density of outdoor porcelain tiles makes them more resistant to liquid penetration. The natural stain and water resistance of porcelain also helps to make the material very easy to maintain. Spills can easily be cleaned up with a damp cloth if necessary. It is also very easy to disinfect porcelain tiles surfaces when necessary.
While outdoor porcelain tiles are nearly immune to stains, damage, and water penetration, they can still get damaged when continually exposed to harmful elements such as household spillages like wine and acid soft drinks etc. if missed and not cleaned quickly, and even rain if not periodically cleaned can result in mould and mildew build up over time, so a little care in the form of quickly cleaning these harmful spillages and periodically cleaning of your outdoor porcelain tiles will prolong the life of their fantastic appearance.
The installation process of your outdoor porcelain tile can be time-consuming and physically draining. The material itself is very hard, which makes it difficult to make precise cuts without the special tools available to every professional tiler. Hiring a professional tiler to do the work can save you money on wasting expensive materials, but it will significantly increase the cost of your project.
Outdoor porcelain floor tiles are one of the toughest flooring options available. They are hard, dense and strong, porcelain withstands most severe weather conditions and temperature changes and can also be used in commercial environments. In general, all outdoor porcelain tiles should be rated as outdoor tiles that are manufactured with the suitable specification for outdoor projects. This also involves them being anti-slip rated to avoid unfortunate accidents during their use. You should never use wall-grade porcelain or indoor porcelain tiles for outdoor installations.
If you only have a few damaged tiles, these individual pieces of porcelain tiles are not difficult to remove and replace. To help with colour matching in such cases, it is always a good idea to purchase slightly more than you need and keep an extra box or two of the product at hand for this purpose alone when making your purchase for your outdoor project as each batch of even the same porcelain make can be different from another.
As with all hard tile flooring options, outdoor porcelain tiles tend to be quite heavy. Although outdoor porcelain tile installation is hard and time-consuming work, it is not particularly complicated, and patient do-it-yourself with plenty of time can easily save 50% or more on the installation cost by doing the work yourself.
Outdoor porcelain tiles have the same comfort/conveniences as indoor porcelain tiles, namely that they are extremely durable, very easy to maintain, easily replaced when damaged, have many choices of appearance to choose from and in most cases readily available from multiple suppliers. List of pros and cons for outdoor porcelain tiles.
Outdoor Porcelain tiles can be a great choice if you want the maintenance benefits of a man-made floor material in a product that convincingly mimics the appearance of natural products like all types of natural stones, wood, bamboo and many other materials that are used as flooring materials which offer fantastic design flexibility. While DIY installation can be hard work and time-consuming, if you already have experience with porcelain tiles, there's no reason you can't install your own porcelain outdoor floor tiles. The result will be a durable and stylish floor that can last for many decades. Don't forget to request your free samples through our website for the best options available to you.
