How to Pick the Best Ceramic Tile

Picking the wrong tile can wreck your whole project. This article will teach you how to pick the right tile, for the right job and price. Don't make the mistake like many others before and use a wall tile on the floor to find out that it cracks and possible injures a persons bare feet. This sounds like it couldn't happen, but it does. The tiles are made differently for different applications.

The first step is to decide which project you want do first. Do you want to do a back splash on your kitchen wall, or maybe you want to build your own custom shower. Now, there is a lot more to building a custom shower stall, we will save that for another article. We are looking at step one here and that is again, deciding on what you want to do with your ceramic tile. Most people like to start off with installing a small ceramic floor. This project is still yet another project to not take lightly, you need to pick the right tile. You can start off by going to one of those custom tile shops and they will take all the guess work out of picking the right tile. They will also take all the money out of your purse or wallet also. There are tiles for every possible application out there. Some can be used for floors and other used on walls. You don't want to use a wall ceramic tile on the floor, really a bad idea. Another really bad step is to pick a high gloss tile in a shower for a floor. You need to pick a tile with a rough surface for water areas.

You can go to the high end tile shops if you are looking for a special tile that you cannot find anywhere else. The people working at these shops will show you anything and everything you want. Keep in mind the more special a tile is the more it will cost. I had a client once who picked out all of her tile at one of these shops, they gave her exactly what she wanted and it was the correct tile for the job. I picked it up for her and paid for the tile the day I picked it up. The job went well, then it was time for her to pay the bill. She was in total shock, she thought I had marked up the tile cost for picking it up and could not figure out how the bill was so high. They told her the main 11x11 tile she had picked was only $3.98 per tile how in the world could there be a a $1,500 charge for tile?

Well, the sales person at the store did their job and sold her what she wanted, except they only gave her the prices on the cheap tile, not the wall accent tiles which she picked, The accent tile she picked were $25 per piece for a 2 inch x 6 inch size. Now take all the rest of the tile and about 40 of these little accent tiles, and now you have a large ceramic tile bill. Ohh, yes they looked really nice in the high end custom built ceramic tile shower stall, but, she really paid for it. So, this is why step one of picking the right tile is choosing the right tile for the job, but make sure you really need that special tile.

A second step is knowing your prices on your ceramic tile. There are many ceramic tiles and accent ceramic tiles out there for you to pick from. You can find the right one. It may take some time to find the right tile but, it will be worth you efforts to take your time in this step. There are so many nice pieces out there to pick from, carefully consider them all and what price range you want to be in. This second step is always a tough one for alot of people. They find a great accent tile and then get the sticker shock when they find out what it will cost them. You can go to the big box stores and find some great accent tiles which won't break your bank account.

The final step is making sure that you buy enough ceramic tile for the project you are doing. There is a simple rule of buying 15% more tile then what you need. If you have a 10 x 10 room then you will require 100 square feet of tile, plus the 15% for what is referred to as cut offs or waste. You need to cut around things and make the tile fit the area, when you do this you use a full tile which you may not be able to use anywhere else in your project. This article looks at the small part of picking the right tile, keep in mind there are many more aspects, such as picking the right contractor to do the job for you. There is the other option of doing the job yourself. Look for articles which will help you install your floor. Good luck in picking out the right ceramic tile for the project at hand. These steps may be simple, but are over looked all the time by people.

Remember, safety first with all home projects.