Polished porcelain floor tiles - any feedback much appreciated

smj

Hi,

We are considering using mid-grey polished porcelain floor tiles in our kitchen/dining room (about 24m2).

Something like this :

http://www.tileporcelain.co.uk/grey-porcelain-tiles.html

The sample tiles look great and sure it will look stunning, but we would really appreciate any feedback on how practical they will really be.

We are concerned that they may be a nightmare to keep clean and also a slip hazard. Also do they show scratches over time.

We have 4yr old twins and an 8yr old, so they need to be easy to maintain as we don't have the time to be constantly cleaning/buffing them.

Any feedback much appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve.

Alan_M_2

Polished anything will require substantially more upkeep than the same product in a honed finish.

It doesn't scratch any more than a honed surface, but it shows the marks and damage a lot more.

That's no different if it's Ceramics, Porcelain, Limestone, Marble etc.....

andrew-b

For "polished" read "slippery" i'd say - possibly even when dry! I wouldn't buy unless i was confident on them being non-slip or had the opportunity to test slipperyness for myself (a wettened finger is usually quite conclusive!). I also suspect it would show up all the dirt and be hard work maintaining a show room finish. Porcelain is harder wearing than non-porcelain (harder to cut and important to get the adhesive used right so not necessarily a DIY job if that's your intention).With the children i'd suggest you'd be better off with floor tiles with a bit of a texture on them and more of a matt finish to give more grip underfoot when wet or a quality cushion vinyl (but even then you need to be careful on the slipperyness side - but at least it doesn't hurt quite as much to fall on!).

Still i agree they look great but just might not be that practical. If you do go for a tiled floor i'd consider underfloor heating too as tiled floors are quite cold underfoot.

Andy

robjcooper

hi there,
We have these matt finish porcelain tiles in our bathroom and downstairs loo

geminitiles.co.uk

YoungStone in matt grey

Being smooth, they clean really easily and aren't slippery - despite having three boys 15,13 & 11 whose idea of a bath or shower is to see how much water they can leave on the floor along with all the towels and their clothes!!!! Despite being reassured they don't scratch, we did get a small piece of grit stuck under the door and have a small curved scratch on one of them.
We have green riven slate in our kitchen and despite being beautiful they are an absolute nightmare to keep clean.

Rob

Doozergirl

They're a nightmare. I have polished porcelain on my kitchen floor and it's such a pain in the backside. It has to be polished dry to not show water marks and it shows every single drop of water and even sweaty footprints! If I have people for dinner I have to polish the floor immediately before they arrive as just one meal destroys the look of the floor. If you sweep the floor you get drag marks of anything remotely wet.

And we get a dog in 10 days time :rolleyes:

As lovely as it looks when it is clean, it is never clean. H is incapable of washing it properly and leaves smears all over the place so I always have to wash it again. Please, don't do it to yourself.

andyhop

Doozergirl wrote: »

They're a nightmare. I have polished porcelain on my kitchen floor and it's such a pain in the backside. It has to be polished dry to not show water marks and it shows every single drop of water and even sweaty footprints! If I have people for dinner I have to polish the floor immediately before they arrive as just one meal destroys the look of the floor. If you sweep the floor you get drag marks of anything remotely wet.

And we get a dog in 10 days time :rolleyes:

As lovely as it looks when it is clean, it is never clean. H is incapable of washing it properly and leaves smears all over the place so I always have to wash it again. Please, don't do it to yourself.

Have you had these sealed?

Alan_M_2

andyhop wrote: »

Have you had these sealed?

And there is the nonsense of this stuff.

Proper produced polished porcelain tiles should not require sealant.

They are sold and designed as maintainance free products.

The problem is, most of what's sold in the UK is produced in the far east and strictly isn't porcelain but is sold as such.

When you actually get the specifications of a lot of this stuff, the upkeep regime is the same as polished marble. Which kind of defeats the object of it.

smj

Doozergirl wrote: »

They're a nightmare. I have polished porcelain on my kitchen floor and it's such a pain in the backside. It has to be polished dry to not show water marks and it shows every single drop of water and even sweaty footprints! If I have people for dinner I have to polish the floor immediately before they arrive as just one meal destroys the look of the floor. If you sweep the floor you get drag marks of anything remotely wet.

And we get a dog in 10 days time :rolleyes:

As lovely as it looks when it is clean, it is never clean. H is incapable of washing it properly and leaves smears all over the place so I always have to wash it again. Please, don't do it to yourself.

Thanks for the feedback. What colour are your tiles ?

Doozergirl

andyhop wrote: »

Have you had these sealed?

It's nothing to do with that. They are sealed but it's simply the fact that they are like mirrors so anything that sits on it, shows.

I can wash them and they come up perfectly. It just that they don't stay that way unless no-one goes in the kitchen.

OP, mine are black. Sister in law has beige and they show everything too. More forgiving of water but not of anything of any colour.