With a wide selection to choose from, it’s natural to feel a bit intimidated or overwhelmed when purchasing tiles for your home. Since this can become such a high-involvement purchase, here are some factors to consider to help you along the way.

1. Indoor or Outdoor use

Before looking at your different options for tiles, you need to determine whether it will be installed indoors or outdoors. This is important as tiles for exterior spaces need to meet certain safety regulations such as being slip and thermal shock resistant. The selection is also dependent on the type of outdoor area i.e., whether you have a pool, lawn, etc. Generally, outdoor tiling requirements have a slip resistance coefficient greater than 0.4 when wet. This is often expressed as an R rating and a ratio of R11 or more is recommended for poolside’s. Popular outdoor tiling mimics the textures of natural stone and are not monolithic.

Indoor tiling doesn’t require as many considerations as outdoor tiling. You can choose indoor tiling purely based on aesthetics. It is, however, important to note that not all tiles can be used for flooring purposes as floors need to be able to withstand continuous stress, abrasion and chemicals.

2. Tile Size

In order to determine the size of the tiles you purchase, the design of the space needs to be considered. Larger-scale tiles can be more modern, impactful and make a smaller space seem bigger.  For a more traditionally-styled space, opt for smaller-scale tiles.

Large tiles with the dimensions 90 x 90 cm or 120 x 60 cm sizes are increasingly popular. Their installation requires less effort, and they are great for tiling both walls and floors.

Regardless of the size of the tile, it is advisable to purchase at least 10% more than necessary in case of breakage and cutting during the project. It is also good to have any spares for future use.

3. The Finish

With many different finishes to choose from, you need to find one that best suits your style, including polished, matt, metallic, satin, etc. Naturally, different finishes are made from different materials and require different levels of maintenance. Some are more slip-resistant, durable and easier to clean than others. While making choices based on how aesthetically pleasing certain tiles are, it is important to take all these factors into consideration.

Need more advice on what tiles you want to fill your home with? Visit your nearest Tiletoria store and our sales representatives will be more than happy to advise you on which tiles they think will be best suited to your application.