Porcelain And Ceramic Tile

Porcelain vs. ceramic tile: Is this an issue between two vastly different types of materials or is it simply a war of words?
For consumers, the terms porcelain and ceramic are often used interchangeably as if they were the same thing. And this is understandable since ceramic and porcelain tiles are used for the same applications, are installed the same way, and have largely the same merits and drawbacks as a flooring or wall surface material.
Whether a tile is porcelain or ceramic, everything boils down to whether the tile can meet a set of highly controlled water absorption criteria. Both ceramic tile and porcelain tile usually receive a surface glazing that makes them hard to distinguish from one another.
Ceramic tile and porcelain both are often manufactured with a glazed surface coating, and at a glance, they may be indistinguishable.
Porcelain Tile
Porcelain tile has a water absorption rate of 0.5 percent or lower as defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) section C373. To test this, the fired tile is first weighed, then it is boiled for five hours and left to sit in water for 24 hours. Then it is weighed again. If the tile weighs less than half of one-percent more as a result of water-absorbing into its surface, it is considered impervious porcelain.
One recent innovation with porcelain tile is the ability to manufacture them to resemble different materials. Porcelain tiles are available that are remarkably good at mimicking natural stone such as marble or even wood grains. This makes porcelain tile an excellent choice where you want the look of wood without wood's susceptibility to water damage.
Ceramic Tile
Tile defined as ceramic uses a coarser clay with a smaller ratio of fine kaolin clay, and it generally lacks some of the additives used in porcelain clay. Ceramic tile is fired at lower temperatures, generally about 1,800 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Ceramic tile can be slightly more prone to water infiltration than is porcelain tile, though these differences are fairly minimal if the ceramic tile is glazed.
Most ceramic tile that is not categorized as porcelain is a solid color, but simulations of wood grains or natural stone can still be found in ceramic tile.
In general, porcelain tile is better for bathroom flooring. That's because it is more resistant to water than ceramic. But a glazed ceramic should do fairly well in a powder room where the flooring isn't exposed to much water if you want to save some money.
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