Ceramic Tile Flooring

Flooring is an important part of any home decor. Whenever we try to explain our dream house, we start with the flooring and why not! After all, it defines the characteristic of our house. Many people use variety of tiles to decorate their flooring. Tiles can also be used to cover walls and roofs. They are also widely used in toilet and bathrooms to cover floors and walls. Tiles are manufactured from ceramic, metal, glass, wood, stone, etc. Out of these, ceramic tiles are most commonly used as they are available in various designs and are inexpensive and durable compared to other tiles. Ceramic tiles also needs less maintenance, so it is amongst the most favorite and preferred types of tiles. Ceramic flooring cost depends on the quality, design, and pattern of the tile. The average glazed ceramic tile costs $12 - $25 per square foot, whereas, unglazed ceramic tile costs $5 -$10 per square foot. Now, you can calculate the cost as per the square foot area of your house.

Ceramic Flooring Patterns

There are various ceramic tile design ideas, that you can try for your home improvement. As I mentioned earlier the two popular ceramic styles are glazed and unglazed ceramic tiles. You can create different tile flooring designs by combining these ceramic tiles. Given below are some of the popular ceramic tile patterns to make your home decor look distinguished.

Crackled Glazing Tile
As the name suggests, this ceramic flooring tile has hundreds of random cracks in the tile. This kind of tile pattern gives the royal Victorian look the house. There are various other ceramic tile patterns that you can use to create different time periods.

Brick Wall
These tiles are rectangular in shape and resemble bricks. You can make amazing brick walls in the house by using this kind of ceramic tile. It makes a unique style statement of your house. These tiles are also available in different sizes and various brick color shades, so that you can choose the one that is compatible to the interior decoration of your house.

Wooden Effect
There are ceramic tiles that resemble wood. Having a real wood flooring can cost you a lot and this is where wooden style ceramic tiles come for your rescue. They are inexpensive but give the same effect as wooden flooring. Ceramic tile that looks like wood is available in various wooden color shades and sizes, that give an elegant and rich look to your house.

Apart from these, you can make your own pattern such as creating abstract design with different geometric shapes of ceramic tiles or you can use ceramic crystals to create a mosaic on the wall or floor. With these patterns, tile flooring installation will be certainly very exciting.

Ceramic Tile Cleaning

There are certain dos and don'ts that need to be followed to increase the shelf life of your ceramic tiles. Cleaning ceramic tiles regularly will keep them new for years to come and you'll definitely feel rewarded for the wise investment decision.

DOs

• Sweep regularly with the vacuum cleaner, especially tiles with textured surfaces.
• To get the shining effect, damp mop the ceramic tiles.
• Clean the tile only with grout and tile cleaners recommended by the tile manufacturer.
• Clean the stubborn dirty spots with sponge or clean cotton cloth with the help of recommended cleaners.
• Use mild electric polishers or scrubbers to clean the textured tiles.
• Use walk-off mats to avoid the dirt accumulation on the tile.

DON'Ts

• Avoid using cleaners that contain strong chemicals, as it causes scratches on the tile and reduces the shine.
• Do not use cleaners that contain bleach or ammonia, as the tiles can get discolored with frequent use of such cleaners.
• Avoid cleaning glazed ceramic tiles with oil based cleaners.
• Avoid using vacuum cleaner with beating bar as it makes ceramic tiles dull and causes scratches.

Ceramic tile flooring can be made attractive by choosing wisely from endless variety of glazed, mat finish, and textured ceramic tiles. With the above information, you know how to transform your dream house in a living reality.