Solid wood, carpeting, and even laminate often aren’t suited for these spaces.
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
So, homeowners face two excellent choices: vinyl tile andceramic tile.
Both flooring types are good at shedding moisture and resisting stains.
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
This choice most often comes into play for high-traffic or highly wet rooms like kitchens and full bathrooms.
Vinyl tile is often designed to replicate the look of wood, stone, oreven ceramic tile.
Learning about the differences between ceramic tiles and vinyl flooring will help you make the right choice.
The Spruce
Vinyl Tile vs.
This gives them somewhat more realism than plastic-only vinyl tiles.
These have a bit more prestige than standard vinyl tiles and are also more expensive.
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
Ceramic tilecan be used other on floors, or for countertops, walls, or showers.
However, vinyl floor tile does come in a huge array of colors and styles.
From a pure design view, you will have every choice you could possibly want.
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
Porcelain tiles, in particular, come in many very attractive choices as a designer flooring material.
Vinyl tile, after all, generally aims at duplicating ceramic tile.
Vinyl is usually easily identified as vinyl tile rather than wood, stone, or ceramic.
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
Thus, vinyl tile is not quite as impervious to moisture as sheet vinyl.
Vinyl can be damaged by intense heat, which will melt and scorch it.
Further, vinyl can release toxic gases if it ignites in a home fire.
The Spruce / Margot Cavin
Ceramic tile is also impervious to water damage.
Ceramic tile is also impervious to heat damage.
However, ceramic tile is virtually impervious to heat, while vinyl tile is damaged by heat.
Care and Cleaning
Both vinyl tiles and ceramic tiles are very easy to clean materials.
Vinyl tile is one of the easiest of all flooring materials to keep clean.
Not only that but vinyl tiles are smooth, making it easier to sweep up debris.
Vinyl tile lends itself well to wet-mopping, if need be.
But usually it can be cleaned with a damp or dry mop.
With ceramic tile, grout lines can get dingy if the seal coat is allowed to degrade.
When this happens, a good scrubbing with a grout cleaner containing bleach is necessary.
Ceramic tile is a much more durable material, and lifespans of 40 years or more are common.
Damaged tiles can be removed and replaced.
Except for cracking, ceramic tile is quite resistant to most of the damage that may come its way.
But self-adhesive tiles now dominate the market.
Vinyl tile is one of the favorite flooring materials for DIYers, thanks to its ease of installation.
The installation method resembles that used for laminate flooring, and it is extremely easy for DIYers.
Floating Floor
A floating floor is a floor that is not attached to the subfloor.
A floating floor’s individual pieces (tiles or planks) attach to each other, side to side.
Friction and the weight of the floor hold the floor in place.
While ceramic tile installation is labor-intensive, plenty of DIYers tackle this work successfully.
In sharp contrast, ceramic tile installation is a process that is learned over time.
Cost
In general, vinyl tile is a much less expensive form of flooring.
Vinyl tile, however, is quite easy to install yourself.
Ceramic tile can last many decades, with lifespans of 40 years or more quite common.
Environmental Considerations
Vinyl flooring contains many toxic chemicals.
Environmentally conscious homeowners are rightly concerned about the use of vinyl flooring.
Ceramic tile is a wholly natural product that has nothing toxic in its components.
Old ceramic tile creates no contamination when it finds its way into landfills.
Ceramic tile is difficult to recycle, though.
In some cases, ceramic tile is ground up to use as fill for construction projects.
Vinyl tiles tend to be square in shape, from 9 to 18 inches across.
But vinyl flooring is still a relatively hard flooring material, especially when installed over a concrete subfloor.
Hirschler, MM.Poly(vinyl chloride) and its fire properties.Fire Materials.
2017; 41: 993 1006. doi:10.1002/fam.2431
