The best tile flooring depends on the room, your budget and the look you want. A tile floor is a popular and classic look for kitchens or bathrooms, but tile can be used throughout the home. Some of the many different materials used for tile floors include stone, vinyl, linoleum, cork and ceramic.
Ceramic flooring tile is durable and available in many different colors and sizes. It's a great choice for bathrooms and outdoor living spaces because it's waterproof and easy to keep clean. Ceramic floors are often considered to add value to a home as they tend to be a desirable feature for many home buyers. If you want a type of tile to use to make creative design patterns, ceramics are a good choice because you can use flooring tiles on walls as well as combine different sizes from tiny squares to large rectangles.
Cork floor tile can give floors a unique, casual look. Cork is considered to be an environmentally green flooring choice, as recycled cork is pressed with a small amount of adhesive to form the tiles. Cork floor tiles can add a lot of interest to a floor because of their attractive texture as well as the different shapes they're available in, such as triangles and hexagons.
Linoleum tile flooring is a classic choice, as it can be an affordable way to add color and texture to floors. Linoleum tiles are often quite easy to clean. Vinyl tiles are affordable and popular, but some types are easier to clean than others. The textured vinyl tile flooring that has tiny indents as part of its pattern may trap dirt and require a lot of scrubbing. Vinyl tiles finished with what is called an enhanced urethane coating are made to stay clean with regular sweeping and light mopping rather than frequent washing.
Stone floors can look elegant and beautiful. Stone tiles are a good pick for lower traffic kitchens as they may stain easily. Marble and granite tile flooring are glamorous options, but tend to stain and may be a little on the slippery side. Slate is usually not as slippery or as easy to stain as other types of stone floors. While gray and black are popular colors, slate tile flooring is also available in rich dark colors such as green and deep red.