Why You Should Choose Porcelain Tiles for Your Bathroom Walls
Last updated on August 10th, 2022
Porcelain tiles provide an impressive list of benefits for the bathroom, being an incredibly long-lasting and durable finish for use as a flooring or wall tile solution. Aside from offering a vast range of benefits in the bathroom, porcelain tiles can also be found in an impressive selection of shapes, sizes, colors, and styles, allowing you an endless range of designer options to choose from to help you create the exact look you are after in your new bathroom design scheme.
The Benefits of Porcelain Bathroom Wall Tiles
Porcelain bathroom wall tiles provide a long list of benefits, making them an especially popular choice for the often messy and wet area of the home bathroom. These tiles are incredibly resistant to heat, scratching, staining, and even moisture, making them the perfect solution for use as bathroom wall tiles. You will also find an immense range of designer tile options available to choose from when selecting porcelain tiles.
As these tiles are one of the most popular and durable wall solutions for the home, tile manufacturers have created ingenious ways of replicating other materials such as concrete, marble, and even timber. These ‘lookalike’ tile solutions are made of durable porcelain, allowing you the freedom of incorporating these luxurious (but often higher maintenance solutions!) into your interior design scheme.
These tile collections will often feature the natural variations in depth of color, tone, and texture that we are used to experiencing with natural stone materials, timbers, or concrete products, allowing for a realistic representation of these designer finishes for the home that will not require the same level of care or maintenance.
Porcelain tiles can be found in just about any style or format you can think of, from large format sheets that can be used to clad entire walls in the bathroom to mini mosaic tiles such as the popular Kit Kat tile format that creates a unique, tactile element in the bathroom when used as a feature tile.
Porcelain Tile vs. Ceramic Tile: What is the Difference?
When shopping for bathroom wall tiles, you will find many exciting options available, from glass tiles to natural stones, handmade tiles and plenty more. The two most popular choices for use in the bathroom however are ceramic tiles and porcelain tiles. Although these two different types of tiles share some similarities in the way they are created and the raw ingredients that are used, the differences occur in the kiln firing process.
Ceramic tiles are often thinner than porcelain tiles. These types of tiles are baked at a lower temperature than porcelain and for a shorter amount of time. As a result of this process, ceramic tiles are often lighter in weight than porcelain tile options and if left un-glazed, will require sealing in order to maintain as they are a porous material.
Porcelain tiles however are baked at a higher temperature and for a longer stretch of time, resulting in a product that is almost completely non-porous while also being resistant to heat, scratching, moisture and staining. Given their thickness and durability, porcelain tiles can often be used as both a flooring and wall tile solution in the bathroom whereas ceramic tiles cannot usually be used as a floor tile due to their more sensitive nature.
Sleek and stylish, porcelain tiles have been used in this modern bathroom design scheme as both a floor and wall tile. Porcelain feature tiles have been included behind the vanity unit as a means of adding a sense of texture and pattern to this modern design scheme, creating a wonderfully tactile surface.
Porcelain Bathroom Wall Tile Options
As noted above, porcelain tiles are available in a vast range of designer tile solutions, from concrete, timber or marble lookalike products and plenty more. Other exciting options to consider in porcelain tile collections include encaustic-look tiles; these tiles are specifically designed to give you the same look and feel of traditional encaustic tiles in the bathroom without the need for sealing or the risk of staining.
Encaustic tiles are often avoided in the bathroom as a floor or wall tile in the shower area especially (they can however provide an excellent choice for the remainder of the bathroom where they are not in direct consistent contact with water), making porcelain replica tiles an excellent choice for your shower walls and floors that will provide you with the same distinct look and feel as a traditional encaustic tile without the need for sealing.
Furthermore, you will also find that porcelain tiles are available in a vast range of sizes or tile formats, from jumbo-sized porcelain sheets that are ideal for cladding entire walls in the bathroom for a virtually grout-less design or in tiny mosaic tile options that create a strong sense of pattern and character on your bathroom walls.
Porcelain tiles are available in an immense range of designer tile options from natural stone replica tiles to timber look tiles and even encaustic look tiles. These types of tiles have been specifically designed to replicate the authentic look and feel of materials that are often in a higher price bracket and also require a certain level of care and maintenance in the bathroom. Porcelain bathroom wall tiles however will not require the same level of care, providing an exceptionally low maintenance solution that is ideal for use throughout your new bathroom design scheme.
Porcelain tiles offer an incredibly low maintenance solution for your bathroom walls as they are a non-porous material that will not require sealing to maintain. This quality ensures a surface that is simple to clean and care for over time, making porcelain tiles an exceptional choice for use as a bathroom wall tile, especially in design schemes where a low maintenance finish is preferred. You will find that these tiles are available in just about any style, format or size you can possibly imagine, making them one of the most versatile design solutions for your bathroom walls.
- About the Author
Alex Grigoryan is a Professional Home Improvement and Lifestyle Writer. He has been in the industry for over 6 years and has been writing for Chique Home Living since 2019. His work has been featured in prestigious blogs such as Spruce Home, Better Homes & Garden, and more.