Vinyl Plank Flooring Vs Porcelain Tile

Anyone who is ready to install new flooring or starting to compare tiles versus vinyl material this article may help you make an informed decision.

Vinyl plank flooring vs porcelain tile.

It always requires mortar and grout. Wood look tiles are porcelain or ceramic tiles with a finish that emulates the look of a natural wood. Choosing new flooring for the kitchen or bathroom can be difficult. Porcelain is a particular category of ceramic tile.

Porcelain tiles are made from finer clays and are fired at higher temperatures to make them harder and more durable. Your choice will boil down to what is most important to you and how the floor is expected to perform. Because tile is a harder material than wood or vinyl plank it is more resistant to scratches dents fading and other types of damage. Vinyl tile flooring that looks like stone is offered in various stone patterns.

Both sheet vinyl and vinyl tiles or planks are low cost flooring materials and each type has advantages. Vinyl plank by a long shot. Ceramic and porcelain arguably have the advantage when it comes to stone and concrete patterns but for a wood plank design vinyl is the way to go. Depending on the type of tile you are choosing ceramics can cost as much as hardwood or high quality carpet.

Installation is the linchpin that controls cost and time frame. No one has yet invented a self stick mortar less mat for flooring like bondera did for vertical tile. Vinyl plank flooring that looks like wood planks and sometimes referred to as vinyl wood flooring is offered in all traditional wood grain styles as well as hand scraped. Porcelain or ceramic tile flooring is extremely durable.

From a visual perspective vinyl plank lvp is almost always more convincing than ceramic or porcelain tile in mimicking wood. Ceramic tile can be used other on floors or for countertops walls or showers while vinyl tiles are used only as a flooring material. All traditional wood patterns and colors. Tile flooring is also colder and harder underfoot making it uncomfortable to some although it lends itself well to radiant floor heating systems.

Some porcelain tile that looks like wood are also available in an embossed finish to further mimic real wood grain. Vinyl tiles are available in different stone patterns. Materials aside it costs 40 less to install vinyl plank than it does to install ceramic tile. Vinyl planks are available at all traditional wood colors.

The vinyl top layer offers the look and sometimes even the texture of wood. Especially when you aren t familiar with the different materials such tile vinyl ceramic etc. In terms of durability this depends on what you are prioritizing. Ceramic and porcelain tile cannot be dry installed.