I know from experience, ceramic wall tiles can NOT be used on floors. Ages ago – well before we opened The Stone Quarry of Jupiter – my husband and I installed a beautiful 4×4 ceramic tile on our bathroom floor.
The next thing I knew, our tiles were cracking – and not because of a poor installation. Opps, we had used a wall tile on our floor. We didn’t know any better.
There is an old saying: “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
Our clients are probably using some of these keywords to search for tile:
I doubt that few, if any, are searching for “can I use a wall tile on a floor.”
In this article we’ll show you:
The PEI Rating is a code. This code will tell anyone who knows how to dicifer it, if a tile is a wall tile or a floor tile.
This PEI Rating comes from the Porcelain Enamel Institute. To read more: http://www.porcelainenamel.com/About_PEI/
Before we get more into the PEI Rating, I want to point out that the Tile Council of North America has a different rating system. This can be a little confusing as they are not interchangeable. But since manufacturers are still labeling tiles using PEI Ratings, we will focus on that.
In the PEI system, a tile can be given one of 5 ratings. Some factories use Roman Numerals: I, II, III, IV, V. And some factories use Arabic Numerals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. But either way the letters PEI will proceed the number.
The ratings are given to a tile product based on the hardness of its glaze. The manufacturer uses a standardized test to determine the hardness.
In short, the lower the number = the less wear and tear a tile can withstand. Conversely, the higher the number the more wear and tear a tile can withstand.
Test your knowledge:
Answer Key:
Earlier we mentioned Ceramic Wall Tiles and Porcelain Floor Tiles. Not all floor tiles are Porcelain some are Ceramic. To find out more about the differences between Ceramic Tiles and Porcelain Tiles click here.