What to choose: Vitrified Tiles vs. Marble for Flooring?

The flooring of any space brings out the best of the area and adds essence to the interiors. The choice of materials and colours is wide and to pick one out of the lot of vitrified tiles and marble is debatable. Whether to choose the evergreen, rich looking marble or to go for the new, modern day quality material that is the vitrified tiles is the question.

MARBLE

1. Characteristics and properties-: Marble is a natural rich beauty, of a kind as a natural stone with properties of being porous and made up of calcite, dolomite or limestone.

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2. Durability: The strength of marble is great and remarkable. Marble however being porous might lead to stains and also gets affected by acids. Hence, polishing and proper cleaning of the marble is regular; it may last for a really long span of time.

3. Appearance and finishes: The look of marble speaks elite. The grain lines on the marble give it a natural look and well polished marble gives a luxurious and rich look. Marble is available in natural hues, shades of black, green, brown, white, yellow and apart from the polished finished, sand marble can be used for the rough texture.

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4. Installation: Marble installation is a time consuming job. It becomes labor intensive since there are many process involved like cutting, grinding, polishing and finishing.

5. Cost: Since marble is a natural stone, hence it is expensive than tiles. The laying and installation of the marble is a costly affair. The cost of cutting the marble slabs, grinding and then polishing all adds up to the cost.

VITRIFIED TILES

1. Characteristics and properties: Vitrified tiles are the new in demand material and very popular among the architects. It is a man made product that can be easily replicated by the machines and is made of ceramic, clay, porcelain.

2. Durability: Vitrifies tiles are both scratch and discoloration resistant. They are easy to clean and maintain but the strength of vitrified tiles is low and they are prone to breakage. If once damaged or broken, these have to be changed.

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3. Appearance and finishes: Tiles are available in matt, glossy and anti-skid finishes with a variety of colours, textures and patterns that are ruling over the interior designers and architects’ mind. The variety of designs, colours, patterns and textures gives a wide range to choose from and hence increases the demand for the same.

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4. Installation: The setting period of vitrified tiles is shorter and the work on the installation is also less. Tiles can be cut manually and since they are already come polished or texture, there is no need for polishing and much finishing on the site.

5. Cost: Vitrified tiles are man-made and readily available; hence they are cheaper than marble. The cost varies in terms of brand, colour, and texture and the labor cost is also less since the installation is easy and less time consuming.

Also, read Which one to go: Wood Veneer or Laminate

and 7 Materials That Look The Best On The Facade