Join us as we explore the benefits of stone effect flooring. Stone effect flooring is a brilliant way to have it all – the beauty of stone coupled with the durability and affordability of porcelain.
Porcelain stone effect flooring brings all the charm, character and warmth of natural stone without the maintenance or concerns about staining, scratching and fading. In a nutshell, natural stone is beautiful, but it can be high maintenance and high cost.
So what is stone effect flooring? Stone effect flooring cleverly mimics the look and feel of natural stone. Natural stone encompasses a whole host of different materials including slate, marble, limestone, sandstone and more. There are other materials that look like stone including LVT or laminate. But for longevity, flexibility, cost and durability, we think porcelain tiles can be hard to beat. In particular, this is because porcelain is such a dense, hardwearing material, but also because advances in tile technology, printing techniques and tile finishes mean leading manufacturers are creating stone effect flooring that is ultra realistic.
Porcelain tiles are specially designed to mimic other materials and that includes all types of stone. Whether it’s a limestone effect tile with its visible fossils, shell fragments and veining; terrazzo and its unique combination of chips; slate with its riven, textured surface; marble with its striking or subtle veining or sandstone with its natural earthy look and fine grained texture you will find porcelain effect tiles that re-interpret these materials and their individual looks. In addition, what you will also get with porcelain is listed below:
Porcelain can take any design as mentioned above and then deliver it in a variety of shades. Take our Fusion limestone effect tile collection in a number of tones from the light touches of Ivory to the warm notes of Sand and the grey hues of Limestone and grey. This means you can pick a specific stone effect tile and you have a broad spectrum of tones to opt for to build your interior design around.
Part of the charm of natural stone is the colour variation it brings. However, for today’s contemporary interiors you may prefer more consistency of colour allowing you to build your design and colour scheme around a specific tone. Whilst porcelain tiles can vary in colour slightly from batch to batch they are more reliable in terms of colour than a natural stone. They are also highly fade resistant so regardless of whether they are situated in a bright sunny spot of your lounge or kitchen they won’t change colour meaning your floor will remain colour consistent – this is especially key if you choose to move rugs or furniture around or redesign the layout of your room in the future.
No need to seal
Porcelain is so easy to live with. It doesn’t require any initial sealing, treatment or polishing, unlike many natural stones. And it doesn’t need any ongoing maintenance either. In addition, whilst surfaces may be designed to mimic the surface of natural stone and perhaps showcase a riven finish for example, the tile surface does not include the natural pitting or voids that you get with natural stone giving you a more even, consistent surface which makes for easy cleaning.
High scratch and stain resistance
Porcelain tiles are highly scratch and stain resistant. Natural stone is far more prone to staining which can be problematic particularly in kitchen and dining areas where spillages are more likely to occur. In addition, porcelain tiles are highly scratch resistant making them ideal for busy areas of the home. Also, they won’t wear in the more well-trodden areas of the home and with correct installation are unlikely to chip or crack over time. All this means your porcelain floor will look amazing for years to come.
Water Resistance
Porcelain stone effect flooring is highly water resistant making it easy to clean and live with day to day. It also means in the right finish (ie an antislip finish) it can be used outside because it is frost resistant and of course, fade resistant.
Format
Porcelain tiles have increased in size over the past few years with larger formats fast becoming the go-to for homes. It is one of the benefits of porcelain tiles that collections can house a number of different sizes and really large formats are possible.
Contemporary and rustic settings
Where most natural stones have tumbled edges, porcelain tiles can also mimic this edging for a more rustic look and feel. However, porcelain tiles can also have rectified ie straight tile edges. This means you can have the stone look you love in the most contemporary of settings. Rectified tiles, particularly in larger formats bring a modern aesthetic to spaces.
Just like many natural stones, porcelain can be used inside and outside the home. The beauty here is porcelain tiles have many different finishes so you can have a matt finish tile for inside the home alongside an antislip tile for outside the home. With the advent of sliding door systems and bifolds, connecting inside and outside areas is a great way of opening up space and porcelain is one of the few materials that can do this with ease.
Take our Poise stone effect tiles. These beautiful porcelain tiles are available in 9mm thickness for inside the home and 2cm thickness for outside the home allowing you to run the same flooring across home and garden.
Stone effect flooring is a brilliant design solution for those looking for timeless and elegant interiors. Opting for this look in porcelain brings a whole host of benefits that you don’t necessarily have with real stone. Take a look at our limestone effect tiles, sandstone effect tiles, slate effect tiles, marble effect tiles by clicking any of the links in the gallery below!
Click the images to head straight to these tiles on our website. Working on a project? We’d love to help! Get in touch and let us start searching for beautiful tiles with you!
If you would like to know more, please get in touch...
The TilePortfolio specialise in Italian and Spanish Porcelain and Ceramic tiles, in particular large format Porcelains and Porcelain tiles for inside and outside. Our carefully curated, stunning tile portfolios are beautifully presented online and supported by our fuss-free ‘go-the-extra-tile’ service. In addition, you can view our entire tile collection at our Northamptonshire Showroom. Visit our website for unmissable interiors inspiration. The TilePortfolio team are always available to chat, we’d be delighted to help with your project so please do get in touch.
Please note: We strongly recommend using a professional tiler for your project. Installation requirements may vary depending on the tiles you choose, the fixing products used and the specific conditions. Always check with your tiler regards the suitability of the tiles. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions.
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