Q & A Series 1: Porcelain and Ceramic Tiles for commercial and retail applications.

Canaroma Bath & Tile Q & A series. Interview with Andrew Piacentini, Bath & Tile Expert Q1: What is the best floor tile to use in office, restaurant or commercial spaces? Andrew: Through body porcelain is basically the only choice. Reason being is that through body porcelain tiles have the colour finish that is shown on the top manufactured and formed all the way through the tile. Even in extreme applications, these tiles tend not to show wear as the porcelain is harder than granite and concrete. Q2: How is the maintenance for the polished porcelain floor tiles and about slippage?  Andrew: Unlike natural stone where you need to polish, buff and seal the floor tile often, porcelain tiles require no treatment or sealing as they have an extremely high scratch resistance. As for slip resistance of porcelain tiles, porcelain tiles have an extremely low (0.04) water absorption, they are usually frost resistant. Through body porcelain polished tiles have the ability to be a lot more slip resistant due to the polished finish that is provided to them.  Through-colour porcelain tiles have a semi-polished finish to be more slip-resistant because they are unable to have the full polished finish like through-body porcelain has. Q3: For exterior floor and wall tiles, which brands would you recommend from your porcelain and ceramic tile collections? Andrew: I would not recommend any ceramic tile for exterior applications as they are not made for extreme temperatures. Our complete Iris porcelain tile collection would be perfect as exterior floor and wall tiles for office buildings, retail stores, condo exteriors to name a few. The most important thing to remember is to select a through body porcelain that is matte for the floors and either matte or polished finish tiles for the walls. Q4: Is there a commercial tile that can be used for interior and exterior walls and floors that don’t require any removal or demolition? Andrew: Yes, that product would be our 3mm porcelain tile from Italy. Our thin porcelain tiles with fiberglass backing can be simply cut to obtain different shapes and formats. Just lay it on your existing tile with adhesive, no demolition of your old tiles required. Some of the amazing benefits of this thin tile product is: it’s high flexural strength, frost resistance, hygienic surface qualities, it’s eco-friendly and recyclable, as well as its elimination of demolition costs, just to name a few. Canaroma Bath & Tile 7979 Weston Road, Vaughan, ON, Canada 905-856-7979, http://www.canaroma.com