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Home Flooring Tips - Granite vs Vitrified Tiles

When you are building your dream home, lots of effort goes into giving it the right finish. You want to use raw materials that have the desired look and feel, are not easily damaged and are easy to maintain. Getting all of this at the best possible price points could be challenging – especially when it comes to flooring, going with the most expensive is not always the intelligent choice. Our floors are the base to any decor and ironically, are most prone to wear and tear by corrosion, environmental and climatic factors. Granite and Vitrified Tiles are the two most common raw materials used for flooring. Here’s a list of some checkpoints that would help you understand your requirement better to find the best commercially available product fit for your home.

 

 Affordability

The key issue which most of us encounter when choosing raw materials for home is getting the best product at the best price. Generally speaking, Granite is more expensive than Vitrified Tiles for home. Granite is made of natural stone and is extracted from rocks (the process is on a massive scale and is expensive) whereas tiles are man-made, synthetically engineered and coated with protective materials and covered in decorative deigns. When plain ceramic tiles are subjected to a treatment that involves heat, they undergo a process called ‘vitrification’ and become Vitrified Tiles. Vitrified Tiles for home are less porous, more durable and are more suited for outdoor use. The cost of Granite differs from place to place (depending upon natural availability from source rocks, cost of transportation etc) where as tiles cost lesser and have fixed price. On an average, Granite slabs cost anywhere between Rs 100 to 500 per sqft while tiles are considerably more affordable with price anywhere between Rs 30 to Rs 200 per sqft.

 

Ease of Maintenance and Usage

Granite and Vitrified Tiles for home are both fairly easy to maintain. Once the flooring properly settles on the ground, you don’t have to worry about it for a long time. Granite may require a little bit of polishing every couple of years. Vitrified tiles and granite, both are non-porous and are ideal for home or commercial use. Granite is badly corroded by the action of Hydrochloric acid where as Vitrified Tiles are not affected by acidic cleaners. Tiles are fire resistant and can be very easily re-ordered and replaced with a replica. Over all, vitrified tiles for home are a more robust choice for flooring. Partial replacement or repair in the case of granite flooring is never an easy task. Since granite is a natural substance with random patterns and gradients, finding the exact replica may be difficult to source. Granite flooring has a rough, uneven touch but Vitrified Tiles for home are smooth and shiny. Vitrified Tiles designs can be personalised and are available in Granite finish.

 

Conclusion

There is no conclusive evidence that suggests Granite to better than Vitrified Tiles or vice versa. Which raw material you use for flooring depends on where you intend to use it. Granite is most suited for outdoors, pathways, stairs, counters and also used for wall decoration.

Tiles are used for indoor and outdoor flooring, except for pathways which always require specialised tiles. Tiles come in various styles that create scope for personalisation and design options can always be explored.