What is the best type of Ceramic tile for the Kitchen?

[cbk]

Hi Guys,

Has anybody got any experience of using the new type of large format ceramic tiles for a kitchen.  I'm trying to find a tile that can be used for complete ground floor area including living areas and kitchen.  The current favourites are 900 x 900 x 9mm tiles.  Other tiles we've looked at come in more size options (smaller and larger) and are  typically 12mm thick but are quite a bit more expensive.  Has anybody experience of using these types of tiles in a kitchen space?  Would a 9mm tile be too thin to survive the likely knocks and wear and tear without cracking?  Would the 12mm be a safer option?  Would smaller format tiles be more suited to a kitchen space. 

Any advice appreciated.

[nod]

I use a lot of Porcelain 

Looks good and extremely hard waring 

Limestone also looks great But a much softer material and needs regularly sealing 

[Bitpipe]

We used modest 600x600 and 600x300 tiles (porcelain - no idea how thick) in our bathrooms.

 

We were considering large format tiles for basement and ground floor but were warned in the showroom that when you get to 900mm you're requiring a more expensive tiler as they will need two people and larger format tile cutters.

 

Went with Karndean in basement and resin in GF in the end.

[Bitpipe]

2 minutes ago, nod said:

I use a lot of Porcelain 

Looks good and extremely hard waring 

 

Understatement - drilling holes for bathroom fixings into them was painful. Ended up using the ebauer diamond coated flat head drill bits and securely taping a template to the wall (as those bits can skid around initially).

[nod]

33 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

We used modest 600x600 and 600x300 tiles (porcelain - no idea how thick) in our bathrooms.

 

We were considering large format tiles for basement and ground floor but were warned in the showroom that when you get to 900mm you're requiring a more expensive tiler as they will need two people and larger format tile cutters.

 

Went with Karndean in basement and resin in GF in the end.

Very true You can’t lay 900 plus on your own 

We often use 1200 X 1200 20 mil thick 

[Bramco]

43 minutes ago, cbk said:

Would a 9mm tile be too thin to survive the likely knocks and wear and tear without cracking?  Would the 12mm be a safer option?  Would smaller format tiles be more suited to a kitchen space.

 

We've had 9mm tiles from B&Q in our kitchen for 10 years. 600x600.  Not sure why you'd be worried by wear and tear and cracking?  Porcelain tiles are pretty indestructible once they are down.

 

More's to the point, what colour?  And how mottled?

 

Kitchens get loads of crap dropped on the floor, so make sure that crumbs won't show until there's a snow drift of them....   Mottled is good.  Also go dark, this means dark grouting. You can wash the greb off a tile but not the grouting.  Light coloured grouting soon looks...  well, grebby...

 

We've got 2 possible tiles for our new build currently in the old kitchen, just sat there, seeing what they look like with splats of stuff, crumbs etc.   Might spill some red wine tonight while I'm frying to see what they look like.

 

Simon

[Bramco]

39 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

drilling holes for bathroom fixings into them was painful

 

Wall mount is the way forward....

 

Simon

[Mr Punter]

11 minutes ago, nod said:

We often use 1200 X 1200 20 mil thick 

 

They must be over 60 kilo each!  Epic

[nod]

1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

 

They must be over 60 kilo each!  Epic

They are Two lots of suckers to lay them 

800 x 800 are quite common now 

But even at that size you have to be careful not to chip them when laying