Tip one:

The cheapest tile is not always going to be the right tile for your project. The reason for this is that in some cases, the cheaper tile is the weaker tile and it is not going to be able to hold up to what you need it for. You never want to pick out tile based on price alone; some projects will require you to spend the extra money on the tile, unless you want to find yourself doing the same project a few years later.

Tip two:

You will need to consider the break strength of the tile. The break strength of a tile is going to be how much weight it can hold up without the tile breaking. This is important because if you are doping a tile floor or the bottom of a shower you are going to want to get a tile that can hold up to at least $250 pounds. For shower walls or back splashes in the kitchen, you can go with a weaker tile because they will not have to support the heavy weight. Tile counter tops should have a higher break strength tile because of people climbing on the counters to reach things up high.

Tip three:

If you are going to be using glazed tile you will need to look at the wear rating on the tile to choose the one that works best for you. You want to look and see how long the glaze on the tile is warranted for. For example, some glazes will wear off within a few years of heavy traffic, others will be guaranteed to last 20 years. The ratings are based on 0 to 5, the higher the rating the ore durable the glaze is. Tile floors should have a wear rating of at least a three, if not higher.

Tip four:

You will also need to consider the coefficient of friction, which is the slip-resistance rating. The ratings for these tiles range from a 0 to a 1, the higher the number the more slip-resistant the tile is considered. If you are going to be placing tile in areas where it will get wet or there is heavy foot traffic, you want to have a higher rated tile. The recommendation on tiles is .6 or higher because anything .6 and above is considered slip-resistant.

Tip five:

The last thing you need to keep in mind when choosing tile is the water-absorption percentages. The ratings for this are non-vitreous, absorbs more than 7% of water, semi-vitreous, absorb from 3 to 7% of water, vitreous, absorbs .5 to 3% of water, and impervious, absorb less than .5% of water. If you are using a non-glazed tile in a wet location, you will want to consider these ratings, if you are using glazed tiles you do not need to be concerned because glazed tiles are considered impervious. If you live in freezing temperatures, you should not use tiles that absorb 5% or more water because the tile will be ruined in a short period.