Choosing Tiles and Stone: Performance Beyond Appearance

Floor finishes are chosen visually and judged daily. The performance characteristics that determine satisfaction.

Floor materials are selected from samples in showrooms and then walked on, cleaned and scratched for decades. Performance characteristics are printed on the box and rarely consulted, which is why so many floors disappoint within a year.

What this number does and does not include

This covers floor and wall finishes in tile and stone for residential use. It excludes the substrate and installation system, which affect performance as much as the material itself.

Material and format

The tile or stone itself, with cost varying by material, format and origin.

• Pushes it up: Large formats, imported stone and materials requiring careful selection for consistency.
• Brings it down: Standard formats in materials available locally.
• How to control it: Large formats cost more in material, installation and waste, and they require flatter substrates. Weigh the appearance against the total cost.

Slip resistance and safety

How the surface performs when wet, which matters in bathrooms, kitchens and around pools.

• Pushes it up: Nothing; appropriate specification costs the same as inappropriate specification.
• Brings it down: Nothing worth reducing.
• How to control it: Specify slip resistance by area rather than choosing a finish visually and hoping. This is a safety matter with no cost implication.

Wear rating and hardness

How the surface resists abrasion in circulation areas and entrances.

• Pushes it up: Higher ratings in materials intended for commercial use.
• Brings it down: Matching the rating to the actual traffic rather than over-specifying throughout.
• How to control it: Use harder wearing materials at entrances and circulation, where wear concentrates, and lighter specifications elsewhere.

Installation and substrate

Preparation, adhesive, levelling and the workmanship that determines whether the floor performs.

• Pushes it up: Poor substrates requiring correction, large formats needing flatness, complex layouts.
• Brings it down: Well-prepared substrates and layouts that minimise cutting.
• How to control it: Substrate preparation is where floor failures originate. Accept no shortcuts here regardless of the material above.

Maintenance requirements

Cleaning, sealing where required and the ongoing attention the material needs.

• Pushes it up: Natural stone requiring sealing, and light colours or matte finishes showing marks.
• Brings it down: Materials that clean easily and hide ordinary use.
• How to control it: Ask what maintenance the material needs before choosing it, since a floor that requires attention you will not give looks worse than a simpler material.

Costs that never appear on the first page

• Waste from cutting, which rises with format size and complex layouts.
• Substrate correction discovered after the material is ordered.
• Replacement material for future repairs, which may not be available in the same batch.
• Sealing and specialist cleaning for materials that require them.

Keeping the budget honest

Budget material, installation and substrate preparation together, since the three determine the outcome jointly. A premium material on a poor substrate performs worse than a modest material on a good one.

• When selecting, checking performance characteristics against each area.
• Before ordering, confirming quantity including waste and spare material.
• Before installation, verifying substrate preparation.
• At setting out, confirming where cuts will fall.

If you are procuring materials for a project, Domira can specify, source and verify them against the standards your drawings actually require.