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From the time when man (or woman) first determined that beauty in his environment extended to his dwelling, tile flooring has been a popular choice and remains so today. As has been the case for centuries, tile flooring provides exceptional beauty and durability, and the great range of styles, colors and surfaces make tile an appropriate choice for any style, taste or budget.
 Most floor tiles today are ceramic -- a hard, durable choice that comes in a variety of sizes, shapes, patterns, thickness and color. Traditional ceramic tiles are oven-baked clay products, and modern manufacturing processes have produced ceramic tiles that not only maintain the traditional beauty and durability of their ancestors, but also tiles that replicate the appearance of granite, marble, slate and other more expensive stone tiles.
Ceramic tiles are divided into two categories -- glazed and unglazed. Almost all tiles are available either glazed or unglazed.
The majority of ceramic tiles used in flooring are glazed, which means they have a special coating that is applied before the tile is “fired,” or baked; the firing process adheres the glaze to the tile, giving it the color, surface texture and tone that makes the tile distinctive. Traditional tiles used salt, soda, ashes, and other natural substances as glazes; modern tiles enjoy a wide range of special chemical glazes that create the full range of colors, textures, patinas and surfaces. The glazing seals the naturally porous clay tiles, making them highly resistant to water and stains.
Unglazed tiles have many of the same characteristics, but lack the special coating of glazed tiles. Most common among unglazed tiles are quarry tiles, which take their name from their original source; quarried stone. Stones were reduced to a powder, reconstituted into a clay, and fired, producing a beautiful and especially durable tile. The modern extrusion process of producing these tiles allows for more uniform tiles than their hand-made relatives, while retaining the ambiance of an artisan made product.
 Encaustic tiles, another traditional, decorative unglazed floor tile, are manufactured tiles that use compressed dust to create special patterns and designs. Instead of applying or embossing the design on the tile under a glaze, encaustic tiles have the design inlaid within them before firing. Encaustic tiles are available individually, or in assembled geometric patters of smaller, single-colored tiles.
Using ceramic tile as a flooring choice embraces all design preferences, from the formal to the casual to the practical. Because of the almost limitless range of color, size and pattern, ceramic tiles have become a great favorite with decorators and homeowners for kitchen, bathrooms, playrooms, spa rooms, entryways, or any area where significant moisture may be present. Since they come in a variety of sizes (some as small as one-half inch square) colors and patterns, ceramic tiles give the homeowner a way that is both easy and satisfying to create a unique flooring look by blending shapes, colors and textures.
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