Ceramic Tile in Mississauga & Barrie | Wall & Floor

• Kitchen backsplashes: subway, picket, square and handmade-look glazed tile in whites, greens, blues and terracotta tones. Ceramic glazes have more depth and colour range than most porcelain, which is why designers still specify it here.
• Bathroom walls and tub surrounds: glazed ceramic sheds water and wipes clean. Use a waterproof membrane behind it in showers and it will last for decades.
• Powder rooms, laundry rooms and bedroom floors: floor-rated ceramic (PEI 3 or higher) handles light residential traffic well.
• Rental units and budget renovations: ceramic installs faster and cuts cleaner, so labour comes down with it.

Every ceramic tile carries a PEI wear rating. PEI 1 and 2 are wall only. PEI 3 is residential floors. PEI 4 covers busy residential floors and light commercial. If the box or the display board does not state a floor rating, treat it as wall tile. The second check is slip resistance on any floor that gets wet; a glossy glaze belongs on a wall, not in front of a sink.

The decision line: backsplash, shower wall, tub surround or feature wall, choose on colour and glaze and buy ceramic. Floor in a kitchen, entry or bathroom, read the PEI number first, and when in doubt step up to porcelain. Our porcelain vs ceramic guide covers the trade-offs in more detail.

3x6 and 2x8 subway, 4x4 and 6x6 squares, 2x10 picket and elongated hex, 10x16 and 12x24 wall formats for bathrooms, and 12x12 and 13x13 floor ceramics that still cover a lot of rental and basement work. Glossy, satin and matte glazes are shown side by side so you can see how each reads under light; a handmade-look glossy subway is a very different wall than a flat matte one.

• Shower floors, mudrooms and front entries: water, grit and boots will wear through a ceramic glaze. Use porcelain.
• Outdoors anywhere in the GTA or Simcoe County: ceramic absorbs water and will spall in a freeze-thaw winter.
• Commercial floors: lobbies, restaurants and retail need PEI 4 to 5 porcelain.
• Over an unprepared wall: ceramic hides nothing. A wavy drywall or an old tile surface needs to be flattened or removed first, or the joints will telegraph it.

Ceramic wall tile goes up with a standard polymer-modified thin-set from our tile setting materials range, a waterproof membrane in wet areas, and a sanded or unsanded grout depending on the joint width. Our in-house crews install backsplashes, bathroom walls and ceramic floors across Mississauga, Barrie, Toronto and the surrounding areas; if you are doing the backsplash yourself we will lay out the pattern and the box count with you at the counter.

Visit the Mississauga store at 700 Dundas St E, 20 minutes from downtown Toronto, or the Barrie store at 112 Saunders Rd off Highway 400, and bring a cabinet door or a countertop sample so the glaze is matched in real light. Local pages: tile in Mississauga, tile in Barrie, tile in Toronto. Every ceramic line is listed in the tile collections directory.