son Guide

Learn the key differences

By
Lee Wallender
Updated on 05/20/21
Reviewed by
Deane Biermeier
In This Article

 Vinyl Tile vs. Ceramic Tile

 Appearance
 Water and Heat
 Care
 Maintenance
 Installation
 Cost
 Lifespan
 Environment
 Sizes
 Resale Value
 Comfort and Sound
 The Verdict

For environments where the flooring is likely to be subject to moisture or staining agents, homeowners are often
faced with deciding between vinyl tile and ceramic tile, both of which are excellent at shedding moisture and
good at resisting stains. This choice most often comes into play for kitchens and bathrooms.

However, despite the fact that vinyl tile is often designed to mimic ceramic tile, these materials are entirely
different substances and they have much different characteristics when it comes to installation, maintenance,
and real estate value. Learning about their differences will help you make the right choice.

How to Install Ceramic Floor Tile

Watch Now: Ceramic Vs. Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl Tile vs. Ceramic Tile: Major Differences

Vinyl tile is essentially the same material as is used for sheet vinyl flooring—a very thin, manmade product
made from PVC plastic with a felt or fiberglass backing layer and covered with a printed design layer and clear
wear layer. For the tile form of flooring, the vinyl is simply cut into squares that range from 9 to 18 inches
across. Some forms of vinyl tile, called composite tiles, include some amount of pulverized stone dust in their
manufacturing process. This gives them somewhat more realism than plastic-only vinyl tiles.

Yet another form of vinyl tile is luxury vinyl, a much thicker form of vinyl flooring that joins together with
click-lock edges rather than being applied with a troweled-on mastic. Luxury vinyl is available both in plank
form and tile form; the tiles are generally known as LVT, or luxury vinyl tiles. These have a bit more prestige
than standard vinyl tiles and are also more expensive.

Ceramic tile is made from natural earth clays mixed with other materials, covered with a surface glaze, and fired
in ovens to harden them. Porcelain is a particular category of ceramic tile; porcelain tiles are made from finer
clays and are fired at higher temperatures to make them harder and more durable.

Ceramic tile can be used other on floors, or for countertops, walls, or showers, while vinyl tiles are used only as
a flooring material.

The Spruce

Appearance
Vinyl Tile

While vinyl floor tile is often designed to look like ceramic tile, the mimicry is rarely very convincing; most
everyone can tell the difference between a vinyl floor and a ceramic or stone tile floor. However, vinyl floor tile
does come in a huge array of colors and styles. From a pure design view, you will have every choice you could
possibly want.

The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile is also available in a wide array of colors and styles, though you will pay quite a bit for the more
designer forms of tile. Ceramic tile provides a lot of prestige as a flooring material. Porcelain tiles, in particular,
come in many very attractive choices as a designer flooring material.

The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Best for Appearance: Ceramic Tile

Few people would dispute that ceramic tile has the edge when it comes to appearance. Vinyl tile, after all,
generally aims at mimicking ceramic tile and it is usually easily identified as the imposter.

Water and Heat Resistance

Both vinyl and ceramic tiles are comparable in terms of resistance to water, since both are entirely waterproof
materials. However, both have joints between tiles that create the possibility of moisture seeping down to the
underlayment and subfloor.

Vinyl Tile

As a wholly synthetic, manmade material, vinyl tile is entirely immune to water damage, but the many seams
between tiles can allow water to seep down between tiles. Thus, vinyl tile is not quite as impervious to moisture
as sheet vinyl. Vinyl can be damaged by intense heat, which will melt and scorch it. Further, vinyl can release
toxic gases if it ignites in a home fire.1

Luxury vinyl planks or tiles can be a little more problematic in terms of moisture penetration since the joints do
not fit as tightly as they do with standard vinyl tiles. However, the vinyl itself is perfectly waterproof, and
problems are not likely provided that spill and puddles are wiped up.

Ceramic Tile

As a material, ceramic tile is also impervious to water damage. The flooring surface has good resistance to
penetration by water if the grout seams are well maintained are kept sealed. Ceramic tile is also completely
impervious to heat damage.

Best for Water and Heat Resistance: Ceramic Tile

Both materials have good inherent resistance to water damage, but they also have seams that can allow moisture
to seep down to the subfloor. However, ceramic tile is virtually impervious to heat, while vinyl tile is easily
damaged by heat.

Care and Cleaning

Both vinyl tiles and ceramic tiles are very easy to clean materials. Regular sweeping with periodic damp
mopping using a mild soap solution is really sufficient to care for both flooring materials.

Vinyl Tile

Vinyl tile is one of the easiest of all flooring materials to keep clean.

The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Ceramic Tile

With ceramic tile, grout lines can get dingy if the seal coat is allowed to degrade. When this happens, a good
scrubbing with a grout cleaner containing bleach is necessary.

The Spruce / Margot Cavin

Best for Care and Cleaning: Vinyl Tile

Because it has no grout lines to collect stains or mildew, vinyl tile is the easier flooring material to keep clean.

Durability and Maintenance

Vinyl Tile

Vinyl tile has an expected lifespan of about 10 years under normal use. Vinyl is a resilient material that is
somewhat soft and susceptible to gouges and scratches, but replacing a damaged tile is not difficult. It's a fairly
easy process to heat the tile to loosen the adhesive, pull it out, then scrape the floor clean and glue down a new
tile.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile is a much more durable material, and lifespans of 40 years or more are common. Damaged tiles
can be removed and replaced. Grout lines on ceramic tile must be resealed every few years, and cleaned if they
become dirty or stained with mildew.

Best for Durability and Maintenance: Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile is a very hard material with excellent durability.

Installation
Vinyl Tile

Traditionally, vinyl tile is applied by a glue-down bond in which flooring mastic is troweled onto the floor
before the tiles are pressed down into place individually. But self-adhesive tiles now dominate the market. With
these, the adhesive is factory-applied and covered with a protective paper that is peeled away when it's time to
lay the tiles. Vinyl tile is one of the favorite flooring materials for DIYers, thanks to its ease of installation.

Various forms of luxury vinyl planks and tiles are installed as "floating" floors, in which individual pieces are
joined together with a snap-lock system that holds the planks or tiles together along the edges. The installation
method resembles that used for laminate flooring, and it is extremely easy for DIYers.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic or porcelain tile is always installed with a thin-set adhesive used to glue down the tiles over an
underlayment of cement board. Partial tiles can be cut with a manual tool that scores and snaps the tiles, or with
a power wet saw. Once the adhesive is dry the joints between tiles are filled with a mortar-based grout, which is
sealed after it dries completely. While ceramic tile installation is labor-intensive, plenty of DIYers tackle this
work successfully. However, it is more common for ceramic tile to be installed by professionals.

Best for Installation: Vinyl Tile

Vinyl tile is a very easy flooring material for DIYers to install. Ceramic tile installation is fairly labor-intensive,
though it is certainly possible for DIYers to do it.

Cost
Vinyl Tile

In general, vinyl tile is a much less expensive form of flooring. Self-adhesive vinyl tiles purchased at big-box
home improvement centers generally average $1.50 to $3 per square foot, and professional installation usually
adds about $3 per square foot. Vinyl tile, however, is quite easy to install yourself.

Ceramic Tile
Ceramic tile averages around $5 per square foot for materials alone, within a range of $1 for plain white tiles to
more than $20 per square foot for designer porcelain tiles. Professional installation can add between $4 and $14
per square foot, depending on labor costs in your area and the complexity of the work your job requires.

Best for Installation: Vinyl Tiles

Vinyl tile is an ideal flooring for DIYers, while installing ceramic tile entails a considerable amount of work.

Lifespan
Vinyl Tile

Vinyl floor tile usually is ready for replacement in about 10 years, though longer lifespans are possible in light-
use situations.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile can last many decades, with lifespans of 40 years or more quite common.

Best for LIfespan: Ceramic Tile

No question about it: Ceramic tile is a much more durable and long-lived flooring material.

Environmental Considerations
Vinyl Tile

Vinyl flooring contains many toxic chemicals. While these are stable in vinyl's manufactured form, these
chemicals do not safely break down in landfills, and there is the potential for releasing toxic gases if the
materials are burned.1 Environmentally conscious homeowners are rightly concerned about the use of vinyl
flooring.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile is a wholly natural product that has nothing toxic in its components. Old ceramic tile creates no
contamination when it finds its way into landfills.

Best for the Environment: Ceramic Tile

Because it contains no chemical components, ceramic tile is a better material when it comes to environmental
concerns.

Sizes
Both vinyl and ceramic tile come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, although ceramic tile has more options.

Vinyl Tile

Vinyl tiles tend to be square in shape, from 9 to 18 inches across.

Ceramic Tile

Square ceramic tiles generally start at about 3 inches across, running up to 18 inches, but they also come in
sheets of tiny mosaic tiles attached to mesh backing, in geometric shapes, and in rectangular shapes.

Best for Sizes: Ceramic tile

Ceramic tile has more shape and size options than does vinyl tile.

Resale Value
Vinyl Tile

Vinyl flooring is usually recognized as an economy flooring, though this is less true of modern luxury vinyl
tiles or planks.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic or porcelain floor tiles are invariably viewed as prestigious flooring materials by real estate
professionals and prospective homebuyers, especially when the floor uses designer porcelain tiles.

Best for Resale Value: Ceramic Tile

A well-maintained ceramic tile floor will always have more prestige and greater real estate value than vinyl tile
flooring.

Comfort and Sound

Vinyl Tile

Vinyl tile floors, since the material is resilient, are slightly more comfortable and quiet underfoot than rock-hard
ceramic tile. In a kitchen, a china dish dropped on vinyl may survive, while shattering is a given if it drops onto
ceramic tile. But vinyl flooring is still a relatively hard flooring material, especially when installed over a
concrete subfloor.

Ceramic Tile

In addition to being very hard, ceramic tile is also a notoriously cold flooring material—unless it is installed
over a radiant floor heating system, which will transform it into a delightfully cozy surface.

Best for Comfort and Sound: Vinyl Tile

Both flooring materials are fairly hard underfoot, but vinyl tile edges out ceramic tile since it is slightly softer.

The Verdict
The main advantages to vinyl tile lie in its low cost and its easy DIY installation. On most other categories of
comparison, ceramic tile is a superior flooring surface, with better appearance, longer durability, and more
resale value.
Related Topics

 Vinyl
 Kitchen Tile
 Bathroom Tile

Watch Now: 7 Things To Consider Before You Get Vinyl Flooring