Floor Tiles Overview

Tiles as a floor covering dates back to the Medieval times when it was used mostly for decorative surfaces. Post world war 2, tiles were a luxury item only affordable to the wealthy but after world war 2 with industrialisation the mass production of tiles started leading to lower prices and making this type of floor covering affordable to the masses. Over the last century there has been many advances in the technology of producing different materials and developing new glazes which expanded the ranges available considerably.

There are many factors that contribute to the popularity of tiles. Specially in South Africa tiles enjoys the biggest market share in the flooring market, this is mostly due to tiles providing excellent value for money in relation to the durability and ease of maintenance of a tile floor and also due to our climate as colder areas are prone to use a better insulator as flooring.

There are a massive range of options available when it comes to floor tiles in different material, shapes and sizes of which ceramic tiles are probably the best known and the most affordable type of floor tile which is widely available in South Africa but there are plenty of other options like the porcelain, stone, terracotta, cement and granite tiles to mention some, a more detailed breakdown and guide to help you choose the best option for your home is available on the next page.