Is porcelain stoneware very high-maintenance?

Hello,

we looked at tiles over the weekend. According to the advisor there, porcelain stoneware tiles are very robust and easy to care for. Once back home, we read a bit about it on the internet and found many horror stories about porcelain stoneware. You must not use soap on the floor, dog urine causes stains, if you scrub too hard in the same spot, you get a matte, light area, etc. You have to clean the floor with all sorts of products and always impregnate it again. There are even videos showing the floor being worked on in numerous steps, including with a single-disc machine. That is definitely too complicated for us, we might as well take oiled parquet again. However, we also read that there are glazed porcelain stoneware tiles, which are not offered very often. Do these glazed porcelain stoneware tiles have any disadvantages? I could not find anything about that on the internet. What are your experiences with them?

Best regards Sabine

I had polished fine stone tiles in the kitchen for 12 years without any problems! In the bathroom, brown matte, cleaning was no problem and there were never any stains. Only drilling through was almost impossible, you need glass drill bits with water for that.

I think you are confusing something? There are natural stone (-tiles), e.g. marble, granite or [Solnhofer Platten], these are really more sensitive and require special care. Porcelain stoneware are simply tiles and compared to, for example, wooden floors, they are very easy to care for and easy to clean. We ourselves only have porcelain stoneware in the house and it is wonderfully low-maintenance. In detail, of course, it depends on the surface and the surface treatment of the tile. If, for example, they are high gloss, it might be that some become matte.

No, I don’t mean natural stone but porcelain stoneware tiles. These tiles have a fairly waterproof and non-porous surface, but they are not completely sealed like a glazed surface. There are many reports online from people who are dissatisfied with these unglazed tiles. That’s why I wanted to ask how it looks here and whether anyone also has glazed porcelain stoneware tiles. We actually just want a low-maintenance floor and don’t want to have a huge maintenance effort.

Best regards
Sabine

I have porcelain stoneware from 1978 in the hallway and dining room - no problems. However, it probably depends on the surface.

We have had porcelain stoneware tiles in the kitchen, hallway, and bathrooms for 1.5 years. So far, they are very low maintenance and easy to clean. I have had no concerns until now.