Q&A With the Tile Doctor: Ceramic Tiles vs. Glass Tiles

I’ve been thinking about re-doing my bathroom floor, but I can’t decide whether or not to do it in glass tile or ceramic tile? What’s the difference, Tile Doctor?

Well, the differences between glass tile and ceramic tile ultimately come down to how you want your bathroom to look, and how much you want to spend.

For example, glass tile resists mold and mildew much better than ceramic tile. Moreover, there is a multiplicity of color and sizes from which you can choose with glass tiles. Glass tiles reflect light because they are glass, and will make your bathroom look bigger and brighter. And glass tile is the greener choice – it only takes about half the energy of ceramic tiles to produce.

On the other hand, glass tiles are more expensive than ceramic tiles. They can be difficult to cut too, which is part of why they are more expensive and they scratch, which means that if this bathroom is going to be used by children and will have dogs scampering around, then ceramic is probably your best bet.

If, however, it’s going to be used in the master bedroom, then you would do just fine with glass. Lastly, the underlying grout work needs to be masterfully cleaned and flattened, a process which will take more time and effort. You don’t want any trowel marks to show up through your new glass tiles!