Whats the difference between ceramic, porcelain, and rectified porcelain?
Actually all porcelain IS ceramic. The difference is that porcelain is a much denser clay, fired at a much higher temperature, which makes for a much more durable (and less absorptive) tile. As for rectified porcelain, the main difference is that all other tile is stamped out or cut to size BEFORE it goes into the kiln, where during the firing process, the tiles will experience some extent of shrinkage. Unfortunately that shrinkage is never uniform, and results in the sizing you always hear about. This is why the larger grout joints (3/16″- 1/4″) are required for most tiles. With rectified porcelain, the clay is fired in sheets, and then the tiles are cut to size AFTER theyre baked, which results in much tighter tolerances, and the ability to use much smaller grout joints. Q: I read in forums to use unmodified thinset under the cementboard for our floors before tiling, but DH read the instructions on the board to use modified. Just wanted to confirm that we are to use unmodified and al
