Ceramic tiles used for flooring have a huge number of benefits. Not the least of these is that there is an almost never-ending choice of colours, patterns, designs, thicknesses, sizes, and so on. The biggest problem many people have when deciding to have a ceramic tile floor is actually choosing the tiles themselves.

Probably the best advice is to take things slowly. Don’t rush it. Visit several different tile stockists with the intention of NOT actually buying anything. Go with the intention of making a short list. If you do it the other way around, fall in love with a tile and say "That’s the one", you will almost certainly see another tile the next day or next week which you like better and wish you had chosen that one instead.

So take your time. It’s worth spending some time doing this because when you have made your final choice those tiles are going to be with you for a very long time. Unless you happen to be extremely wealthy, you can’t just rip up a tiled floor after a few weeks or months and change it for one that you have decided that you like better. Get it right first time.

You can, of course, use ceramic tiling in Cardiff in just about every room. Ceramic tiles are ideal when used in conjunction with underfloor heating because they have great thermal conductivity, so the room will heat faster while using less energy. Underfloor heating of itself is far more environmentally friendly than a radiator system, because radiators heat the wall and the ceiling first and don’t produce heat evenly throughout the room, whereas underfloor heating will heat the room evenly.

Ceramic tiles used for flooring don’t suffer from stains. You can spill red wine on them and it’s not a problem. You simply wipe it off. You can’t do that with most carpets, nor with wood flooring. If you have smokers in the home, ceramic tiles are impervious to cigarette ash as well.

Floor tiles are also very easy to clean. You can vacuum them if you wish, or you can simply sweep or wipe over with a damp mop. It doesn’t get much easier than that. You can even wash them with soapy water if you want to because they are totally moisture resistant. They shrug off kitchen

spills too. If the grout gets dirty, you can clean it up with a special grout cleaner, but you won’t need to do that very often.

Tiles are also ideal for people with allergies. Unlike carpets, they don’t attract dust and dust mites, which means that they are a great benefit for anyone with dust allergies because you have far fewer allergens in the home. They are used in operating theatres, after all.

Of course, you may worry about dropping things on tile floors and cracking the tiles, but there is more good news. With the harder Class 3 and Class 4 vitreous tiles you would have to drop something really heavy in order to even scratch them, and they will happily withstand high heels. Even if you do scratch a tile, or even crack it, you can simply replace the tile. When you have tile floors laid, there will always be a few tiles left over. All you need to do is to keep a few as spares, just in case there is an accident. Then you can simply call in a handyman to replace the tile.

Ceramic tiles don’t have to be expensive, either. Obviously, the more high-end tile you choose the more you will pay, but tiles can compare quite favourably with some of the more expensive carpets or wood floors.

Ceramic tiles in Cardiff are also environmentally friendly in that they are made from clay, sand, and glass, and many of them use recycled content and are themselves recyclable. If you use air conditioning, they can help to keep your electricity bills lower in the summer because they remain cool and don’t absorb the heat.

Yet another advantage of ceramic floor tiles is that they increase the value of your home. Homes that have ceramic tiled floors tend to have a higher resale value than those which do not.