Ceramic vs porcelain tiles: what to lay in an apartment in Batumi
Ceramic vs porcelain tiles is largely a question of where they will be laid. On floors, open balconies and in showers without a tray we lay porcelain: it absorbs almost no water and stands up to grit from the street, salt and suitcase wheels. Ceramic tiles work well on bathroom walls and kitchen splashbacks. They are lighter, quicker to cut and usually cheaper. By the sea, water usually gets in through the joints and the base rather than the tiles, so waterproofing and grout matter as much as the material.
Updated 17 October 2026
Comparison by criteria
| Criterion | Ceramic tiles | Porcelain tiles |
|---|---|---|
| Water absorption | Porous body, but the glaze keeps water out | Dense body absorbs almost no water |
| Floor wear | Sand wears the glaze off where people walk | Matt porcelain stands up to sand, suitcases and furniture |
| Chips | Chips show: the colour under the glaze differs | Full-body porcelain hides chips |
| Open balcony | Not recommended: soaks up rain | Suitable, laid with exterior adhesive |
| Cutting and fixing | Lighter, quick to cut, easy on walls | Heavier, needs diamond tools and a flat base |
| Repairs | One tile is replaced from spares of the same batch | Replaced from spares, but harder to remove |
| Material cost | Lower | Higher for a similar design |
| Cost of the work | Lower, especially on walls | Higher, and large formats cost even more |
| Where it fits | Bathroom walls, kitchen splashbacks | Floors, balconies, showers without a tray |
How porcelain differs from ceramic tiles
Both ceramic and porcelain tiles are made from clay with additives and fired in a kiln. Porcelain is pressed harder and fired at a higher temperature, so its body comes out dense, with very few pores. A wall tile has a light, porous body, and a layer of glaze on the face protects it from water.
The difference is easy to see on the back. A drop of water on the back of a ceramic tile soaks in quickly, while on porcelain it stays on the surface. In shops both are often sold simply as tiles, so we check the type against the box and the batch documents when the material arrives on site.
There is also something in between: glazed porcelain with a pattern that imitates ceramic tiles or stone. Its body is dense like any porcelain, but a chip shows the colour of the body, not the pattern.
Ceramic vs porcelain tiles for floors
Floors are worn down by shoes, chair legs and sand. In an apartment near the sea, grit from the street comes in every day and acts like fine sandpaper: where people walk, the glaze on ceramic floor tiles loses its pattern over time, while matt porcelain holds up. In a short-term rental, add the suitcases that get wheeled from the door to the wardrobe.
Chips behave differently too. Glazed ceramic and glazed porcelain have a different colour under the pattern, so a chip from a dropped frying pan shows at once. Full-body porcelain is coloured all the way through, so a chip is the same colour as the surface and the damage is much less visible.
On a floor that gets wet, the surface matters. Polished porcelain in a bathroom or hallway is slippery after a shower or rain, and sand leaves scratches on it that you can see against the light. In those places we use matt or anti-slip textured porcelain.
Bathroom moisture and salt on the balcony
On bathroom walls, water runs off and does not stay long, so glazed ceramic tiles cope here as well as porcelain. Water gets into the wall through the joints, the edges around the bath and the floor drain, and the holes for the taps. That is why any tiling in the shower area goes over waterproofing, and for the shower we recommend epoxy grout.
The reason is the climate. Humidity in Batumi is usually 70–80%, higher in winter, and cement grout in a shower never properly dries out between uses, so it darkens and grows mould. Epoxy grout does not absorb water and cleans with an ordinary product.
Conditions on an open balcony by the sea are harsher. Rain soaks the tiling, salt from the sea air settles on it, in winter it stays wet for long periods, and in summer it heats up in the sun. In these conditions porous tiles take on water, and over time the glaze can develop a network of fine cracks, so on balconies we lay only porcelain. Sometimes it is also taken up the balcony walls to railing height, as far as wind-driven rain reaches.
Laying: weight, cutting and the base
Porcelain is heavier and harder. It is cut with a good tile cutter or a diamond blade, holes for pipes are drilled with diamond core bits, and each of these jobs takes longer. Ceramic tiles cut faster and are easier to put on a wall, because a lighter tile slips less on fresh adhesive.
Large-format tiles need a flat base and adhesive under the whole area of the tile. A void under a floor tile eventually leads to a crack under load, and in a bathroom it also collects water. That is why we check the screed with a straightedge before laying and tap the tiles once they are down: a void gives itself away with a hollow sound.
Labour cost and spares for repairs
As a material, ceramic tiles are usually cheaper than porcelain of a similar look, and laying porcelain costs more in labour, especially in large formats. The difference shows most on walls: if you tile the bathroom walls in ceramic and keep porcelain for the floor, the estimate comes down with no loss of reliability. Saving on the floor material can mean replacing the floor before its time.
Keep one or two boxes from the same batch in the apartment. Shade and exact size vary between batches, and a year later it can be impossible to find exactly the same tile. With spares, a cracked tile is replaced without hunting for a close match or re-tiling the whole wall. If you live outside Georgia, photograph the box label with the batch number and keep the photo yourself.
Which to choose
When to choose: Ceramic tiles
We lay ceramic tiles on walls, where the tiling is not worn down or knocked and the waterproofing underneath keeps the water out. There ceramic lasts a long time and costs less than porcelain.
- Bathroom and shower walls over waterproofing, with epoxy grout in the shower area
- Kitchen splashbacks, especially with a complex layout or a bright glaze
- Walls in the toilet and utility room, where there is little water
- An apartment for yourself, with porcelain on the floor and a different pattern on the walls
When to choose: Porcelain tiles
Porcelain is needed wherever people walk on the tiling, wheel suitcases over it and splash water on it. In an apartment by the sea, that means the floors of the bathroom, kitchen and hallway, plus the balcony.
- Floors in the bathroom, kitchen, hallway and corridor
- An open balcony or terrace exposed to rain and sea air
- A shower without a tray, where a floor sloping to the drain does the job of the tray
- A short-term rental apartment that is cleaned often
- Bathroom walls, if you want one material from floor to ceiling
Questions and answers
Are ceramic or porcelain tiles better for a bathroom floor?
Porcelain. People stand on a bathroom floor with wet feet, drop bottles and drag the laundry basket around, and the dense body of porcelain copes with all of that. Choose a matt or anti-slip textured surface, because polished porcelain is slippery after a shower.
Ceramic floor tiles exist too, and in an apartment you live in yourself they will last a long time. For short-term rental, with frequent cleaning and a change of guests, we recommend porcelain. Either way, the bathroom floor is laid over waterproofing carried up onto the walls.
How can you tell porcelain from ceramic tiles?
Turn the tile over and put a drop of water on the back. A ceramic tile has a porous back, often reddish or beige, and the water soaks in quickly. Porcelain has a dense back with no visible pores, and the drop stays on the surface.
Porcelain is noticeably heavier than a ceramic tile of the same size, and in full-body porcelain a chip shows the same colour through the whole thickness. The type of material is also printed on the box, but price labels sometimes get it wrong.
Can porcelain tiles be used on walls?
Yes, and in bathrooms it is done when people want one material on the floor and walls. Porcelain is heavier, so we check the wall first: old plaster has to be firmly bonded, and a plasterboard partition that will carry heavy tiling is built on a rigid frame and covered with two layers of moisture-resistant boards.
For walls we use an adhesive that stops the tiles sliding down. In labour, this kind of tiling costs more than ceramic, especially in large formats, where the joints have to be lined up with corners, niches and plumbing outlets.
What tiles should you use on an open balcony by the sea?
Porcelain with a matt or anti-slip surface. Under it we lay a screed sloping away from the building wall, with waterproofing carried up onto the wall and the threshold. We use adhesive and grout made for exterior work and leave a movement joint around the edge, so that the tiling does not lift when the sun heats it.
We finish the edge of the balcony with a drip profile, so water does not run down the facade to the neighbours below. Dark porcelain on a south-facing balcony gets so hot in summer that you cannot walk on it barefoot, so for the sunny side we recommend light and mid tones.
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