How to Choose Tile: Material, Finish and Grout

Choosing tile is the process of matching a tile's material, finish and grout color to the room it goes in, so it looks right and holds up for decades. The short answer to porcelain vs ceramic tile: pick porcelain for floors, showers and anything wet or busy. Pick ceramic for walls and backsplashes, where it costs less and cuts easier. Then choose the finish, the grout color and the look. This guide is part of our Tile Ideas Complete Guide, and it walks through the 6 choices every Greater Boston homeowner makes before buying tile.

You buy the tile. Aguirre Modern Tile installs it, supplies the setting materials and helps you pick. We never mark up tile. On the jobs we have done since 2016, the homeowners who are happiest made these 6 calls in order, before they fell in love with a sample.

1. How to Choose Tile: Material, Finish, Grout

Start with where the tile goes, not with the color. A shower floor, an entry floor and a backsplash need different things. Write down the room and the surface first. Then choose in this order:

1. Material: porcelain, ceramic, natural stone or glass. This decides how the tile handles water and wear.
2. Finish: matte, satin or glossy. This decides slip, shine and how much water spotting shows.
3. Look: plain, marble-look, wood-look, stone-look or pattern.
4. Size and layout: large format, subway, hexagon, herringbone or mosaic.
5. Grout color: match the tile, or contrast with it.

Material costs vary a lot. Based on current material prices, plain ceramic runs about $4 per sq ft and porcelain about $7. Large-format porcelain runs about $10, natural stone about $16 and glass mosaic about $22 (as of 2026 pricing).

Not sure what fits your room? Send us photos of your bathroom, shower or backsplash and we will tell you which tile works there and what the install costs, same day.

2. Porcelain vs Ceramic Tile: Pick by Water and Wear

Porcelain is denser and absorbs less water than ceramic. That makes porcelain the safer choice for floors and showers. Ceramic is softer and lighter, which makes it cheaper and easier to cut for walls. Both are fired clay. The difference is the clay mix and how hot the kiln runs.

• Water absorption: under the ANSI A137.1 standard, porcelain must absorb 0.5% or less of its weight in water. Many ceramic wall tiles absorb far more.
• Wear rating: the PEI scale runs 0 to 5. Most home floors need PEI 3 or higher. Many ceramic wall tiles are rated too low for floors.
• Through-body color: some porcelain carries its color all the way through, so a chip shows less.
• Cutting: porcelain is harder. It needs a wet saw with a good blade. Ceramic snaps on a basic tile cutter.

Costs are typical material prices from our service data (as of 2026 pricing). For the full breakdown, read porcelain vs ceramic tile.

Is porcelain tile better than ceramic for a bathroom floor?

Yes, for most bathroom floors. Porcelain handles water, boots and dropped bottles better. In Greater Boston, salt and sand get tracked in all winter, so we steer entryways and mudrooms to porcelain too. Ceramic is still fine on the walls above it.

3. Pick a Grout Color Before You Buy Tile

Grout color changes how tile looks more than most people expect. A matching grout makes the tile read as one calm surface. A contrasting grout outlines every tile and shows off the pattern. Pick it while you still have the tile sample in hand.

• Match for large format, marble-look and small bathrooms that should feel bigger.
• Contrast for subway, hexagon and herringbone when you want the pattern to pop.
• Go a shade darker on floors. Light grout on a floor shows dirt first.
• Plan the trim too. We finish metal edge trim to match the grout, so the edges tie in.

We grout with Laticrete Permacolor, a cement grout with consistent color and good stain resistance. See how to choose grout color for side-by-side examples.

4. Marble-Look Porcelain vs Real Marble

Marble-look porcelain gives you the veining of Carrara or Calacatta with almost no upkeep. Real marble is softer and needs sealing, but nothing beats its depth. For most showers and floors, the porcelain version is the practical pick.

• Cost: natural stone runs about $16 per sq ft vs about $7-10 for porcelain (as of 2026 pricing).
• Sealing: natural stone needs sealing every 1 to 2 years. Porcelain does not.
• Etching: marble is a calcium stone. Vinegar, citrus and some cleaners leave dull marks on it.
• Where real marble still wins: a vanity wall, a niche, a shower you want to feel one-of-a-kind.

Dig into the trade-offs in marble look porcelain vs marble.

5. Matte vs Glossy Tile: Match the Finish to the Room

Use matte tile on floors and shower floors, and save glossy tile for walls and backsplashes. Glossy tile bounces light and wipes clean. It is also slippery when wet and shows water spots. Matte tile hides spots and gives bare feet more grip.

• Slip: for level interior floors that get wet, the ANSI A326.3 standard calls for a wet DCOF of 0.42 or higher. Check the box or spec sheet.
• Water spots: glossy dark tile shows hard-water marks fast. Matte hides them.
• Light: glossy tile brightens a small bathroom or a dark kitchen wall.
• Middle ground: satin or honed finishes split the difference.

More detail by room is in matte vs glossy tile.

6. Wood-Look Tile Gives You Warmth Without Rot

Wood-look porcelain plank tile looks like hardwood but does not care about water. It is a smart pick for bathroom floors where real wood would swell. Planks need a flat floor and the right layout.

• Layout: long planks look best in a 1/3 offset. It cuts down on lippage, where one tile edge sits higher than the next.
• Grout: pick a color close to the wood tone so the lines fade.
• Prep: long planks show any hump in the floor. We flatten first.
• Brands: Marazzi and Daltile both make wood-look porcelain lines.

See layouts and color ideas in wood look tile bathroom.

Before You Buy: Size, Layout and How Much to Order

Once the material, finish and look are set, size and layout come next. They change the look of a room as much as color does. They also change how much tile you need to buy.

• Large format (24x48 and up): fewer grout lines and a calm, modern look. The floor or wall must be very flat.
• Subway (3x6, 4x8): the classic wall tile. It works in running bond, stacked or herringbone.
• Hexagon and penny mosaic: great for shower floors. The many grout lines add grip.
• Herringbone and chevron: high impact, but more cuts and more waste.
• Diagonal (45 degrees): makes a small floor feel wider and hides walls that are not square.

How much extra tile should you buy?

Buy extra tile for cuts, breaks and future repairs. For straight layouts, plan on about 10% extra. For herringbone, diagonal and large format, plan on more, because each cut wastes more tile. Keep a full box after the job. If a tile cracks years later, a matching repair is easy. Without matching tile, a small repair can turn into a big one.

Where should you buy tile?

Buy from a tile showroom or supplier that lets you take samples home. We recommend suppliers and help you pick, and we never mark up tile. Check three things before you order. Is the tile rated for the floor or wet area? Is it all from the same lot, so the color matches? Is there enough in stock for the whole job plus extra? Order early. Backordered tile is the most common reason a start date slips.

What Does It Cost to Install the Tile You Pick?

Your tile choice changes the material bill more than the labor bill. These are our recent ranges, labor and setting materials included, tile not included (based on current Greater Boston rates):

• Kitchen backsplash, 17 to 35 sq ft: $1,100 to $2,500, including removing the old one.
• Bathroom floor, 30 to 45 sq ft, old floor removed: $2,000 to $2,300.
• Tub surround tear-out and retile, about 60 to 80 sq ft: $4,300 to $5,000. A recessed niche adds about $400.
• Full shower tear-out and rebuild: $5,000 to $7,000+.
• Bathroom floor plus shower in one job: $7,500 to $11,500.

Tiny mosaics, herringbone and real marble take more cutting and care, so they push a job toward the top of its range. Big-box per-sq-ft quotes often leave out demo and prep. Our guide to tile installation cost per square foot explains why we price per area instead. Tile rip-out jobs carry a $450 disposal fee.

How do we install the tile once you choose it?

Every wet area gets real waterproofing. We roll RedGard on shower walls and build shower floors on a Schluter Kerdi tray with a Kerdi drain, which we connect ourselves. Bathroom floors go over Strata Mat uncoupling membrane, or one heating cable if you want a warm floor. A two-person crew sets roughly 100 sq ft of tile a day, and most bathrooms take 2 to 5 working days.

Our Recommendation: Porcelain vs Ceramic Tile and the Rest

For most Greater Boston bathrooms, the winning combo is simple. Put matte porcelain on the floor. Use ceramic or porcelain on the walls. Pick a grout color that matches unless you want the pattern to show. Choose marble-look porcelain unless you truly want real stone and will seal it. That settles porcelain vs ceramic tile and every choice after it.

As a registered Massachusetts home improvement contractor (HIC #655072) with $1M liability insurance, we quote most jobs from photos first. A deposit holds your start date, and the balance is due when the job is done. Ready to turn your tile picks into a finished room? Send us photos and get a same-day estimate from Aguirre Modern Tile.