Walk into a good tile showroom without a plan and you’ll be overwhelmed in about four minutes. There are thousands of options. Half of them look great. Most of them are wrong for your room.
That’s not a knock on the tiles. It’s just that choosing well comes down to making decisions in the right order. Do it backwards (falling for a colour before you know where it’s going) and you can end up with a beautiful tile that cracks in the entryway or turns into a skating rink in the shower. Here’s the order that works.
Step 1: Define Your Application Before You Look at a Single Tile
Before anything else, answer one question: where is this tile going, and what will it have to put up with?
A backsplash barely gets touched. A kitchen floor takes dropped pots, chair legs and daily foot traffic. A shower floor has to grip wet feet. A front entryway in Montreal has to survive boots full of slush, road salt and grit from November to April. Each of those jobs rules out a big chunk of the showroom right away.
So write it down. Floor or wall? Wet or dry? Indoor or outdoor? Heavy traffic or light? Answer those four and the rest of the process gets a lot easier.
Step 2: Choose the Material: Ceramic or Porcelain
Both are fired clay. Porcelain is made from finer, denser clay and fired at higher temperatures, which makes it harder and far less absorbent. Ceramic is a little softer, easier to cut and usually costs less.
For most walls and backsplashes, ceramic is perfectly fine and gives you a huge range of colours and glazes. For floors, wet areas and anywhere near the front door, porcelain is the safer bet. Anything going outside, like a balcony or front steps, needs a porcelain tile rated for frost. Montreal’s freeze-thaw cycles will crack anything that soaks up water.
If you’re looking at ceramic for a floor, ask about its PEI rating. That’s the scale for how well the glaze stands up to wear, and for most home floors you’ll want a 3 or higher.
Step 3: Choose the Format: Large or Small
Large-format tiles (generally anything with a side 15 inches or longer) mean fewer grout lines, a calmer look and a room that often feels bigger. They do need a very flat subfloor, though. And in older Montreal homes, with their settled joists and wavy floors, that sometimes means extra prep work.
Smaller tiles handle curves, slopes and uneven surfaces much better. That’s why they’re still the go-to for shower floors, where the tile has to follow a slope toward the drain and all those grout lines add grip. Mosaics and small subway tiles also bring texture and a bit of old-world character that suits a lot of plexes.
Step 4: Choose the Finish: Matte or Glossy
Glossy tiles bounce light around and look crisp and clean. They’re great on walls, especially in small bathrooms or darker kitchens that need a lift. On floors, though, they get slippery when wet and show every water spot and footprint.
Matte tiles hide dust, smudges and scuffs, and they give much better grip underfoot. For floors, and anywhere water hits the ground, matte or textured is the practical choice. Plenty of great rooms mix both: a matte floor with a glossy backsplash is a classic combination.
Step 5: Choose the Colour and Pattern
Now the fun part. It comes this late on purpose, because by now you’ve narrowed the field to tiles that will actually work.
Look at samples in your own home, in daylight and at night. Showroom lighting flatters everything, and Montreal’s grey winter light can make a warm beige look almost green. Think about your grout colour too. A contrasting grout makes the pattern pop. A matching grout makes the surface read as one calm plane.
And think about how long you’ll live with it. Trendy colours are great for a backsplash you might redo in eight years. For floors, most people are happier with something they won’t tire of.
Step 6: Budget: Setting and Sticking to It
The tile itself is only part of the cost. Your budget also needs to cover installation, setting materials, grout, trim pieces, any subfloor prep and waste.
Order extra. Plan on roughly 10 per cent more than the room’s square footage for straight layouts, and more for diagonal or herringbone patterns, since they create more cuts. Keep a box or two after the job’s done, too. If a tile cracks in five years, finding the same production batch can be close to impossible.
Spend where it counts. Floors and showers deserve your best tile. A powder room wall or a laundry backsplash is a fine place to save.
Step 7: The Showroom Visit: How to Make It Count
Come prepared and you’ll get twice as much out of your visit. Bring room measurements, photos of the space (including the floors, cabinets and fixtures that are staying) and a few inspiration pictures. If you can, bring a cabinet door or paint chip.
Tell the staff what you worked out in Step 1 before you start pointing at tiles. A good showroom team will steer you toward what fits your application and away from what doesn’t. Then take samples home. Always.
The Bottom Line
Start with the job the tile has to do, then pick the material, format and finish that suit it. Leave colour and pattern for last, set a realistic budget with room for extra tile, and show up to the showroom ready to ask questions. At D’Amico Céramique in Pierrefonds, our team can walk you through every one of these steps, from the first measurement to the last box of tile.
Find Your Tile at D’Amico Céramique
Visit our Pierrefonds showroom and bring your measurements. We’ll help you choose.
Phone: (514) 620-9920
Email: info@damicoceramique.com
Address: 16023 Pierrefonds Blvd., Pierrefonds, QC H9H 3X6
Website: damicoceramique.com
Hours: Mon to Fri 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sunday
Services: Ceramic, porcelain and natural stone tile, design help and installation