Which aspect are you doubting? The feel, texture, color, fear of breaking something, fear of discomfort on the back/knees? Second guessing is normal. What kind of material did you have before this? Maybe it's just the change that will take getting used to. On the other hand, it is hard to live peacefully with something you hate.

We have porcelain tile now, after having a ceramic tile for 15 years. For our family, tile just works so well. My back doesn't ache after standing on it. (Maybe it does after 3-4 hours, but it aches standing on cushy carpet for that long, too.) I don't mind the cool temperature of it--nice in the nasty summer and I wear slippers in winter. We chose one that has some texture, but not too much and is certainly not slick like some. Clean-up is easy. I think in the 15 years of having tile, 2 dishes got dropped on it. Yes, they shattered, but I consider that a pretty good record considering DH jokes about my clutziness and we have 3 children living here.
Hope this helps. Karina

Thanks for your comments. I got the unglazed type of porcelain and after it was put down, it looks so dull. It is a terra cotta color and I had white ceramic before. Hated the white, could never keep it clean. I like the terra cotta as it does not show dirt but it is just so dull. Why kind of porcelain do you have?

I have porcelain - glazed, but it has a lot of texture. I love it. If you don't like the dullness of the terracotta, maybe you could try an enhancing sealer - that might perk up the color a bit.

Ours is a color-body, unglazed. If you have a leftover tile, try using an enhancing sealer like biondanonima suggests to see if you like it any better. We ended up using an enhancing sealer on our grout for just the same reason.

Unglazed here for about 5 years. When my mother first saw it, she thought it really ought to be waxed or somthing since there's no shine...

Now she thinks EVERY kitchen floor should be EXACTLY like this: it's so easy to clean, and the lack of gloss makes it look clean even when it isn't.

When you look at the 'pro' side of porcelain, it's impossible not to love: stain proof, scratch proof, water proof [depending on the sublfoor], low maintenence [if you use a dark grout].

Plus, with solid body tile you can cut in some beautiful patterns without the uncolored edges showing...

BTW, I frequently drop glasses and Corelle plates without them breaking: the idea that everything explodes when it hits the tile isn't accurate.

I have porcelain - very happy with it. I don't care for glossy finishes though so dull is probably one of the reasons I liked it.

I love our big 16" Marazzi Montagna Cortina procelain tiles. They look like travertine without all the worries. Very easy to keep clean and looks clean even when it isn't because of the pattern. It is not very glossy, more like a satin gloss.
Clare

I hate to be a party pooper, but I have a porcelain tile floor and I hate it. It's the worst mistake I made in my kitchen -- in fact in my whole house.

Everything I have ever dropped smashed into a thousand pieces. I've even found shards in the next room. I dropped a good Wusthof knife and the tip broke off.

My legs and back ache when I stand on it for awhile.

When I sweep the floor, dirt sits down in the grout and the only way to get it out is with a damp cloth or a vaccum.

It's cold in the winter and I cannot go barefoot in the kitchen.

I just noticed that one of tiles has cracked, too. I don't know how it can be replaced. Also, the grout cracked in another spot.

Sorry, but I just can't stand it.

I have porcelain tile and I absolutely love it. (I was told that you can't put an enhancer on porcelain tile.) I thought my tile was dull looking at first, too. Especially with the shiny granite and stainless appliances and bright white cabinets. I thought I must get these floors shinier!

After a few weeks I decided that the matte finish (not dull...lol) really grounds everything. I think a shiny floor in my kitchen would have been too much shiny! Give it some time.

I love my porcelain tile. Makes it easy to clean up after spills and muddy-footed dogs. ;-)

dedtired and others: Over at the Cleaning Tips forum I learned about steam mops and have ordered one from Bissell. It looks a little like a skinny vaccuum cleaner, but has a water tank and microfiber pads. As you "mop" with it the steam softens the dirt so that the pad can pick it all up. Then you pop the pads (order extras!) into the washing machine to get rid of the dirt. Posters say a steam mop cleans better and quicker than a mop, there's no bucket of dirty water to lug around and empty, no chemicals, and it gets the dirt out of the grout. You do still have to sweep or vaccuum before you mop. Can't wait to get mine and try it. Here are links to three kinds:

Bissell Steam Mop

Shark Steam Mop

Shark Steam Blaster

Here is a link that might be useful: LONG cleaning forum thread re steam mops

gagesgranny-- When it comes to porcelain on a kitchen floor, you really can't go wrong. As for the shine (or lack thereof), that's a personal choice, and once you've chosen your tile, there's not really much you can do about it, shy of ripping out the floor and replacing it with a porcelain of a different finish. That said, keep in mind-- the shinier the tile, the more slippery it'll be.

Thanks to all of you. I have been living with the porcelain tile for a week and it is beginning to grow on me. You all are right, even when it is dirty, it does not show but with an active family, it gets swept every day and on weekends, sometimes 3 times a day. Oh, I have to live with it---paid the price and DH would have a stroke if I mentioned removing it. Thanks again

For those who think tile floors will be hard on their knees/back, take a look at this.

A friend bought some of the Gel mats and she loves them. I might try one as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gel mat

Dedtired: the cracked grout indicates that your floor was too flexible for tile. It's not the fault of the material. The cracked tile could also be an issue with the subfloor: did your installer use Ditra or a similar crack suppression membrane? If he didn't, not a lot of point replacing the tile, it'll probably just recur.

I've dropped knives on mine without breaking a tip, and not *everything* shatters when it falls. More than on a wood floor, for sure, but that's because the wood is taking the damage instead of the dropped item.

I second the reccomendation for a good energy absorbing mat in front of the range and sink, anywhere you stand for extended periods IF it turns out you need them. Not everyone [me for instance] does.

I have porcelain tile and like it. I do not find it to hard on the feet knees or back, however, we do have two throw rugs in front of the work areas. I haven't broken anything on it yet. I just damp mop it for cleaning. The price was reasonable too compared to other flooring. Here's a photo:

I have it in my 5 yr old master suite bath addition. It's a matte finish and I LOVE it. It's embarassing to say...it never looks dirty...and when I finally get around to sweeping and mopping, um...I can't believe how much is there that I couldn't see!!

We got the Warmly Yours heating flooring. We only use it in the winter and it was a splurge. If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't as our master bath is on a second floor, not slab foundation.

Here is a photo of my floor with a kitty also. Sorry it's not a closeup. I believe it's Florida Tile. The walk-in shower has the darker version of the same w/ some accent tiles.

Does glazed vs. unglazed vs colorbody/throughbody make a big difference in terms of durability or likelihood of breaking things dropped on the tile?

I've had glazed ceramic tile floors throughout my house for 10 years now. When I developed asthma we ripped out every floor in my house and tiled it all. (My health improved dramatically and I went off all preventer medications!) Yes, dishes shatter. I think that's why I've become less of a klutz.

And, warning: it WILL chip. In 10 years we have exactly ONE small chip in ours. ONE. That happened when I dropped a cast iron frying pan on the floor! Lucky my foot wasn't under it.

What other flooring has that record? Zero maintenance other than routine cleaning. The new house we're getting ready to build will once again have glazed ceramic tile throughout. I would've changed to colorbody porcelain had I found a pattern/color I liked. That was the plan. But don't really think it makes much difference for us.

Tile adds to the thermal mass of your house. It is a heat sink, so however it gets warm (sun through the windows, central heat, radiant heat) it retains that heat and gives it off when the ambient air temp. drops, usually at night. We have never found our floors cold at all, to our surprise. But we don't go barefoot either.

One change in the new house: infloor radiant hydronic heat. We're in Atlanta, GA. Our builder says that with our Icynene insulation and thermal windows, brick veneer siding, we'll only need to use a touch of heat to knock the chill off the floors.

Our floor tile, just selected Sat., is also a very matte look, despite its being glazed. Our current tile is shinier and shows every streak, every cat pawprint, etc. The matte won't. And it won't dazzle our eyes so much either. There's enough of that from appliances and such. Can't wait.

Does glazed vs. unglazed vs colorbody/throughbody make a big difference in terms of durability or likelihood of breaking things dropped on the tile?

As for durability, it depends on the PEI rating of the glaze. For something with a PEI rating of 4 or better, no difference. Anything less, and the glaze will take a beating before the thru-body will. As for the likelihood of breaking dropped objects, that's the one downfall of ALL ceamic tile, porcelain or not. They're alot tougher than most anything you could drop, so anything breakable most likely won't survive unmarred.

I'll second what bill said. Everything I've dropped on it broke. Except the cast iron frying pan.

thx for the info, bill and pink! i started off looking for colorbody, but i keep liking patterns that are glazed! but they do have ratings of 4 -- even found a couple of 5s. of course, i'm still deciding between tile and cork --a decision that will probably go down to the wire.....

Hi I have procelain tile in my kitchen bath shower and living room it is a large open space from kithcen thru living room top floor love it it is light color and is 18 in the trouble I have is in the kitchen the tile has a edge that looks chiped very pretty but the chip edges seems to get dirty and I can't make it look clean would steam machine help out side of that it is great Thanks Dee