Quick answer
Porcelain is the tougher, less porous tile — best for floors and wet zones; ceramic is lighter and cheaper — ideal for walls and tighter budgets. Both are fired clay, but porcelain is fired hotter and denser, so it absorbs almost no water. For most Plymouth bathrooms we mix the two: porcelain underfoot, ceramic on the walls.
The actual difference between them
Both porcelain and ceramic start as clay and end up glazed and fired — which is why they look so similar in a showroom. The difference is in the recipe and the heat. Porcelain uses a finer, denser clay and is fired at a higher temperature, producing a harder body that absorbs less than 0.5% water. Standard ceramic uses a more porous clay fired cooler, so it absorbs more moisture and is a little softer. That single property — water absorption — drives almost every practical decision about where each one belongs.
It also explains a few things you’ll notice when handling them. Porcelain is heavier and harder to cut cleanly, which is part of why it costs a bit more to buy and to fit. Ceramic is lighter, easier to score and snap, and kinder on a tight budget. Porcelain also tends to be ‘through-bodied’ or to have a colour that runs deeper into the tile, so a chip is far less obvious than on a ceramic tile, where a thin glaze sits over a pale clay biscuit that shows white when knocked. Neither is ‘better’ in the abstract — they’re better at different jobs, and a good bathroom usually uses both.
Where each one belongs in a bathroom
Porcelain — floors & wet zones
- Near-zero water absorption — ideal for shower floors and wet rooms
- Hard-wearing underfoot; resists chips and scuffs
- Available in slip-rated finishes (R10–R13)
- Through-body ranges hide chips better
- Great over underfloor heating
Ceramic — walls & budget
- Lighter — easier to fix on walls, less load on plasterboard
- Cheaper per square metre and quicker to cut
- Huge range of colours, patterns and finishes
- Perfectly fine for splashbacks and non-floor surfaces
- Softer glaze — keep it off heavy-traffic floors
The reason we mix them isn’t a compromise — it’s the right tool for each surface. Spending the porcelain budget on the floor where it earns its keep, and using a beautiful ceramic on the walls, often gives the best-looking bathroom for the money.
What it means for your budget
Porcelain typically costs a little more both to buy and to lay, partly because it’s harder to cut and the offcuts are less forgiving. But the price gap on a single bathroom is rarely dramatic, and in the places porcelain matters most — the floor and shower — it pays for itself in years of trouble-free use. Tiling on a Plymouth bathroom usually lands between £800 and £3,500, and the tile choice is one of the bigger levers within that range.
If you’re costing a project, our guide to bathroom tiling costs breaks the figures down properly, and the wider bathroom cost in Plymouth page puts tiling in context with the rest of the job.
Porcelain on the floor, ceramic on the walls — a sensible, good-looking split that suits most family bathrooms.
Common questions
Can you use ceramic tiles in a shower?
On the walls of a shower, yes — wall ceramic is fine once the area is properly waterproofed behind it. On the shower floor we’d specify porcelain for its low porosity and slip rating. Either way, waterproofing comes first.
Is porcelain harder to fit than ceramic?
Slightly — it’s denser and needs a good wet cutter and the right adhesive, especially in large formats. That’s reflected in fitting time, but it’s routine work for an experienced tiler.
Which lasts longer?
Porcelain, in demanding spots. On a floor or in a wet zone its density means it resists wear and water far longer. On a wall, both will outlast the rest of the bathroom comfortably.
Still weighing it up? See our tiling & flooring service or our guide to the best tiles for a bathroom floor.
Right tile, right place
We’ll help you choose and fit it
Tell us about your bathroom and we’ll recommend the porcelain-and-ceramic mix that looks best and lasts longest — with a fixed written price.