Thanks. What does RECTIFIED mean?

Rectified is more expensive. "Unlike your typical factory-edged tile, rectified tile has been cut to size after the firing process. This process creates a precise, 90 degree angle edge and, as a result, can be laid with a tighter grout joint than unrectified tile (as small as 1/16ÂÂ). If youÂfre wanting a smooth, sophisticated and continuous look on your floor or walls, choose rectified tile."
Is it better? Depends. Do you need it? Depends.
You want for your floor? How long are you going to live in house? You have to live with it! You have to weigh what you really want and what is important to you and how much do you want to spend.
PEI 4 or better is a start. I believe a good tile should be above $3 sf. I could name some tile companies, but I don't want to sound like an advertisement: I do not work for them/I only like their quality of tile: and they will cost more, but that is the tile I would want in my house! Marazzi USA, and most all Italian made tile! Happy Floors Tiles are mostly made in Italy. If you like, look them up on the web.
I believe: yes: you get what you pay for. Although, I believe there is tile out there too expensive for what you get. Do your homework.
My honest opinion: I would only put travertine or slate in my home. The owner of where I work has only travertine on the floors that has been down for over 10 years and looks great. Her house has all travertine and slate on the floors for 10+ years and she has tons of kids in and out of her house daily! Two great things about travertine and slate: you don't slip and the travertine material absorbs sound vs. tile. (Only my first choice for flooring)

I'll name some. You can start with Dal or Crossville (Crossville's mainstay is porcelain). If you don't mind paying a little more, you can look into companies like Cerdomus, Graniti Fiandre, or Porcelanosa. Those are some of the top names in the world for porcelain, rectified, glazed or otherwise.

Now, there are a couple of points I want to take up with the post above. First, it was recommended that tiles with a PEI (Porcelain Enamel Institute) rating of atleast 4. Two things about this. First, for residential use, a PEI rating of 3 is more than sufficient. Secondly, if you're looking at thru-body color, rectified or otherwise, there will BE no PEI rating. The PEI rating is on the glaze ONLY.

Next, as for using real travertine, you can, if you like. I personally don't recommend it, only because as natural stone goes, travertine is one of the softer stones around (it's a type of limestone). Secondly, with the porcelain imitation, there's no upkeep-- no sealing, no having to worry about what cleaner you're using (because plain hot water will be fine most of the time, anyway). It's a much more maintenence free floor, and if you're willing to pay for a good imitation, it'll look just like the real thing.

Thanks. We have been all over the map as far as flooring for our kitchen/first floors goes. Started with wanting hardwood, spent a few months trying to decide what we wanted (decided on Tigerwood), and then DH changed his mind bc he did not want to worry about water and other damage. Then we went to tile - First slate, then travertine. Finally I said if we are doing tile bc we don't want to worry about maintenance and upkeep, then we should just do porcelain. So, that's where we are now.

Bill_Vincent...This PEI rating stuff confuses me. For instance, a common tile sold at Lowe's (the Del Conca Rialto series) says on its website that it is a thru-body tile, but it also says it is a PEI rating of 5. Am I missing something here? (We are not particularly interested in the Rialto tile, but I just used that as an example).

Also, What rating do I look to for the "slipperyness" factor? We dont want a tumbled-look floor with a lot of pits and grooves, but we also don't want it to be slippery.

Lastly, I know there are codes or ratings for color variation - Can anyone educate me about those? What I want to avoid is getting a box of tile that has the same 6 tile patterns that just repeat. I have seen porcelain tiles where no 2 tiles are the same. I would like to see a lot of color variation from tile to tile (like real marble or travertine). Isn't this a 3 or 4 rating, or is there no industry standard?

Thanks again!

For instance, a common tile sold at Lowe's (the Del Conca Rialto series) says on its website that it is a thru-body tile, but it also says it is a PEI rating of 5. Am I missing something here?

Maybe I'M missing something here. I've used the Rialto line before, and the times that I've used it it's been glazed tile. There IS no PEI rating on an unglazed tile.

Also, What rating do I look to for the "slipperyness" factor?

This one you might have to dig a little deeper, unless you go to a showroom that also does work on commercial projects, where coefficient of friction is part of the spec. In most showrooms and especially the big box stores, if you mention C of F, they'll look at you like you have two heads. This is a relatively new spec that's only been around for about 10-15 years, and you can thank the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)or its existence at all. You want a C of F of about 5.

I have the Rialto Beige tiles here ready to be installed and I know from a sample in the past that had a chip on the tile that the color is throughout the tile. On their website, they say they put the glaze in before the mixture is subject to the firing oven (or whatever they use) and it makes the tile easy to clean. So in a way it is a glazed tile but also a thru-body tile I think. It is not slippery when wet since I tested it and that is what I liked about it as well as the tile looking like real stone to me and being a neutral color.

If it's thru body color, then it's not glazed, unless there's a clear glaze on top. I've only seen that once or twice, and then it wasn't on big box store brands (Which the Rialto is).

Just to throw another thought into the mix~ have you looked at Amtico? That is what we are going with, after going through much the same exercise that you are. It is actually vinyl, but it truly looks like wood or stone. I did not know it was not real stone or wood the first time I saw it, and I am willing to bet you have seen and did not know it, either. It is durable, warm, non skid, and looks terrific. It has been used in Europe for years. It is not cheap, but is comparable to what you are talking about.

Wow. Amtico certainly looks real in photos.

I agree that the Amtico looks very real but I can't find any stores around me that sell it.