Guide · Greenville, SC
Both work in a shower. One is a better choice for the floor, and neither of them is what keeps water out of your wall.
Porcelain absorbs less than 0.5% water and is denser and harder than ceramic, which makes it the better choice for shower floors, floors generally and anything outdoors. Ceramic is softer, easier to cut and less expensive, and it performs perfectly well on shower walls.
Porcelain is fired at a higher temperature from a denser clay, giving it a water absorption rate at or below 0.5%. Ceramic is more porous and softer. Both are clay tile — porcelain is the tighter, harder version of it.
That absorption number is the whole reason the distinction matters. A tile that absorbs water expands and contracts more with wet and dry cycles, and in a freeze-thaw climate it can fail outright.
Porcelain, in small-format mosaic. A shower floor stays wet, takes direct traffic and has to conform to a slope, and porcelain mosaic handles all three better than ceramic.
The extra grout lines in a mosaic give traction underfoot, and the small tiles follow the slope toward the drain without having to be wedge-cut. This is why we specify it on nearly every shower floor we build in Greenville.
Yes. Shower walls do not take traffic and stay drier than the floor, so ceramic is a legitimate and cost-effective choice there. Plenty of good showers have ceramic walls and a porcelain mosaic floor.
It is also easier to cut, which matters on a wall full of cuts around a valve, a niche and a shower head.
No. Neither porcelain nor ceramic keeps water out of your wall — grout is not waterproof, and water passes through it to whatever is behind. Leaks are a waterproofing question, not a tile question.
This is worth being blunt about, because tile choice is the part homeowners spend the most time on and the part that has the least to do with whether the shower lasts. Choose the tile you want to look at. Insist on the waterproofing underneath it.
| Porcelain | Ceramic | |
|---|---|---|
| Water absorption | 0.5% or less | Higher; more porous |
| Hardness | Denser, harder, more durable | Softer |
| Shower floor | Recommended, in small-format mosaic | Not the best choice |
| Shower walls | Works well | Works well; often the value choice |
| Floors with traffic | Recommended | Acceptable in low-traffic areas |
| Outdoors / freeze-thaw | Required, if rated for it | Not suitable |
| Ease of cutting | Harder to cut | Easier to cut |
| Relative material cost | Higher | Lower |
Who does the work
Written by the team at Tile with Style, a family-owned tile installation business working in Greenville, SC since 2011. Work is carried out by Javier Rincón and his crew, in English and Spanish.
Updated:
Related questions
On the shower floor, yes — it stays wet and takes traffic. On the walls, ceramic performs well and is a reasonable place to save. A common and sensible combination is ceramic walls with a porcelain mosaic floor.
Only if it is small enough to follow the floor slope, which usually means a mosaic. Large-format tile that looks right on the walls will not conform to the slope on the floor without being cut into wedges.
It depends on the finish, not on the material. For shower floors we specify a matte or textured finish in a small format, where the added grout lines contribute meaningful traction. Polished tile of any material is a poor shower floor choice.
Yes, with the understanding that stone is porous, needs sealing and needs resealing over time. Marble in particular is sensitive to acidic cleaners. It is a maintenance commitment that porcelain does not ask for.
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