Stainless steel and glass are the two of the most popular tile materials in use nowadays. These tiles, being that they are so popular, can be seen in many homes, and often you can see that these two materials are combined to make the room seem different and unique. Both these materials, of course, have certain benefits and disadvantages, and they have specifications as to which room they are suitable for.
Stainless steel is a material that nowadays has a wide application in the world. It is used for building bridges, tools, monuments, cars, trains and aircrafts. Its main quality is that it does not rust the way the ordinary steel does. This means that your tiles will not start to rust and will be very durable, thus making it a very good solution.
Glass is also a very widely used material for making pretty much everything. It is used for making glasses, sculptures and, widely, in architecture. Its main properties are that it is transparent, luminous, and solid, and that it can be shaped in any way that can be imagined.
The properties according to which they are going to be compared are the cost, design possibilities and durability. These are the properties that are generally the most important, because these properties are what matters when thinking about what material to choose for tiling your room.
Cost
One of the main things that the customers are looking at when choosing the material for tiling the room is how much the venture will cost them. Today, with the economic crisis ever present, people are always looking for a cheaper way to do whatever they need to do. It is the same with tiles. Nobody wants to spend too much.
Here, the stainless steel tiles have a bit of an edge. While very beautiful and very wanted, the glass mosaic tiles for kitchen and bathroom are also quite expensive. Not only that the material itself is expensive, but installation costs a lot as well. Not everyone can install glass tiles, thus it is recommended to always hire a professional, which is always costly. On the other hand, the stainless steel tiles are somewhat cheaper, mostly in the installation part. They are much easier to install, and do not require someone to be specialized in installing tiles to install them. Also, the cost of the material is not as high as is the cost of glass.
Design possibilities
Tiles are usually installed in a room either for practical reasons (bathroom and kitchen, for example) or design. When it comes to the latter, it is very important that the material can be shaped easily and that it is available in many different colors.
According to these criteria, the glass definitely takes the cake. The possibilities for designing tiles made of glass are infinite. The glass can come in almost any color, and what is more important, tiles colored in all but the darkest colors reflect light very well, which will make the room look very stylish and luminous. Stainless steel tiles are not as versatile when it comes to designing, but are trailing really close. Stainless steel is the second most versatile material when it comes to design. The best thing that you can do, if you want your room to look as stylish as possible, is to make a mix of the two, and to tile your room with a mosaic that is made both of glass and stainless steel.
Durability
Durability is also a very important aspect when choosing the right tiling material, because no one wants to change the tiles every now and then due to breaking. A material is durable if it can withstand scratches, cracking and does not stain easily.
In this category, both are standing on similar grounds. Glass is, for example, very stain resistant and easy to clean, and it is a very hard material, one that will not crack very easily. You’d have to apply a very strong direct force onto the glass tile to make it crack. However, if installed in a room which has a lot of traffic, then glass may be susceptible to scratches, and if the scratches accumulate, then the tiling has to be changed. Stainless steel is used as a material for making aircrafts and bridges, so, logically, it is also a very durable material. It is can also be subject to scratching, but a bit less than glass.
If you are still not sure, maybe you'll need to check colourful glass mosaic tiles mixed with stainless steel tiles. These modern and fasionable designs are ideal to line a kitchen splashback or bathroom wall. You can get the best of "both worlds".
Hopefully, this comparison of these two materials will show you just what you need and which material you want to choose. As was said above, the combination of the two is also possible, so, if you are looking for an artsy and stylish look of your room, it is mostly recommended to mix the two materials, and get the best out of both of them.
