Commercial Floor Tile for Restaurants, Hotels and Offices

Commercial floor tile is tile listed by its maker for floors in businesses and public buildings: restaurants, cafes, hotel lobbies and corridors, offices, shops and the shared areas of apartment buildings. What separates it from residential tile is not the look but the listing. Each product page on our site shows where the maker rates that tile, and the line to look for is "commercial interior floor." Every tile in this guide carries it. On the general PEI scale for glazed tile, a restaurant or hotel floor calls for class 4, and the heaviest public floors class 5; the scale is explained below.

In short: marble-look and stone-look porcelain for hotel corridors, guest bathrooms and large open floors, honed marble for lobbies, terrazzo for a speckled floor, wood-look porcelain for restaurants and retail, and concrete and fabric looks for offices. Our cafe and restaurant tiles and hospitality tiles collect the commercial picks, and our commercial tile projects page covers how we work with businesses.

Commercial floor tile at a glance

Space	Example tile	Material	Size (in)	Finish	Also listed for
Hotel lobby	Royal Beige	Marble	12 x 24	Honed	Commercial walls, shower walls
Lobby, white marble	Statuarietto	Marble	12 x 24	Polished	Commercial walls, shower walls
Corridor, guest bath	Romano White	Porcelain	12 x 24	Polished	Commercial walls, shower walls, outdoor floors and walls
Speckled floor	Acero	Terrazzo	23 5/8 x 23 5/8	Honed	Commercial floors and walls, shower walls
Restaurant dining room	Brune Cafe	Wood-look porcelain	6 x 24	Glazed	Commercial walls, shower walls, outdoor floors and walls
Cafe pattern	Bautismo	Porcelain	8 x 8	Matte	Commercial walls, shower floors and walls, outdoor floors and walls
Office	Matrix Bright fabric look	Porcelain	12 x 24	Matte	Commercial walls, shower walls, outdoor floors and walls
Retail, showroom	Coal concrete look	Porcelain	12 x 24	Matte	Commercial walls, shower walls, outdoor floors and walls

What a PEI rating tells you

PEI stands for the Porcelain Enamel Institute, and its rating grades how well a glazed tile surface stands up to foot traffic, on a scale of 0 to 5. The scale applies to the glaze, so unglazed porcelain and natural stone carry no PEI class.

PEI class	Traffic it is graded for
0	Walls only, no foot traffic
1	Walls and very light foot traffic
2	Light residential traffic, such as bathrooms and bedrooms
3	All residential floors and light commercial floors
4	Moderate to heavy commercial traffic, such as restaurants, lobbies and offices
5	Heavy commercial and public traffic, such as airports and malls

On our product pages, the maker's own usage listing does this job: it names the places a tile is rated for, from residential walls up to commercial interior floors and outdoor floors. For a project with a written specification, the data sheet for a given tile is the document an architect or designer checks against it, so ask our trade team for it with your quote.

The PEI scale above is the general one published for glazed tile; the class of a specific tile comes from its maker. A specification can also name other terms a buyer meets on a data sheet:

• Water absorption: how much water the tile body takes up by weight. Porcelain is defined by low water absorption, which is what separates it from ceramic.
• Glazed or unglazed: glazed porcelain has its color and pattern in a surface glaze; unglazed porcelain has the same color through the body.
• Rectified edge: edges ground straight after firing, so tiles of one size match closely in size.
• Usage listing: the maker's list of rated places, from residential walls to commercial and outdoor floors, shown on each of our product pages.

Finishes on commercial floor tile

Finish	Surface	Tiles in this guide
Honed	Stone ground smooth to a matte face	Royal Beige, White Carrara
Polished	Stone or terrazzo ground to a reflective face	Statuarietto
Matte	Porcelain with no shine	Fashion Grey, Bautismo, Silver, Coal
Glazed	Porcelain with color in a fired surface glaze	Brune Cafe
Natural	Porcelain left as fired	Cognac, Gris Pardo

Which tile size for which commercial space

Area	Formats in this guide	Why the format fits
Lobby, large open floor	12 x 24 marble, 23 5/8 and 24 in square terrazzo looks	Fewer joints across a wide floor
Corridor	12 x 24 porcelain	Rectangular, 2 to 1 proportion
Dining room	6 x 24 and 8 x 48 wood-look planks	Plank floor look in porcelain
Cafe, restroom	8 x 8 patterned porcelain	Matte, patterned, also listed for shower floors
Office, retail	12 x 24 matte porcelain	Plain, even surface

Hotel floors: lobbies, corridors and guest bathrooms

In a hotel lobby, natural stone gives a floor where no two tiles repeat. Royal Beige is a warm beige marble in a honed 12 by 24 inch tile, the matte finish that shows the stone's soft veining without a mirror shine.

For a white lobby, Statuarietto is a white marble with gray veining in a polished 12 by 24 inch tile, and White Carrara comes honed in the same size. Both are listed for commercial interior floors and walls, so a lobby floor and the wall behind the front desk can match.

Corridors and guest bathrooms cover more square feet than the lobby. Romano White is a white marble-look porcelain in 12 by 24 inches with a polished finish, and it is listed for commercial floors, shower walls and outdoor floors, so one tile can run from a corridor into a guest bath. It is part of our large-volume porcelain tiles, a group picked for bigger orders.

Terrazzo suits a lobby, a bar or an elevator hall where a speckled floor fits the design. Acero is a gray honed terrazzo tile almost 24 inches square, and Fashion Grey is a terrazzo-look porcelain in 24 by 24 inches with a matte finish that is also listed for outdoor floors.

Pool decks and spa rooms have their own range in our pool and spa tiles, and the older guide to healthcare and hospital flooring options covers clinics and care settings.

Restaurant and cafe floors

A restaurant dining room needs a floor that matches the concept and is rated for commercial traffic. Wood-look porcelain gives the look of plank flooring in a porcelain tile. Brune Cafe is a brown wood-look porcelain in 6 by 24 inch planks with a glazed finish, and Cognac is a warmer, longer 8 by 48 inch plank with a natural finish. Both are listed for commercial interior floors and for outdoor floors, so a patio can continue the dining room.

For a patterned cafe floor, Bautismo is an 8 by 8 inch patterned porcelain in a matte finish, listed for commercial floors and walls, shower floors and outdoor floors, so the same pattern can cover the dining floor, the restroom and a wall behind the counter.

The floor of a commercial kitchen is a separate decision. The project's architect or engineer specifies it against local health and building codes, and the maker's data sheet for a given tile is what they check. Share the code requirements for your kitchen with our trade team when you ask for a quote on the tiles you are considering. More cafe and restaurant picks are in cafe and restaurant tiles.

Office and retail floors

For an office or shop with a plain, even floor, Matrix Bright is a fabric-look porcelain in 12 by 24 inches with a matte finish, a light tone with the look of woven fabric. Coal is a concrete-look porcelain in the same size, a near-black matte floor for a showroom, a gallery or a modern retail space.

For a stone look in a reception area, Gris Pardo is a slate-look porcelain in 12 by 24 inches with a natural finish, also in our large-volume porcelain. Bigger formats that cut the number of joints across an open floor are in our guide to large format tile.

Apartment buildings and multi-family projects

Apartment lobbies, hallways and unit bathrooms are commercial and residential at the same time. Our multi-family tiles collect the tiles that fit these projects, including every tile on this page except Acero. For the units themselves, our guide to the best flooring for rental property compares vinyl plank and porcelain.

Ordering tile for a commercial job

A commercial order is larger than a home order, and three things matter more at that size.

• Quantity: square footage plus extra for cuts, worked out per room and per layout before the order goes in. Our guide to how much tile you need shows the math by layout.
• One order: tile cartons carry a production lot, and buying the full quantity, including extra for cuts, in one order keeps it to one lot. Our guide to ordering tile for a job explains lots, shade and caliber.
• Samples: a sample of the actual tile, seen in the room's own light next to the furniture and finishes, settles color before hundreds of boxes are ordered. Our guide to tile samples covers sampling a whole project.

Trade pricing for commercial projects

Contractors, designers, architects, builders and dealers can join our Pros Club trade program. Members get trade pricing applied automatically at checkout when they are logged in, and a dedicated trade specialist who helps with selection, quotes and project support. Applying is free, with no commitment, and applications are reviewed within a couple of days. Our tile has been used on projects for Disneyland Resort, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, New York University, Olive Garden and Sbarro.

Apply on our trade professionals page, or read how the program works in our guide to the trade program for contractors and designers.

Commercial Floor Tile FAQ

Is PEI the same as a slip rating?

No. PEI grades how a glaze stands up to abrasion from foot traffic. Slip performance is a separate measurement with its own test, and it appears on a maker's data sheet when the maker publishes it. Our product pages do not list slip values, so ask for the data sheet when a specification calls for one.

Does natural stone have a PEI rating?

No. PEI applies to glazed surfaces, and marble, limestone and terrazzo have no glaze. For stone, the maker's usage listing shows where a tile is rated, and the finish changes the look: honed is matte and polished reflects light, while the stone itself is the same.

Porcelain or natural stone for a hotel?

Both can be listed for commercial interior floors, as every tile here is. The differences are in the material: natural stone such as Royal Beige or Statuarietto is quarried, so every tile has its own veining, and it is listed for interior use in this guide. The marble-look and stone-look porcelain tiles such as Romano White are manufactured rather than quarried, and every porcelain tile here adds outdoor floor and wall listings.

What should a commercial tile quote include?

The tile and size, the trim pieces, and the full quantity in boxes, including extra for cuts, in one order. The project ZIP code lets the quote include freight to the site.

Which PEI class do the tiles on this page carry?

Our product pages do not list a PEI class. The marble tiles and the Acero terrazzo here have no glaze, so the scale does not apply to them. For a glazed tile on a specification that names a PEI class, the maker's data sheet is where the class appears.