Blanc
A backsplash we install — get your free quote.
Details
- Material
- Porcelain
Installed by our own crew across the northwest suburbs.
How we do backsplash installation →
Free in-home quoteWhat kind of tile is Blanc?
We stock Blanc as porcelain. Fired denser than ordinary ceramic, porcelain has near-zero water absorption, which is why it also goes on floors and wet walls. At thirty to forty square feet, upgrading backsplash material costs far less than upgrading a countertop.
About Blanc
Porcelain is ceramic fired denser and harder. It absorbs almost no water, which is why it goes on floors and wet walls where plain ceramic would not.
Rated 5/5 for heat and 4/5 for a dropped pan — it shrugs off heat and handles a dropped pan. Day-to-day care is soap, water and a cloth. That is the entire routine.
Wall prep, layout, tile, grout, caulk — our crew does all of it, and we do it after the tops are in so the bottom course sits on a finished edge. Installed, this material benchmarks around $24/sq ft in the Chicago suburbs — the table below shows the full range and where it came from.
But seriously though — get the free quote and we will bring the tape measure.
Specs
What is on the spec sheet — nothing inferred.
- Material
- Porcelain
- Primary Color(s)
- White
- PEI RATING
- 3
- Style
- Limestone
- Tile Type
- Glazed
- Coefficient Of Friction
- DCOF > 0.42
- Shade Variations
- V4
- Environmental
- Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified ®
- Product type
- Tiles
Sizes and finishes
How it is actually sold — measured off the spec sheet, not rounded.
Sizes
Blanc is made in 3 sizes. Size is the decision people skip and then notice every day: it sets how much grout line ends up in the field, and a larger module on the same wall reads calmer than a small one.
- 12x24
- 24x48
- 2x2
Planning the wall
What Blanc works out to on your wall, from its own published sizes.
| Size (inches) | Pieces per 10 sq ft | Grout line per sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| 12×24 | 5 | 1.5 ft |
| 24×48 | 1.3 | 0.8 ft |
| 2×2 | 360 | 12 ft |
Arithmetic on the published size; a straight grid layout. Herringbone and other patterns cut more pieces.
Between its 3 sizes, the piece count on a 10-square-foot wall runs from about 1.3 (24×48) to about 360 (2×2).
12×24 · 24×48 are large-format — any edge of 15 inches or more — and large-format tile needs a flatter wall than small tile does, so we check the wall before we quote it.
Counts are before cuts — outlets, window returns and the ends of a run all take pieces. The install itself, from wall prep to caulk, is on our backsplash installation page.
Where it works
The applications this surface is actually rated for.
Blanc carries a rating for flooring, at all of it at commercial duty.
Rated for
- Flooring — residential and commercial
Not rated for
- Outdoors — not recommended
Blanc or Sable?
Blanc and Sable are easy to confuse on a sample board: they share the same material, collection, style, glaze type, PEI rating, shade-variation rating and sizes. What separates them:
- Measured off each swatch, Blanc reads #9C9980 (mid-light, near-neutral) and Sable reads #CAB89A (light, warm), so Blanc sits darker than Sable on the wall.
What to expect once it is installed
The ratings that decide whether the finished wall matches the sample.
Shade variation: V4 — substantial variation
This is the dramatic end of the scale: two pieces from the same box can look unrelated. Order it all at once, from one run, with the overage included, and dry-lay the wall before a single piece is set.
Wear rating: PEI 3
PEI is the industry abrasion class, 1 to 5. At PEI 3 this tile is rated for walls, counters and normal residential floors — the usual rating for a kitchen.
Certifications
It has been tested and certified Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified.
How it lives — durability & care
How Blanc wears, and how it is looked after.
On the independent material scale (1–5, higher is better; not a manufacturer claim), Blanc, as porcelain tile, rates 5/5 for heat, 4/5 for impact/chipping, 5/5 for moisture, 5/5 for scratch and 5/5 for stain.
Care routine
- Clean tile and maintain grout — Wipe weekly; reseal cement grout yearly · The tile itself is non-porous, so any mild cleaner works. The real maintenance item is the grout: keep it clean and reseal cement-based grout about yearly (or specify epoxy grout to skip it) so it resists grease and moisture behind the range and sink. · Avoid: Acidic cleaners on cement grout, steel wool · If you skip it: low
What it costs installed
Published benchmark ranges, so you can sanity-check any quote — including ours.
Typical price ranges as of 2025-08. For Blanc, the published Chicago-market benchmarks (not an Ace quote) are: porcelain tile backsplash, installed at $13–$35 per sq ft; kitchen backsplash project, tile (typical 30-40 sqft) at $500–$1,500 per project; remove existing backsplash at $3–$6 per sq ft.
Worked through for Blanc: a 30 square foot backsplash takes between about 3.8 and 1080 pieces, depending on which of its 3 sizes you pick before cuts, and at the $13–$35 per square foot installed benchmark for porcelain tile that is roughly $390–$1,050 for the wall, before tear-out, outlets and trim.
Sources: Fixr, 2025; BobVila.com, 2023; SlabWise, 2026
What to put next to it
Built from the color we measured off Blanc itself, not from its name.
We measured this tile's own swatch at #9C9980 — mid-light and near-neutral. The closest color we hold pairing data for is Warm Speckled Stone (Granite), so that is what the recommendations below are built from. It sits close to neutral, which means it will take direction from the cabinets rather than fight them.
Cabinets
- Olive Drab Green — Olive cabinets and warm stone share the same earthen yellow base, so the kitchen reads as one grown thing rather than parts from a catalog.. Against this surface it is a step darker — enough separation to read as two materials current
- Dusty Blue — Warm stone keeps dusty-blue cabinets from tipping nursery — the sandy flecks pull the blue toward coastal-grownup, and the busy surface hides crumbs between wipe-downs.. Against this surface it is close in weight, so the two will blend rather than contrast current
- Warm White / Ivory — traditional comfort; undertones agree. Against this surface it is a step lighter, which lifts the surface without washing it out solid
- Espresso — the 2008 set — honest but aging; modernize with slab tops instead. Against this surface it is much darker than this surface, so the tile reads as the light element dated
Similar surfaces
Same family — worth seeing side by side before you commit.
Questions about Blanc
Answered from this product’s own spec sheet and our measurement of it.
What size is Blanc?
Blanc comes in 3 sizes: 12x24 · 24x48 · 2x2. Pick the size before the color. It decides how much grout line ends up in the field, and on the same wall a larger module reads calmer than a small one.
Where can I use Blanc?
Its maker rates it for flooring, and not for outdoors. We hold to that rating when we quote — installing outside it is how a warranty claim gets denied.
Will the tiles match the sample I saw?
Blanc is rated V4 — substantial variation, by design. Two pieces side by side can look like different products. Order from one production run, buy the overage up front, and insist on a dry lay. This is the rating that generates complaints when nobody was told.
Can Blanc go on a floor?
Yes. At PEI 3 it is rated for normal residential floors as well as walls and counters — the usual rating for a kitchen.
What color is Blanc, really?
We measured its own swatch at #9C9980 — mid-light and near-neutral. It sits close to neutral, so it takes direction from the cabinets rather than fighting them. Names are marketing; that number is what the camera saw.
Does Blanc need sealing?
No. Porcelain is vitrified almost to zero water absorption. The tile itself never needs sealing; cement grout still benefits from it.
Want this in your kitchen?
We supply and install Blanc out of our Streamwood shop — templated digitally, cut to your cabinets, installed by our own crew.
Ready for a real number?
Free in-home template and an honest quote — you keep your money until there's a countertop to trade it for.