Praia Crema
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 quoteSpecs
What is on the spec sheet — nothing inferred.
- Material
- Porcelain
- Primary Color(s)
- Beige
- PEI RATING
- 3
- Style
- Quartzite
- Tile Type
- Glazed
- Coefficient Of Friction
- DCOF < 0.42,< 0.42 Polished
- Shade Variations
- V3
- Environmental
- Greenguard Gold, USGBC/LEED
- RECTIFIED/NON-RECTIFIED
- Rectified
- Product type
- Tiles
Sizes and finishes
How it is actually sold — measured off the spec sheet, not rounded.
Sizes
Praia Crema is made in 4 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
- 3x24 Bull Nose
- 2x2
Planning the wall
What Praia Crema 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.
The size you pick changes the wall more than the color does: 24×48 needs about 1.3 pieces per 10 square feet, 2×2 about 360.
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.
The spec sheet lists it as rectified: the edges are ground square after firing, which is what lets the joints run tight and straight.
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.
Its maker rates Praia Crema for flooring — all of it at commercial duty.
Rated for
- Flooring — residential and commercial
Praia Crema or Praia Carrara?
Praia Crema and Praia Carrara are easy to confuse on a sample board: they share the same material, collection, style, glaze type, PEI rating, shade-variation rating, certifications, edge and sizes. What separates them:
- Measured off each swatch, Praia Crema reads #E2D9C5 (light, warm) and Praia Carrara reads #9A9C98 (mid-light, essentially neutral), so Praia Crema sits lighter than Praia Carrara on the wall.
What to expect once it is installed
The ratings that decide whether the finished wall matches the sample.
Shade variation: V3 — moderate variation
Moderate variation is where a sample stops telling the whole story. Look at a few pieces, and insist the boxes get shuffled and dry-laid before anything 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
This one carries Greenguard Gold · USGBC/LEED. The Gold tier is the strict one — it is set against the air-quality limits used for classrooms. Useful on a LEED project; irrelevant on most kitchens, but it costs nothing to have.
How it lives — durability & care
How Praia Crema wears, and how it is looked after.
On the independent material scale (1–5, higher is better; not a manufacturer claim), Praia Crema, 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 Praia Crema, 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 Praia Crema: 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 Praia Crema itself, not from its name.
Forget the name for a moment. The swatch measures #E2D9C5 — light and warm — which puts it nearest Cream / Antique White in our pairing data. It reads as a neutral, so it will sit behind whatever else you choose instead of competing with it.
Cabinets
- Sage Green — muted green loves creamy warmth. Against this surface it is a step darker — enough separation to read as two materials solid
Countertop
- Green / Dramatic Veined Stone — dramatic green stone over quiet cream boxes. Against this surface it is much darker than this surface, so the tile reads as the light element current
Island
- Walnut — Cream perimeter cabinets let a walnut island play the furniture piece, and cream forgives the slow amber shift walnut takes on in a sunny room.. Against this surface it is much darker than this surface, so the tile reads as the light element classic
Backsplash
- Terracotta / Clay — Cream cabinets give terracotta tile room to glow instead of shout — the pairing ages like a Marseille farmhouse, better every year the glaze crazes.. Against this surface it is a step darker — enough separation to read as two materials current
Steer away from
- Pure White — cream next to pure white makes the cream look dirty — pick one white family
Similar surfaces
Same family — worth seeing side by side before you commit.
More to compare
Other backsplash tiles that sit close to Praia Crema.
Questions about Praia Crema
Answered from this product’s own spec sheet and our measurement of it.
What size is Praia Crema?
Praia Crema comes in 4 sizes: 12x24 · 24x48 · 3x24 Bull Nose · 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 Praia Crema?
Its maker rates it for flooring. 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?
Praia Crema is rated V3 — moderate variation. Expect visible differences in shade and pattern between pieces. Choose from several, and have the installer dry-lay and shuffle boxes before setting.
Can Praia Crema 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 Praia Crema, really?
We measured its own swatch at #E2D9C5 — light and warm. 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 Praia Crema 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 Praia Crema 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.