Compare
Porcelain wall panels vs. tile
Touchstone™ and tile are the same class of material — real fired porcelain — so they look and wear alike. The difference is how the wall gets built. A tiled surround is assembled in the field over 3 to 5 or more days across several wet trades. Touchstone installs in a single day, with no thinset, grout, or wet trades.
Side by side
| Touchstone | Custom tile | |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Real 6mm porcelain | Porcelain or ceramic tile |
| Install time | One day | 3 to 5+ days |
| Labor | One installer, mechanical attachment | Several wet trades — waterproofing, setting, grout, seal |
| Grout lines | None | A grid of grout joints to seal and maintain |
| Consistency | Factory-bonded and dimensional | Depends on the crew and site conditions |
| Water management | Engineered track-and-panel system | Field-built membrane and thinset |
Where Touchstone wins
- Installs in a day, not a week
- No grout lines to seal, stain, or maintain
- Real porcelain — the same material class as premium tile
- A factory-consistent result instead of one that rides on the crew
The one tradeoff
The one thing tile still does that Touchstone can't is fully custom geometry — mosaics, curves, and odd angles a panel kit isn't cut for.
Common questions
Yes. Touchstone's face is real 6mm vitrified porcelain, the same material class as premium porcelain tile. The difference is the format and the installation, not the material.
Touchstone looks like large-format porcelain, with far fewer seams and no grout lines. Most people read it as high-end stone or oversized slab tile.
Both are hard, water-resistant fired porcelain. The most common failure point in a tiled shower is the grout and the field-built waterproofing, and Touchstone removes both.
The material is comparable in cost to a quality tile job. The savings come from labor and time — a one-day install with Touchstone versus several days of skilled wet trades.
The system
See the Touchstone porcelain wall panel system.
Real 6mm porcelain on a patented mechanical track. A full shower surround installs in a day, with no thinset, grout, or wet trades.