Ceramic tile. Now there’s a term for you. When hearing or reviewing it, lots of people think of the highly glazed “bathroom” tiles of years gone by or of attractive ceramic tiles which are utilized to dress up otherwise plain floor tile installations. After all, aren’t there many different sorts of clay floor tiles? Aren’t ceramic floor tiles simply a tiny part of the area?
Actually, no. The term “ceramic tile” covers nearly every clay product created and also made use of within the ceramic tile market. Along with four-and-a-quarter-inch washroom ceramic tiles and colorful “decor,” there are “monocottura” or single-fired floor ceramic tiles, 1-inch as well as 2-inch “mosaic” floor tiles mounted on sheets, double-, three-way-, and also even quadruple-fired tiles embellished in dozens of different ways, and large format porcelain ceramic tiles which are used on floors and also wall surfaces. It is this last group of tiles that we will certainly worry ourselves with below. There is a lot of complication worrying the standing of porcelain floor tiles, most of it created within the tile sector itself.
Sales of floor tiles in the united state as well as Canada have doubled in somewhat over a decade, and also the appeal of tiled floorings remains to enhance at a dramatic price. The rise in tile sales can be attributed to two aspects largely: an established and well-thought-out effort established and also sustained by advertising and marketing and sales pressures within the sector; and also by continuous and also considerable improvements achieved by ceramic tile makers over the past couple of decades. In slightly over twenty years we have actually originated from fairly soft “knob-back” floor ceramic tiles made from terracotta-like clays to extremely dense dust-pressed porcelains that are all but indestructible. Walk into any tile salesroom today, and you will certainly locate mainly porcelain tiles shown.
Ask a ceramic tile salesperson whether porcelain tiles are more powerful and much more durable than ceramic floor tiles as well as in most cases the answer will be of course. But although porcelain floor tiles are indeed strong as well as durable, that solution is basically wrong. As I mentioned above, porcelain tiles ARE ceramic tiles. Porcelain is merely a type of ceramic clay. Porcelain tiles are those which have the lowest absorption prices of all the ceramic floor tiles available. To be classed as “porcelain,” a tile can not take in greater than.5 percent of its complete mass in water. Numerous porcelain ceramic tiles take in less than that– to as low as.1 percent. In the market, these tiles are called “impervious.”.
There is no complication on this matter among installers. We call ourselves ceramic tile setters, not porcelain floor tile setters. It’s simply that as it turns out, the majority of the flooring tiles we install nowadays are made from porcelain.
However the misinformation proceeds. The Porcelain Enamel Institute rates glazed flooring ceramic tiles regarding their resistance to abrasion. Glazed floor tiles are those to which an attractive layer has actually been applied over the clay body of the tile. Lusters are rated 1 through 5 with 5 being the greatest or most sturdy grade. Many, otherwise most, porcelain tiles are not glazed, yet ask your floor tile sales individual about the PEI score of the porcelain tile you are checking out in the display room. It’s very likely you’ll listen to something like, “Oh, this is a quality 5 porcelain tile. You might lay this child in an auto factory.”.
I definitely don’t aim to demean ceramic tile sales individuals. We need them and enjoy them. Without them, we would certainly be out of work. I do wish they’d get themselves a little far better notified, though, so they can better notify the purchasing public about the merits of ALL ceramic floor tiles when you read this news.
