Get Some Glamour With Porcelain Tiles – A Handy Guide
When it comes to choosing tiles for your bathroom – whether on the walls or floors – one of the most popular types is porcelain. The material has been around long enough (centuries actually!) for us to know it’s reliable, durable and looks good too – whether glazed or unglazed.
Hard-wearing porcelain is actually a type of clay that has been fired at extraordinarily high temperatures.
This not only makes it an incredibly thick material but one which is also extremely water-resistant (around 0.05 percent) hence the reason it’s used for external cladding as well as internal – think Spain and Greece where it’s used for fountains, temples, swimming pools, and even tabletops.
Meanwhile, you’ll find your dental veneers or bridge has also been produced from porcelain! The low moisture effect of the tile enables it to withstand freezing temperatures. It’s also robust in terms of not chipping or denting easily which in turn means tiles won’t need frequent replacing so you won’t be continually forking out for replacement pieces.
Porcelain Tile Manufacturing
Today’s big manufacturers of porcelain tiles tend to come from Italy, Spain, China and Turkey with Brazil starting to come through too. Its origins date back to the Tang Dynasty in China around 618 AD. The much later Song Dynasty appreciated it so much it built factories specially to produce cups, plates, vases etc for Chinese royal palaces.
Today Ming porcelain is regarded as the most collectable in the world. Meanwhile, getting back to today, eco-conscience buyers will appreciate the 100 per cent recycling content of porcelain and the fact that it comes to us via a range of natural substances (100 per cent white clay in the main)
Non-Porcelain Ceramic Tiles
Ceramic tiles are made from red, brown or white clay, are kiln-fired and far softer than porcelain tiles which makes them easier to cut. However, they are nowhere near as robust and do absorb water so best not used outdoors. They’re also prone to getting cracks or chips.
An even bigger distinction is in terms of the colour. In porcelain this runs throughout the tile (and why it’s known as a full-body tile). With ceramic it’s baked onto the top of the tile.
Laying Porcelain Tiles
Now, much as we would suggest you find yourself a professional and experienced bathroom fitter to install your new bathroom (and tiling) we know that there are a lot of DIY fans out there so here are a few pointers for laying fitting your tiles.
The type of adhesive applied to the tiles depends on what they will ultimately be used for.
For instance, tiles for a shower will obviously need waterproof glue while those being put down on a floor will require a flexible adhesive specially designed for floors. To cut porcelain tiles a more advanced diamond wheel cutting machine would be used, because porcelain is a lot tougher than ceramic it will always take a good bit longer to cut ( diamond cutting machines also work best with textured tiles such as granite or marble).
If drilling through the tiles then a diamond coated drill or hole saw is recommended as they’re tougher When it comes to finishing your work of tiling art, all that’s required is a bit of tight grouting to ensure no water gets in. So, as you can see from the above choosing a particular porcelain tile isn’t a matter of just going to your local hardware store and picking up a few boxes.
This is a relatively expensive tile so you don’t want to be making any mistakes. At My Beautiful Bathroom we’re always here to give advice and provide a full design service.
Feel free to give us a call on 0141 771 3640 and tell us what you’re considering.
We’ll let you know if you’re on the right lines,
Thanks – The My Beautiful Bathroom Team