A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing
material such as ceramic, stone,
metal, or even glass.
Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors,
and walls,
or other objects such as tabletops. Another category are
the ceiling tiles,
made from lightweight materials such as perlite, wood,
and mineral
wool. The word is derived from the French word tuile,
which is, in turn, from the Latin word tegula,
meaning a roof tile composed of baked clay.
Tiles are often used to form wall and floor coverings,
and can range from simple square tiles to complex mosaics.
Tiles are most often made from ceramic,
with a hard glaze finish,
but other materials are also commonly used, such as glass, marble, granite, slate,
and reformed ceramic slurry, which is cast in a mould and
fired.
In the past twenty years, the technology surrounding porcelain
tile and glass
tiles has become more efficient, allowing more mass
production. Similarly, the invention of automated tile
lines that use diamonds to cut and finish stone slabs into
tiles has made stone tiles more available. This has allowed
these tiles to move from being niche items into broader
markets.
These are commonly made of ceramic or stone, although
recent technological advances have resulted in glass
tiles for floors as well. Ceramic tiles may be painted
and glazed. Small mosaic tiles
may be laid in various patterns. Floor tiles are typically
set into mortar consisting
of sand, cement and
often a latex additive
for extra adhesion. The spaces between the tiles are nowadays
filled with sanded or unsanded floor grout,
but traditionally mortar was used.
Natural stone tiles can be especially beautiful. However,
as a natural product they are a little less uniform in
color and pattern and require more planning for use and
installation. Since stone tiles are mass-produced, they
have very uniform width and length dimensions. Stone tiles
such as those of granite or marble are sawn on both sides
and then polished or finished on the facing up side, so
that they have a uniform thickness. Other natural stone
tiles such as slate are typically "riven" (split)
on the facing up side so that the thickness of the tile
varies slightly from one spot on the tile to another and
from one tile to another. Variations in tile thickness
can be handled by adjusting the amount of mortar under
each part of the tile, by using wide grout lines that "ramp" between
different thicknesses.
Some stone tiles such as polished granite and marble are
inherently very slippery when wet. Stone tiles with a riven
(split) surface such as slate or with a sawn and then sandblasted
or honed surface will be more slip resistant. Ceramic tile
for use in wet areas can be made more slip resistant either
by using very small tiles so that the grout lines acts
as grooves or by imprinting a contour pattern onto the
face of the tile.
The hardness of natural stone tiles varies such that some
of the softer stone (e.g. limestone) tiles are not suitable
for very heavy traffic floor areas. On the other hand,
ceramic tiles typically have a glazed upper surface and
when that become scratched or pitted the floor looks worn,
whereas the same amount of wear on natural stone tiles
won't show, or will be less noticeable.
Natural stone tiles can be stained by spilled liquids;
they must be sealed and periodically resealed with a sealant
in contrast to ceramic tiles which only need their grout
lines sealed. However, because of the complex, non repeating
patterns in natural stone, small amounts of dirt on many
natural stone floor tiles do not show.
Most vendors of stone tiles emphasize that there will be
variation in color and pattern from one batch of tiles
to another of the same description and variation within
the same batch.
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