Choosing the right ceramic tile to buy

Ceramic Tile Selection

Selecting the proper type of ceramic tile for your project is probably the most important installation decision you will make. Here are some tips to help you in your purchase:

• Try to to buy consistently sized tiles, a good tile retailer should be able to give you some guidance on which manufacturer and tile range to use. Ceramic tiles are fired in a kiln and then cooled at varying degrees of temperature and humidity. This expansion and contraction can cause the tiles to vary in size, sometimes by as 5mm or more. Most ceramic tiles on the market will have some variation in size but accept nothing more than an 2mm margin of difference.
• Make sure the ceramic tiles you purchase are of the same "Lot" and "Shade". This will ensure that your flooring was made in the same production batch.
• Unless you plan to purchase a high quality wet saw you should refrain from using fully vitrified porcelain tiles for interior installations. Fully vitrified porcelain tiles are very difficult to cut with accuracy with a tile cutter and this means every cut you make would be with your tile saw.
• Select a ceramic tile that is relatively smooth and has straight, flush edges. This will make your grouting job a whole lot easier.
• For ease of installation use 10cm x 10cm or smaller sized tiles on walls and countertops. Another even easier option would be to use Mosaic tiles where you can almost avoid the need to cut tiles altogether by just cutting through the backing fabric. For floors use 33cm x 33cm or smaller tiles.
• Ceramic tiles with bright reflective surfaces (bright glaze finish) are not recommended for floors as they can pose a slip hazard and they will probably have poor abrasive resistance.

PEI Ratings

Although there are no industry standards, most ceramic tiles are rated for use by the Porcelain Enamel Institute (PEI) abrasion test.

• PEI 1 - No Foot Traffic:
  Ceramic tile suggested for interior residential and commercial wall applications only.
• PEI 2 - Light Traffic:
  Ceramic tile suggested for interior residential and commercial wall applications and for residential bathroom floor applications only.
• PEI 3 - Light to Moderate Traffic:
  Ceramic tile suggested for residential floor, countertop, and wall applications.
• PEI 4 - Moderate to Heavy Traffic:
  Ceramic tile suggested for residential, medium commercial and light institutional floor and wall applications.
• PEI 5+ - Heavy to Extra Heavy Traffic:
  Ceramic tile suggested for residential, commercial and institutional floor and wall applications subjected to heavy to extra heavy traffic.

Acceptable Outdoor Tile Types

Ceramic tile installed in exterior locations must be able to withstand freeze/thaw conditions meaning they should have an absorption rating of 3% or less. These types of tiles are usually very dense, have greater impact resistance, and increased breaking strength. Install them using a premium quality, latex modified adhesive.

• Vitrified, ceramic tiles having an absorption rating between 0.5 - 3%.
• Impervious (Porcelain), ceramic tiles having an absorption rating between 0.0 - 0.5%.

If price is a factor in your decision to purchase your ceramic tiles then you can do no better than to visit the online tile store at: http://www.tileandtoolstore.com/ for whilst the range of tiles is still limited, quality is high as stock is all imported directly from the new Pamesa Ceramica factory in Brazil.

The best marble tiles in the World

Where The Best Marble Tiles Can Be Found
by: Vanessa Doctor

Marble is considered a metamorphic limestone. It is largely grained and comes in many unique colours and patterns, and is formed from limestone by heat and pressure over the years in the earth's crust. These natural forces cause the limestone to change and vary in texture and appearance. This natural process is called recrystallization.

Materials fossilized in the limestone, along with its original minerals, recrystallize and form large, coarse grains of calcite. Pure white marble results from the metamorphism of pure limestones. The characteristic swirls and hues of many coloured marble types are usually caused by various impurities such as clay, silt, sand, iron oxides, or chert which were originally present as grains or layers in the limestone.

The green coloration is mostly due to serpentine resulting from originally high magnesium limestone or dolostone with silica impurities.

Marbles vary in colour from blurry, milky-white to gray and black, and some varieties have some shades of red, yellow, pink, green, or buff.

The colours, which are mainly caused by the presence of a number impurities, are mostly arranged in bands or patches and add to the beauty of the stone when it is cut and polished. Like all limestones, it is corroded by water and acid fumes and is thus an uneconomical material for use in exposed places and in large cities.

The presence of certain impurities decreases its durability. marble does not split easily into sheets or blocks of equal size and must be mined with care.

The rock may shatter if explosives are used for mining. Blocks of marble are mined and extracted with channeling machines, which cut grooves and holes in the rock. Miners outline a block of marble with rows of grooves and holes.

They then drive wedges into the openings and separate the block from the surrounding rock. The blocks are then cut with saws to the desired shape and size of the block.

Marble was commonly utilized by the ancient Persians, Greeks, Indians and Chinese. Italian artist Michelangelo used marble from Carrara, Italy in a number of sculptures and statues. marble is used in creating statues, buildings, tomb stones, floor tiles, sinks and countertops.

It is soft and is easy to carve or cut into shapes, making it the preferable choice for making statues.

Marble is mined in mountain areas using the quarrying method. It is found in Canada, Italy, Germany, Spain, India and China . Marbles are mined, or quarried, in all parts of the world. The best stocks of marbles in the United States come from the state of Vermont, which extracts large quantities. Other states important as marble producers are Massachusetts, Maryland, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, California, Colorado, and Arizona.

Marble could be found almost anywhere in the world. Most marbles are named after the quarries where they are historically found. Some of the more famous quarry locations are listed below.
- Black marble from Kilkenny, Ireland
- Macael from Spain
- Makrana from India
- Vietnam White from Vietnam
- Llano Pink from Central Texas
- Boticena and Onyx(Green) from Pakistan
- Danby from Vermont
- Yule from Colorado
- Royal White from China
- Beijing White from China
- Durango marble from Coyote Quarry, Mexico

About The Author

Vanessa Arellano Doctor
http://marble-tile.xon.us