Ceramic tiles occupy one of the leading positions among materials for decorating functional areas in an apartment. In modern interiors, it is used literally everywhere: kitchens and bathrooms, living rooms, hallways and even bedrooms are decorated with tiles.
Ceramic tiles have undergone a significant transformation in recent years. Manufacturers in new collections offer options with imitation textures of metal, granite, natural stone, wood and even with a 3D effect. ReRooms will show you which tiles are in fashion in 2022 and how they can be used to create interesting interiors.
Advantages
Large tiles have many advantages:
- Maximum environmental friendliness: the tiles are completely safe for human health and do not harm the environment. It does not emit harmful substances and does not cause allergies.
- Long service life: if all the rules were taken into account when selecting a special glue and the correct conditions of use, the tiles can last a very long time, which can last for decades.
- High decorative qualities: porcelain stoneware facing material can embody any design ideas. The tile always looks very expensive and does not lose its appearance throughout its entire service life.
- Fire resistance: Ceramic tiles are those materials that do not burn, do not melt, and cannot be a source or material that supports combustion. In this regard, it can be used in fireplace and boiler rooms.
- Resistance to chemicals: tiled floors and walls can easily withstand the aggressive effects of various chemicals, which include detergents. True, it is worth considering the degree of class when choosing: D – does not have strong stability, AA – is the most stable.
- Good electrical insulation qualities: tile material is not a conductor of electricity.
- It perfectly resists the effects of many contaminants: the tile does not absorb any kind of dyes, does not accumulate dust, and is easy to care for and simply wash.
In connection with all of the above, we can conclude that ceramic tiles have many positive qualities. All remaining questions can be answered in the video below.
Standard sizes
With a variety of floor covering parameters, there are standard parameters. This option is considered to be a square tile with a side of 300 mm. The following parameters in millimeters are considered standard:
- Square: 48x48, 100x100, 150x150, 200x200, 250x250;
- Rectangular: 100x1200, 150x300, 200x300;
- Pentagonal: 86.5x150, 98x170, 115x200;
- Hexagon: 150x173, 200x230;
- Triangular: 58x83, 83x118, 98x139.
Most often, buyers purchase standard tiles for installation, since this shape and parameter is suitable for most interior options.
Multifaceted tile formats
Large size floor tiles
The floor is made of tiles or porcelain stoneware. Tile is a more familiar material for everyone, but porcelain stoneware is not entirely familiar to the modern consumer. This type of material is made from clay and is much thicker, making it more durable and wear-resistant, and can also be used to make larger tiles. Most often, such tiles are used in public places: shopping centers, hotels, offices, etc. Modern builders also use it to finish walls and floors in rooms with high humidity.
Laying tiles on the floor requires compliance with certain rules. The first of them is that the material must be selected according to size. The more accurate the size, the better. The fact is that cutting and adjusting can damage the tiles and make them unsuitable for installation, as chips will appear on them and their appearance will be lost.
To choose the right size of tile, you should first accurately determine its layout.
Large floor tiles are laid:
- diagonally;
- brickwork;
- directly.
In order to make the composition more attractive and each meter corresponds to the intended design, many experts use a variety of decorative inserts or panels. Some manufacturers offer entire sets that consist of tiles of different sizes, which allows you to create an interesting pattern or ornament. Before purchasing finishing material, it is best to first make a virtual layout of it, this will help save money and time.
Large-sized floor tiles provide maximum protection against fungus, against injury from the edges of tiles at the junction of tiles and create unique interior solutions
It is worth knowing that the size of the tile most often has deviations in the declared data, that is, it is not always accurate. This depends on the characteristics of its production. When fired, clay can behave differently and therefore it is almost impossible to maintain the most accurate parameters; most often they are approximate. To ensure that the tiles lie harmoniously and deviations are unnoticeable, there is such a thing as seams that are filled with grout (special composition).
It is no coincidence that we are attaching this photo; large-sized ceramic tiles must be laid using SVP and, of course, by experienced craftsmen who understand and know how to prepare the surface before laying
Choice of shades and colors
To understand how to choose tiles for a small bathroom, it is important to know the rules for combining colors and their visual perception by a person. Light colors always create the illusion of expanding space. The lightest colors bring a feeling of spaciousness and freedom. Bright shades – colorfulness and variety. If the room is small, you don’t need to stick to monotony. Of course, the Scandinavian style of the bathroom interior may require sticking exclusively to white, and high-tech steel gray. But they can always be diluted with small details of other shades - a black stripe, panel edging, cornice or vertical stripes (in case of low ceilings).
Selection by size
Before deciding which tile to choose for a small bathroom according to its size, it is important to remember several rules for perceiving shapes and sizes:
- Wide and large tiles create a feeling of bulkiness, heaviness and oppression.
- Medium and small tiles are preferable to large ones due to prominent seams.
- The laying methods are important - solid, in stripes for equilateral geometric shapes (squares), vertically or horizontally for scalene shapes (rectangular).
Frequent seams between small tiles look like a single ensemble, creating a harmonious background for filling the interior. Rare seams of large tiles stand out and spoil the aesthetics of the appearance of the room. The optimal sizes of tiles for a small bathroom for light shades are 100x100 mm, 200x200 mm. To visually raise the height of the ceiling, use rectangular tiles - 200x300 mm, laid vertically. It is also used to expand a narrow space by laying it horizontally.
A wall panel made of tiles imitating wood cuts was used, the seams matched the tone of the tiles Source st22.stblizko.ru
Large size tiles for walls
Large ceramic tiles require a special adhesive composition, as their weight is quite large. It is also worth considering that gluing such tiles to a crooked or untreated wall is not recommended, as this can end in disaster.
If the room is not large, then you should not use large tiles. This material is more suitable for swimming pools, large bathrooms, shopping centers, shops, cottages and private homes. There are design options when small tiles can be combined with large ones. It looks very nice and modern.
If you want to visually expand the room, you can use large rectangular tiles that are laid horizontally. You can also lay out the material in the form of entire compositions that will create a special atmosphere.
Wall tiles must have high levels of moisture resistance and hydrophobicity. That is, the material must tolerate wet rooms well and absorb water. Also, the tiles must be resistant to the aggressive effects of synthetic detergents.
Wall tiles are:
- Glossy. This material requires special care, as plaque and stains may remain on it. But such tiles are very smooth and perfectly reflect directional light;
- Matte. This material is easy to care for and gives the room coziness and expressiveness;
- Embossed. Such material can have any surface on which a drawing, pattern, or ornament is applied.
Wall type tiles can have a universal and straight edge shape. Straight-edged material is laid using plastic crosses, which are designed to fix the joint width. The universal edge is laid end-to-end by specialists.
If your wall should be decorated with tiles, then when choosing, you should pay attention to the following factors:
- Resistant to temperature changes. This criterion especially applies to the bathroom, since here very often heat can alternate with relative coolness;
- Quality of material. The tile must be free of chips, cracks and other defects;
- Strength. When choosing a material for cladding, it is worth considering how resistant it is to various chemical elements and mechanical damage from the outside;
- Dimensions. This parameter will help you calculate exactly how much material will be needed depending on the size of the room and the designer’s ideas.
Large sized wall tiles are used for tiling bathrooms, cabinets, terraces, offices, living rooms, shops and much more.
The large tiles in this photo clearly demonstrate how to achieve maximum simplicity in the interior. This would not have happened with a smaller size...
Main characteristics of porcelain stoneware
There are no strict requirements for porcelain stoneware at the federal level, but at the same time, each manufacturer issues a quality passport for its products. This document describes the following product characteristics and features:
- Product thickness. As a rule, to ensure strength, the minimum permissible tile thickness is taken from 8.0 – 8.5 mm or more, without taking into account the existence of a special series of ultra-thin tiles with a limited scope.
- The hardness of products is on an international scale from 1 to 10; porcelain stoneware is assessed based on test results at 7–8 points.
- The wear resistance of the tile depends on the material of the front surface and the processing method. There are 5 categories of strength of this material - from PEI I (at least 150 reference roller passes on the surface, without the formation of visible defects) to PEI V (from 12 thousand or more roller passes).
Product with wear resistance index PEI V
- The friction coefficient is one of the most important characteristics on which the possibility of using products on the floor surface and the safety of its operation depend. The most commonly used method for determining this parameter is called DIN 51097, according to which the tiles are assigned classes A (slippery), B (moderate), C (high level of safety).
Material class C, according to classification, DIN 51097
- Water absorption of the structure of the stone material, this parameter depends on the density and porosity of the material. Most often, the manufacturer focuses on achieving a water absorption index of no more than 0.01% - 0.05%.
- Chemical Resistance – Each plant strives to produce products that are resistant to all types of known chlorine, acid and alkaline components.
- Durability - an indicator characterized by the ability of a product to maintain its original appearance and surface quality over time, subject to exposure to ultraviolet radiation and other aggressive environmental factors. This parameter is calculated based on international standards DIN 51094, according to which there are 5 types of changes in the appearance of products (AA, A, B, C, D). AA is the most reliable porcelain stoneware, and class D indicates a rapid loss of appearance.
- Resistance to contamination - the manufacturer tries to develop and implement its own technologies that simultaneously meet the safety requirements of operation and ease of surface cleaning.
AA class products
The most important parameter on which the strength of the screed, the level of the finished floor and other important indicators depends, is the thickness of the porcelain tiles. Below are detailed descriptions, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of all existing product parameters according to this criterion.
