Tile is a robust, user-friendly and affordable finishing material with a wide range of colours and textures. The properties of various kinds of tile define their applications.
Materials and production techniques
Bicottura is a large-size thin twice-baked tile made from enamelled red clay. Quick-laying, smooth and glossy, it has a great range of colours. Bicottura is a wall finish material, and moist-proof enamel coating makes it applicable to bathrooms and kitchens.
Monocottura is a red clay or white clay once-baked tile made under higher pressure, applicable to floor and walls, as well as outdoor applications due to freezing resistance properties. Thicker than bicottura, monocottura is more durable.
Porcelain stoneware/gres tile is a pressed clay tile with added pigment which makes the product tinted through the entire thickness. Durable, waterproof, eco-friendly, chemical resistant tile, it is suitable for bothindoor and outdoor applications in high-traffic areas. Due to the large weight, it is difficult to lay, and also expensive.
Cotto is an extruded tile made of the mixture of red clay, pumice and pigments. Its porous rough surface makes it suitable for low-traffic areas. The colour range is limited to the shades of brown.
Cottoforte is a twice-baked smooth enamelled clay tile with low water absorption, applicable to indoor floors.
Clinker tile/clinker is made of highly plastic slate clay without additives. It is the most environmentally friendly tile with excellent properties: moisture resistance, large thickness, high durability, resistance to temperature fluctuations and chemicals. It is used for outdoor and indoor decoration, for cladding of walls, floors, skirts, drains.
Majolica is one of the most beautiful and expensive types of tiles, consisting of red clay and ornamented with printed pattern and glaze. The high rate of water absorption makes it inapplicable to outdoor applications. Indoors, it is used to line fireplaces, walls, kitchen aprons, and to create decorative panels.
Appearance and texture
- Glossy/glazed tiles
- Matte tiles
- Polished tiles
- Semi polished tiles
- Textured tiles imitating other materials (wood, textile, metal, leather, stone)
Wear and abrasion resistance rating
PEI I: products suitable only for walls and floors in low-traffic areas with low dirt pickup (bedrooms, bathrooms)
PEI II: products for medium-traffic rooms (home offices, living rooms)
PEI III: products for medium- and high-traffic rooms and medium dirt pickup (kitchens, staircases, balconies, halls, small offices)
PEI IV: products for high-traffic areas (large offices, retail outlets, restaurants)
PEI V: the highest wear/abrasion resistance rating; PEI V tiles can be used for the areas with the most intensive traffic.
Water absorption (porosity index)
Less than 3%: the tile absorbs little water and can withstand low temperatures, is applicable to the floors at open decks, verandas, exterior walls
3% to 10%: uncommon choice for outdoor applications; mostly used for indoor walls and floors, including in the rooms with higher moisture formation (bathrooms, lavatories, kitchens)
Higher than 10%: only for indoor applications
Anti-slip rating
- R 9: suitable for auxiliary and service areas (halls, entrance vestibules, retail outlets)
- R 10: suitable for public areas (service shops, warehouses, garages)
- R 11: suitable for high-humidity and high-dirt-pickup areas (laundries, water bottling rooms, washrooms, automobile service shops)
- R 12: suitable for cold rooms
- R 13: suitable for food processing rooms
There are three varieties of the Dutch tiles, first class to third class, differing by the acceptable defect rate per batch. Besides, ceramic tiles can be of whatever size and shape.
