What is a Tile?

What is a Tile?

Tile is from the Latin tessella and tiling is called a tessellation. That’s how passionate we are about tiles!

Tile is a building material known for its durability, moisture resistance, and low maintenance requirements.

It is often used in kitchens and bathrooms but is very versatile and can be used in a wide variety of applications, such as countertops, backsplashes and decorative wall coverings.

What is a Vitrified Tile?

Vitrified tile is a ceramic tile with very low porosity.

It is an alternative to marble and granite flooring.

Vitrified tiles are often used outdoors due to their water and frost resistance. There are four types of Vitrified tiles – Soluble salt, Double charge, Full Body, Glazed.

  • Soluble salt vitrified tiles are screen printed and polished.
  • Double charge vitrified tiles are fed through a press that prints the pattern with a double layer of pigment, 3 to 4 mm thicker than other types of tile. This process does not permit complex patterns but results in a long-wearing tile surface, suitable for heavy traffic commercial projects. Design layer should not be more than 4mm thickness, which may weaken the strength of the tile.
  • Full body vitrified tiles have pigment in entire body (thickness) of the tile. This makes chips and scratches less noticeable and make this an ideal choice for high traffic zones, but the process significantly increases the cost.
  • Glazed vitrified tiles (GVT) have a glazed surface. They offer a wide variety of design, art work and surface textures like wood grain, bamboo, slate or stone. This is also an expensive process, but the cost is dropping as digital printing techniques are introduced

What is Lappato?

Lappato is an Italian word for semi polished and they certainly have a look of their own. The amount of polish varies depending on the overall look of the tile.

Most lappato tiles are easy to identify as they have two depths.

One level is normally shiny and reflects light, the other level is matt or even course by feel.

This makes for a tile that both reflects light with some anti-slip properties. This delivers a surface that feels the same as a polished surface with less shine creating what we call a Honed look.

Is the kitchen the most important room of the home?

 By Jessica 

I wrote two articles recently Are Dining Rooms Becoming Obsolete and  How Science, Art and Technology Are Creating the Kitchen of the Future, which led me to question whether the kitchen may now be the most important room of the home. I discussed this with decorators, kitchen designers, architects, realtors, editors and friends both in and out of the design business to hear their thoughts. Continue reading

Bathroom Trends

Bathroom Trends

Here is an article from The LuxPad for the Top 6 Bathroom Tile Trends. We have absolutely fallen in love with the Mermaid Scale Tiles!

We completely agree with this article as we are completing a lot of jobs with subway tiles laid in different ways – Herringbone, Vertical, Horizontal for different effects. We are also seeing a lot of beautifully patterned floors in strong shapes and colours. We are loving all of this!

What are the 2020 Trends?

Wood-Look Tile is Here to Stay

We can confirm that it is the largest selling category in the tile industry right now. We are being asked more and more if we are experienced in laying these, as they are not cheap, but we have to admit – LOOK AMAZING!

It looks more authentic than ever and offers unmatched durability.  As far as design and style, wood-look goes with everything from rustic to the cleanest contemporary.

Subway Tiles

These tiles were introduced over hundred years ago but subway tile’s popularity has proven to be timeless.

Who knew that when the New York City Subway System opened in 1904 that much of the rectangular ceramic tile featured in the design would one day become a popular tile that can be put everywhere? And believe us, we have put it everywhere!

We can thank architects George C. Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge who were hired to work on the subway. They came up with the idea and chose the tile thanks in part to its versatility, durability and easy to clean characteristics.

Seamless Outdoor-Indoor Living

This are the trend for indoor-to-outdoor transitional living is continuing to grow and gives a sense of continuation and clean lines.

Tiled Kitchen Backsplash

These tiles were very popular last year and the masonry trend is just going to grow. We have seen some amazing interpretations on tile sizes and shapes in different looks like wood or concrete. Italian craft cementine makes a great option for trendy commercial and retail spaces.

Metal & Textile

Looks and finishes are big news for 2017. Metal has been growing as a favourite with colour offerings getting better and better! Thing gun metal and pewter rather than just stainless in matte or light polishes.

Metal-look tile offers styles that you can’t get anywhere else when mixed with the industrial commercial look.

Wall Tiles

They are still huge! We love the feature walls, accent walls, and tile on the walls in general!

Go with Bold colours, especially blue, with rich textures and you won’t go wrong. We are seeing more and more 3D tiles for walls which have included geometric shapes that pop off the wall, natural leaf shapes that add Zen, and linear structures that are more than just visual will be the big thing on the walls this year.

Tile on the wall will get bigger, literally. From large-format 8 x 24, 12 x 24, and even including 24 x 48 tiles to 70 inch porcelain slabs, we love using big tile on walls and floors. Textile-look tile includes Linens, Tweeds, Tartans, and Patterns. You’ll see these in concrete and stone mashups too.