Types of tiles
We briefly covered vitrified tiles here on House to Home on 6th September. Today we would just touch upon the various other types of flooring material that is available in the market today for your consideration.
Image Courtesy : Nitco India
Broadly categorizing we have the following types of floors:
Ceramic Tiles
The word ‘ceramic’ comes from the greek word ‘keramos’ meaning pottery, it is related to an old sanskrit root meaning ‘to burn’ but was primarily used to mean ‘burnt stuff’. These are made from clay or a mixture of organic materials, ceramic tile is finished by kiln firing. They are available in many shapes and sizes and are sold in glazed or unglazed fashion. For floors, tiles are set in a cement or mortar type mixture.
Vitrified Tiles
Vitrified tile is a tile which has been processed in such a way that it has very low porosity (and water absorption) which make it stain resistant and very strong. You can read more about this article here.
Mosaic Floor
This type of flooring involves embedding small pieces of colored glass, stone, or ceramic tile called tessera in a background material such as plaster or mortar. The resulting finish is unique and a variety of designs can be created.
Most conventional apartments use grey or white mosaic. These are relatively inexpensive. More affluent variety of mosaic is also available in the market for the deserving people.
You can read more about Mosaic Tiles in the wiki article.
Marble Floor
Marble is metamorphosed limestone, composed of fairly pure calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications which includes flooring.
Marble has a relatively lower abrasion resistance compared to artificial floors. It is calcium carbonate which is strongly attached by Hydrochloric acid which is commonly used in toilet & floor cleaning. It yellows over extended time duration whereas man made tiles tend to retain their colour for decades.
You can read more about marbles in the wiki article.
Granite Floor
A common igneous rock composed of quartz, orthoclase, and hornblende, often accompanied by pyroxene or mica. It is called granite because of the granular surface. Granite is frequently used for buildings and monuments. It is a popular choice for not only flooring but also for countertops in kitchen and shelves.
Compared to marble, it is relatively inexpensive.
You can read more about granites in the wiki article.
Concrete/Cement Floor
The title should make it pretty straightforward. Sudarsan covered some points in his article related to pathway flooring on 30th August. Today you can purchase ready made blocks which are ready to be laid in your home or the exteriors.
Some additional and interesting information on tiles can be found here
Hope you found this post informative….
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[...] have written about flooring materials before. At that time though, we covered only those materials that were widely used in the Indian [...]
what is difference between Vitrified tiles and Spartek tiles?
which tile is better duing cold season Vitrified or Spartek?
what is difference between Vitrified tiles and Spartek tiles?
Which tiles are less cold during winter time?
Can ceramic tiles used in walls & floors both.
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I was aware about this already, however there are a few helpful pieces that finished the picture to me, thanks a lot!