Tiles are trendy and fashionable decoration material in India because they have many advantages.
Pavit is a reputed floor tiles manufacturer & supplier company in India. We provide excellent variety of indoor and outdoor best floor tiles.
Due to its popularity and ease of use, it sometimes makes us subjective when it comes to choosing designs and designs.
In terms of architecture in general and the use of encaustic cement tiles in particular, they have some design rules that we must keep in mind.
Here are some notes; let’s see if they help you improve the space.
1) Avoid using oversized bathroom tiles.
If your bathroom is not very large, you should use encaustic cement tiles 8mm or less.
The first reason is how to achieve a beautiful relationship between the size of the tiles and the area of the bathroom. Using large tiles in a bathroom is less pleasing to the eye than small tiles.
The second no less important reason is the construction problem. In a bathroom with a lot of appliances like toilets, pipes, sinks then the use of large cement tiles makes construction difficult.
In addition to the complexity of the assembly, the fact that the tiles are cut a lot according to the location of the equipment seems very unappealing. Using a small size encaustic cement will limit this, giving your bathroom a much more beautiful look.
2) Think carefully before using kitchen countertop tiles.
Kitchen countertops that use encaustic tiles for decoration can be a unique and inexpensive option. However, this also comes at the cost of several things.
An uneven kitchen surface with grout joints is not an option for some people who cook regularly.
Not to mention, there are too many grout joints on the countertop, making them easier to stain and harder to clean. The best options for a kitchen countertop should remain natural or artificial stones with a monolithic flat surface.
If you still want to put an accent on the tiles, decorate your kitchen. A more natural solution is to use only cement tiles on the kitchen wall or around the kitchen counter.
3) Do not choose the colour of the tiles to match the furniture.
It seems counterintuitive when many homeowners opt for finishing materials. But remember.
Items like fabric curtains, furniture, and wall paints are temporary and easily replaceable, while a tile floor is believed to be least likely to change.
Then do the opposite: select the foreground tiles, and then select furniture that matches the colour of the tile.
4) Be careful when using tiles of different colours.
Unlike other spaces that require dynamism or comfort, kitchens and bathrooms require cleanliness and order.
Using encaustic cement tiles in a variety of patterns and colours for these two spaces will be confusing and challenging to recognize soiled areas so they can be cleaned right away.
For tiles, it is recommended to use a neutral and minimal colour (2-3 colours or less). At this stage, we can use coloured encaustic cement tiles in various places on this neutral tile to create accents.
5) The contour of the mortar is also a design element.
Many people overlook this. Mortar strings are also an essential factor in the design of ceramic tiles, which can be very useful.
We can completely change the colour of the grout to make a difference. In addition to the outline of the white cement grout, we can use ordinary grout to level the cement tile.
Or more accurately, use a mixture of white grout, white sand, and colour additives to customize the colour of the grout. This is a bit tricky; homeowners should check with architects for the best mortar and tile colour scheme.
6) The encaustic cement tile must also be waterproof.
Cement stone decorative tiles coated with waterproofing or natural polished glazed porcelain tiles are not 100% waterproof.
The surface of the tile may have been covered with waterproof chemicals, but water and moisture can still seep through the grout.
Therefore, after the completion of construction and installation, it is necessary to apply waterproofing both on the surface of the tiles and at the joints of the mortar. However, this is not so common in India.
The proposed solution is to replace the loop solution with silicone tile adhesive. The silicone adhesive is waterproof and has a perfect adhesion effect.
7) Use the glue where it can expand
Of course, we usually use 100% mortar to cover the tiles. However, mortar is a hard and poorly expandable material that can crack when in contact with other expandable material.
For example, at the point of contact between a hot water pipe and a wall tile, the grout circuit can be broken when the metal pipe is thermally expanded. In these positions, it is possible to replace the mortar with silicone glue, which has a higher melting point than water, so we do not have to worry about it melting in this case.
In some places below, silicone floor glue should also be used instead of regular mortar:
Where does encaustic tile come into contact with furniture?
Cement-cement tile intersection points in corners
Where the pipe runs through the encaustic cement tile
Every 5 m of length or approximately 5 m2 around the circumference we replace the silicone glue instead of the mortar.