What types of tiles are there ?
Ceramic tiles can be glazed or unglazed. Glazed
tiles are available plain or decorated and can be used on walls and
floors.
Unglazed ceramic floor tiles are more suited to
commercial and industrial settings, but can be used in laundries and
utility rooms. They are available with a non-slip profile.
Porcelain tiles are ceramic tiles, but with a very
low absorbency. They are usually made from kaolin clays, feldspar,
silica and colouring oxides and are fired at about 1200 C. Porcelain
tiles are hard wearing and can be used on walls or floors.
Porcelain / Fully Vitrified Tiles
Fully vitrified tiles which can either be unglazed or glazed
characterised by the tile's low water absorption below 0.5% (BIa)
Porcelain tiles are normally dry pressed using a body made from
Kaolin clays, feldspar, silica and colouring oxides fired to around
1200 degrees.
Full body porcelain / Fully Vitrified Tiles and
double loading tiles
Full body porcelain tile section
Viewing the broken side of a double loading tile, you
will see from the top surface to the bottom, they are the same
material, on the other hand, you will fine different layers on
broken side of single loading tile.
Vitrified and Semi-Vitrified Tiles
Tiles, which can either be unglazed or glazed. Tiles in this
category can be either dry pressed or extruded and have water
absorption of between 0.5 to 3% (vitrified) Class BIb – dry pressed,
and 3% to 6% (semi-vitrified), Class BIIa – dry pressed.
Mosaics are very small tiles, usually less than
100 cm2. Mosaics can be glazed or unglazed and made from porcelain,
ceramic, glass or natural stone.
Quarry tiles * are made from natural clay,
squeezed through an extruding machine, and then fired. They are
mostly available in terracotta, black and white colours.
Terracotta tiles * are also made from local
clays. Terracotta means "cooked earth" and these products tend to be
very absorbent, so need sealing when used on the floor.
Natural stone products *; limestone, marble,
granite and slate are quarried from the earth. Some are extremely
hard, and some quite soft. Some may need sealing
* not exported by Geoffering Ltd
Nota about nomenclature we use in
China
''Full body''
means when you break the tile, you will see the materials used are
completely same in the surface and the body. Means the design is
inside the tile body, the design on the surface looks more beautiful
because we polished it.
“Polish” is
used in talking about the floor tile and “Shinny” is used in wall
tile. Polished means a production procedure but “Shinny” is only a
word to say the appearance of wall tile surface.
Our
wall tiles are all glazed but nothing concerns about polish. There
are 2 words to say the surface of glazed wall tile: “Shinny” or “Mat
Ceramic floor
tile classification
To help you choose a tile to suit your needs
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CLASS 1 Soft soled footwear or bare feet areas, bathrooms and
bedrooms without direct access from the outside |
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CLASS 2 Living areas of homes but with the exception of
kitchens, entrances and other rooms which may have a lot of
traffic |
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CLASS 3 All residential uses including kitchens, halls, corridors, balconies and
terraces |
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CLASS 4 Regularly commercial used areas, entrances, commercial kitchens,
shopping centers... |
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CLASS 5 Heavy pedestrian traffic over sustained periods: public areas entrances such as shopping
centers, hotels, airports... |
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This symbol indicates that a tile is frost resistant |
Source: tiles.org.uk |
