Types of Tiles

Prepared by Mrs Kalpana Hiren Patel

Civil Department
K K Wagh Polytechnic Nashik.
What is a tile?
Tile is a manufactured piece of fired clay, stone or
concrete. It is mainly used for covering walls, floor,
roof, and ornamental or architectural design purpose.
Mostly, it has square and rectangular shape.

Tiles can be classified

1) Based on their usage

2) Based on the materials and manufacturing process
Types of Tiles Based on Usage:-
Based on where tiles will be used in a building, tiles
can be classified into following types –

● Wall Tiles
● Floor Tiles
● Roof Tiles
● Paver
Wall tiles: Whichever tiles are laid on walls is called wall
tiles.Wall tiles can be used both inside and outside of a
building.For inside, wall tiles are normally laid in bathroom
and kitchen wall. Other than bathroom and kitchen, wall tiles
are also laid in dining wall and other walls inside a flat or
bunglow. Ceramic tiles are most commonly used as wall tiles
in bathroom and kitchen. There is also some other types of tile
used in the inner wall of a building. Such as Granite, Rustic
tiles, and Marble, etc.In the outside of a building, wall tiles are
mainly used for decorating or architectural design purpose.
Floor Tiles: In modern buildings, all the floor area are
covered with tiles. Tiles which are used to cover floors
of a building are called floor tiles.

Commonly used floor tiles are ceramic tiles. But some

other types of tile are also used for this purpose.
Roof Tiles: Roof tiles are mainly used to make a roof of a
single story house.In buildings, roof tiles are rarely used.
But sometimes, we made small rooms on a roof of a
building for the various purpose. Such as a community hall.
Sometimes, roof tiles are used to cover those small
rooms.The main purpose of using roof tiles is to protect the
room from rainwater or other weathering impacts.

Roof tiles are mainly made by locally available materials.

Such as clay, terracotta, slate, etc.
Paver: paver tiles, in buildings, are mostly used for
covering parking area, driveway and surrounding area
of a building. Paver tiles are also called pavement tiles.

Mostly used tiles for paver are concrete, brick,

travertine, flagstone, bluestone, rubber, etc.
Block paving also known as brick paving is a commonly used
decorative method of creating a pavement or hardstanding.
The main benefit of bricks over other materials is that
individual bricks can later be lifted up and replaced. This
allows for remedial work to be carried out under the surface of
the paving without leaving a lasting mark once the paving
bricks have been replaced. Typical areas of use would be for
driveways, pavement, patios, town centres, pedestrian zones
and more commonly in road surfacing. Bricks are typically
made of concrete or clay, though other composite materials
are also used. Each has its own means of construction.
The biggest difference is the way they set hard ready for use.
A clay brick has to be fired in a kiln to bake the brick hard. A
concrete brick has to be allowed to set. The concrete paving
bricks are a porous form of brick formed by mixing small
stone hardcore, dyes, cement and sand and other materials in
various amounts. Many block paving manufacturing methods
are now allowing the use of recycled materials in the
construction of the paving bricks such as crushed glass and
crushed old building rubble.
Pavers come in a number of styles, shapes and tones.
Pavers manufactured from concrete go well with flag,
brick and concrete walkways or patios. If you reside in
climates wherever winter temperatures dip below zero,
concrete pavers are an honest selection. They are ready
to stoppage well in extreme temperatures. Opt for pavers
in shades like ochre, pink, bisque, white or sand. Pavers
are available in x-shape, y-shape, pentagon, polygon and
fan styles.
Types of Tile Based on Materials And
Manufacturing process
These types of tiles can be classified as –

● Ceramic Tiles
● Porcelain Tiles
● Mosaic Tiles
● Natural Stone Tiles
Ceramic Tiles

The ingredients of the ceramic tiles are clay, sand, and

other natural substances.

Ceramic tiles are commonly used tiles in residential

building projects. These are mainly used in interior
walls and floors.

Ceramic tiles can be two types – Glazed and Unglazed.

Glazed Ceramic Tiles: Glazed ceramic tiles are often
referred to as ceramic tiles. When we say ceramic tiles,
we normally mean glazed ceramic tiles.After firing the
ceramic tiles, a thin layer of liquefied glass is coated
over the top of ceramic tiles which makes it a glazed
ceramic tiles.

It can be used anywhere in floor and wall inside the

building. Glazed tiles are slippery. So it should not be
used in outdoor and where water contact can happen.
Unglazed Ceramic Tiles: It doesn’t have a thin glass
layer on its surface like glazed ceramic tiles. Not
having the glass layer on it makes it non-slippery and
unglazed. Unglazed ceramic tiles are also referred to
as quarry tiles.

Unglazed tiles can be used anywhere where other tiles

are used.
Chequered Tiles
Chequered tiles are cement tiles or terrazzo tiles with the
centre to centre distance of chequers not less than 25 mm and
not more than 50 mm, the groves in the chequers being
uniform and straight with the depth of grooves not less than 3
mm.

they are not slippery, and hence make for a great pick for
outdoor areas.
Chequered tiles can be contemporary, elegant, and stylish at
the same time. When installed on the floors of patios,
balconies, or other exterior areas, they can make the spaces
look rustic and sleek. Available in a variety of colours,
designs, and patterns, this tiling is an excellent choice for
adorning outdoor areas with high traffic. They are suitable for
swimming pool decks as well. They are extremely durable,
long-lasting, and can retain their appearance for years to
come. No matter what the weather conditions are, they will
make your places aesthetically pleasing for decades.
This tiling is extremely durable and long-lasting. They have
high thickness and possess great strength, hence are able to
enhance the beauty of your spaces for years to come. They
are not affected by sunlight exposure and water damage
caused during the monsoon season. Also, they do not require
much in the way of upkeep and maintenance.
Porcelain Tiles

Porcelain tiles are actually the ceramic tiles. The material used
to make ceramic tiles also used for making porcelain tiles.But
the clay grain used to make porcelain tiles is finer than the
ceramic tiles. It is also fired in higher temperature than the
ceramic tiles.

As porcelain tiles are fired in higher temperature and finer

grain is used, this type of tiles is denser, less porous and
more resistant to moisture and stains than ceramic tiles.These
characteristics made these tiles suitable to use both indoor
and outdoor tiling work.
Mosaic Tiles

Mosaic tiles are made of porcelain and clay

composition.This type of tiles are decorative pieces
and commonly used in bathrooms, kitchen
backsplash, and small counter space area.

Mosaic tile is manufactured by adhering ceramic or

natural stone pieces onto a mesh backing. Because of
the limitless variety of stones, the range of colors and
textures available is vast.
Mosaic tiles may be applied to both walls and floors,
and they are an excellent choice for areas that may get
wet, such as kitchens and baths, because the surface
does not become slippery.

Mosaic tiles are small pieces of tile that are held

together in a sheet. Mosaics can come in many
different shapes and be made out of glass, metal,
stone, real pebbles, porcelain and more. Small pieces
of stone, porcelain, glass and other materials are cut
into small pieces.
Vitrified Tiles
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
Process
Vitrified tile is made by hydraulic pressing a mixture of
clay, quartz, feldspar and silica, which make vitreous
surface. Thus creating a single mass making them
hard with low porosity. Different clay bodies reach
vitrification at different temperatures.
Types
● 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. The
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.
Skirting and dado
Skirting is usually around 6 inches high around floors and
normally made of same design and material as that of the
floors.Primarily to protect walls daily from floor mopping and
minor spillages on floors.

Dados are 4 feet or more in height , in baths, WCs and in

Staircases, on walls, made of glazy materials like glazed
porcelain/vitrious tiles. In staircases, even synthetic enamel
paints are also used. In staircases , dados protect the walls from
frequent human touches and in Bath and W.C, it protects the
plastered walls from water splashes during washing and bathing.
Skirting and Dado are both meant to make the walls smooth and
prevent water absorption.

Dado is applied for a height of three feet to Seven feet especially

in kitchens, toilets, hospitals, etc.

Skirting is provided for a height of about Six to Eight inches so

that the walls do not get wet during mopping or washing floors.

Skirting is a band like thing provided just above the flooring ,

where as dado is finishing in walls provided up to sill ( window
bottom)height or upto lintel (door top) height with any type of
material like tiles granite etc.,