FLOOR TILES AND WALL TILES

• Tiles in building construction are thin plates or

elements used to cover surfaces like roofs,
floors, and walls.
• Tiles in present scenario are a primary
element in bringing building interior as well as
exterior finishing and beauty.
• They are mainly made up of clay material or
any form of inorganic raw material.
• Nowadays tiles are also manufactured from
recycled materials, making the element eco-
friendlier. The shape of the tiles is obtained by
the different processes like extrusion or pressing
at room temperature or any other method.
• After the shaping, they are allowed to dry. These
dried elements are subjected to fire. This stage
of firing is to ensure that they gain the required
properties and in the building application
• Different types of tiles used in
building construction are available in
glazed or unglazed form. They are
incombustible in its nature.
• Tiles are unaffected under the light.
 Types of Tiles based on Application

• Following are the types of tiles based on

surface of application:
• Roofing tiles,
• Flooring tiles,
• Wall tiles, and
• Partition tiles.
• The roofing tiles are earthenware that is
baked products. Its manufacture is similar to
that of brick.
• The wall tiles as well as the floor tiles, are
employed in the interior as well as the exterior
of the building. This is mainly employed based
on the requirement of decoration or
aesthetics. These belong to the class of
ceramics and are called as white wares.
• Tiles that are used on walls and floor are
available in both glazed and in the unglazed
forms.
• Mostly the wall tiles are glazed by a thin layer
of glazing when it is available in the market.
• Floor tiles are too designed to bring the beauty of
flooring and movement. But it is subjected to
higher load, pressure and other undesirable
material action. So, these tiles are made more
durable, abrasion resistant, water impervious and
easy clean form.
• Floor tiles along with the mentioned properties
should also provide good aesthetics. The degree of
burning is the parameter that differentiates the
wall and the floor tiles.
• When compared to floor tiles, the wall tiles
burned at a lower temperature. After this, it is
glazed and re-fired at a lower temperature.
• Type of Tiles based on Materials and
Manufacture
• Based on material and manufacture, following
are the types of tiles used in building
construction:
• Ceramic tiles or non-porcelain tiles, and
• Porcelain tiles.
• Ceramic Tiles
• Ceramic tiles are used for the interior floors,
swimming pools, exterior floors, walls and for
special installation both in interior and
exterior cases.
• Most types of tiles come under the category
of ceramic tiles. They are made from a mixture
of clay and other materials. They are fired in a
kiln.
Following are the various types of unglazed and glazed forms of
ceramic tiles:

• Earthenware tiles
• Terracotta and faience
• Fully vitrified tiles
• Glazed tiles
• Stoneware Tile
 Earthenware tiles

• The earthenware tiles are made of clay while

the stoneware tiles have a large quantity of
silica that is present in the form of sand,
crushed stoneware etc. Silica in the stoneware
tiles are added to prevent the shrinkage when
the fixing process is carried out.
 Terracotta tiles
• Terracotta tiles are manufactured by the use
of high-grade fired clay. When the firing is
done twice unlike the case of terracotta tiles,
we obtain the faience. Faience initially is
subjected to fire, that is initially terracotta.
After glazing the terracotta tiles, it is again
fired. This will finally give Faience.
• The Faience is available in large variety of
color change. This would help for improving
the terracotta works.
Terracotta tiles
Faience Tiles
• Glazed and vitrified tiles ceramic are
developed presently. The glazed tiles were
only used for walls, at initial stages.
• Glazed ceramic tiles are mainly manufactured
by two processes.
 manufacturing by two processes.

• Step 1: With the help of special white clay that

is fired at a temperature of 1200 degree
Celsius, the body of the tiles are made. These
final elements are called biscuits.
• Step 2: The biscuits are accompanied by
glazing and decorations if any, and are fired in
the oven.
• The glazes in ceramic tiles can be of two types:
• Earthenware glazes, and
• Colored enamels.
• The colored enamels are also of different types.
• Bright or glossy surface
• Eggshell, vellum finishes
• Matt finishes
• For different types of floor and different abrasion due
to traffic, the glazing techniques can be improved.
 Vitrified ceramic tiles
• Vitrified ceramic tiles are tiles that are made from
clay materials plus other finely ground materials.
These are subjected to a higher temperature firing.
Fully vitrified tiles are those tiles whose whole
thickness are also vitrified.
• Vitrified ceramic tiles have higher abrasion
resistance and can be employed in the areas of
heavy traffic. These tiles are said to hard as granite.
These are polished with the help of carbide or
diamond abrasive tools.
 Porcelain Tiles

• Porcelain Tiles
• The manufacture, absorbing capacity and the breaking
strength of porcelain tiles differ from the ceramic tiles. The
porcelain tiles are also made from clay. But compared with
the ceramic tiles, they make use of heavy or denser clay.
• Porcelain tiles during manufacture are subjected to heavy
temperature for a longer time. This baking is carried out
until all the water present in the element is evaporated.
This unique method of manufacture makes these tiles
harder and denser compared to ceramic tiles.
 Porcelain Tiles
• This is the reason why porcelain tile is
regarded as a superior product when factors
of durability, design, color and value factors
are considered.
• Porcelain tiles are highly impervious to water.
It has a water absorption rate lesser than
0.5%.
 Porcelain Tiles
• The cost of porcelain tiles is higher when compared to the
ceramic tiles. The porcelain tiles gain more application in
surface areas that have high traffic. These tiles are a type of
vitrified tiles. It is sometimes referred to as porcelain vitrified
tiles.
• The porcelain tiles demand special cement for their
installation. These tiles are harder and denser compared to
ceramic tiles. So, when these tiles are used for wall surfaces,
the cement that has high adhesive property are used.
• The porcelain tiles that are polished are also available in the
market. After firing of the tiles, they can be polished. This
would bring a shine in the tile, without any glazing.
• Read More:
• Transverse Strength Test on Flooring Tiles
• Transverse Strength Test on Roofing Tiles
• Water Absorption Test on Roofing Tiles
 Transverse Strength Test on Flooring Tiles

• Dry Test Procedure

• Place the tile specimen(air dried) horizontally on bearers with its
wearing surface uppermost and its sides parallel to the bearers.
• Place a plywood packing 3mm thick and 25mm wide between the
tile and the bearers and also between the tile and the loading bar.
• Apply load to the mid-span starting from zero and increase it
steadily and uniformly at a rate not exceeding 200kg per meter
width(measured along the bearer) per minute until the specimen
fails.
• Note the breaking load.
• Repeat the experiment on the remaining tile specimens also and
take the average.
IS 1237

Fig. 1: Wet Transverse

Test of Floor Tile
 Results
• Breaking load due to dry test and breaking
load due to wet test are recorded. The
transverse strength can be computed from the
following equation:
• Where:
• P: breaking load, N
• I: span between supports, mm, see Table 1.
Table 1 designated span for tiles to be tested for transfer stren

IS 1237-1980

Size of Span,
tile, mm mm
200×200 150

250×250 200

300×300 250

400×400 300
Transverse Strength Test on Floori
ng Tiles
Where:
P: breaking load, N
I: span between supports, mm, see Table 1.
 IS 1237-1980
• b: tile width, mm
• t: tile thickness, mm
Applications OF CERAMICS AND VITRIFIED TILES

• Inside, homeowners can use ceramic tiles and

vitrified tiles for the same applications such as
floors and countertops.
• However, water becomes a very important factor in
cold climates, since only a small amount of
moisture can freeze in winter months and crack the
tile. Vitrified tile has an absorption rate of 0.50
percent, which is nearly-frost proof, while ceramic
tile ranges from 7 to 3 percent, making it unsuitable
for outdoor applications.
THANK YOU