When selecting bathroom tiles, kitchen tiles or outdoor tiles, one must be guided by a tiling specialist to ensure the right tile is selected for its application.
Homeowners usually mull over the type of tile that will best suit their home, what size and colour to choose and if the colour will suit their current furnishings. It is important to take these practical considerations into account when embarking on a tiling project.
To narrow choices down even further, homeowners should consider their budget and colour scheme, and then decide whether they’re after a glossy or matt finish and what tile size would work best.
So what gives a tile its intrinsic value?
A beautiful, quality tile will be digitally printed. Digital printing is the latest and modern method of achieving a very realistic-looking tile. Before digital printing, tile manufacturers used screens on the tiles.
Multi-screened tiles were pixilated, so you would see small dots grouped together. And, the lower quality tiles appear more pixilated than the better quality ones.
Make sure to choose a tile that has been manufactured using digital printing technology. When using the digital technology, the tile designers scan real wood to get the wood grain. They scan real marble to get the veining perfect, and then design the colour tones to get a perfect tile design.
In addition, tiles with more design variations carry more value as there is less chance of a repetition of pattern and will look more authentic. Tiles are fired in a kiln and the tile expands in size during the firing process. It is important that all of the tiles running through the kiln are fired at the same rate.
If the manufacturing process is speeded up or has poor quality control, the tiles will be fired unevenly and vary in size. Tiles can also become warped or bowed if they are fired unevenly.
This means that the tiles are not flat. The warped tiles are more common in the longer rectangle shapes, like wooden planks. If tiles are badly warped, it is impossible to get a proper tile installation.
We recommend staying away from bargain tiles and factory seconds, especially with the larger format tiles and wood-look planks. If you desire a good quality finished tile, you should seriously consider a digitally printed porcelain tile.
Please keep in mind that it’s less expensive to make poor quality tiles that are screened and are fired quickly through a kiln with very little to no quality control.
So, as with most things, you get what you pay for. Come visit us at
Italcotto
and we will do our absolute best to educate you and help you find the perfect tile to fit your space and budget.
You will also be able to purchase tiles at wholesale prices – The Best for Less.