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Racy Building strategies-51 |
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1 Vitrified tiles are becoming very popular these days. These have very high dimensional accuracy, more abrasion resistance and are harder than ceramic tiles. These are produced from white imported clay that is quite suitable material for vitrification process. The press used to produce these tiles from clay applies 3500 to 4800 ton weight on the clay. That’s why these tiles have no porosity. More is the weight applied, better are the tiles. Check manufacturer’s pamphlet to know it. The pressed tile cakes are then burned at extremely high temperature of 1220 degree Centigrade. Thereafter the tiles are polished.
2 For polishing of vitrified tiles, ultra modern imported polishing machines are used. A polishing machine has many polishing heads. More is the number of polishing heads, better is the polish. Machines used by different tile manufacturers have 26 to 46 heads. A machine with maximum polish heads will give best polished tiles. Again check manufacturer’s pamphlet for it. These two are important checks for tile’s durability. There is no need of doing messy polishing on vitrified tiles as required for marble.
3 There is such huge variety of vitrified tiles available in the market that the consumer is completely lost among the Makes, unable to decide which make to choose. Tile manufacturers are indulging in extensive advertising. All makes therefore look branded. However, technically, Naveen, Granamite, Marbonite and Kajaria are the top brands followed by Somany, Johnson and Romano. Top quality tiles cost around Rs. 50 to Rs. 55 per sq. ft and cost of vitrified tile flooring including their fixing is around Rs. 75 per sq.ft.
4 Available size of vitrified tiles is as large as 8 feet X 4 feet. Bigger sizes give feeling of vastness but are costlier and less stronger than smaller sizes. Best is to choose 2 feet X 2 feet size of tiles. Look at the back of tiles for knowing their quality mark. Always choose first quality of tiles. Never go for commercial quality. Commercial quality tiles cost lesser but suffer from defects that become apparent after a few months of use. Unlike ceramic tiles, there are no grades in vitrified tiles. However there is a lot of choice in top finish. Choose 9 to 10 mm thick tiles for better durability and strength. It is individual’s choice whether to provide these tiles butting each other or to leave a gap between them and fill it with a grout later on. In residential areas, prefer butting of tiles with minimum joint width.
5 Whenever you choose vitrified tiles in flooring, it is better to keep a few extra tiles in store. If ever, a tile gets broken or badly scratched due to hard pushing of furniture etc, you may find it difficult to get an exactly matching tile in the market. Variation in their shade is a natural feature of these tiles. Though you may find safe storage of tiles a challenge, buy a box, scribble ‘vitrified tiles’ on the packing and put them in the loft under least use. Normally, one box has 4 tiles of 2 feet X 2 feet size. Also note down the make and proportion of color pigment mixed in white cement for jointing of tiles on the packing box.
6 Companies like Nitco are now producing special vitrified tiles for use on steps of the staircase. These tiles are having 800 mm length. For 1.2 metre wide steps, one full tile and a half tile can be used on every step thus avoiding any wastage. Tiles produced for the risers are 158 mm wide. Therefore, in case you intend to provide vitrified tiles on staircase steps, keep the riser depth as 166 mm. 8 mm of it will be used by the thickness of the tiles fixed on the tread and balance 158 mm will be covered by the riser tiles. Thus you must decide in prior if vitrified tiles are to be used on steps and cast the concrete steps accordingly. Step or tread tiles are 318 mm wide. Best part of these tiles is that these carry an inbuilt nosing and you have not to get it made as in case of marble. Keep the width of steps as 298 mm while laying concrete base so that step tiles are fixed to cover full width of steps and a nosing of 20 mm is available. Tiles provided on the steps look beautiful. Choose matt finish or sand finish tiles so that there are no chances of your slipping on the steps.
More tips will follow next week. Till then, happy building!
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Tip of the Moment
Avoid construction joints in basements or keep their number as minimum.
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