What is better to choose a tile in an apartment. How to choose floor tiles: tips from the master

If you already have a fix idea, choose your dream color and let it be the starting point for picking the rest of the shades. The main thing is not to overdo it with accents.

Do not choose more than three different colors. To navigate in all the variety of design options, it is best to look for photos of ready-made premises.

The room you want to decorate is small and you need to visually expand it? Use light colors. The classic option for the bathroom is white tiles.

If you think it's too banal, give preference to beige, peach or blue.

The floor and walls, laid out with one type of tile, mostly light and glossy, will visually expand the space and add air.

Andrey Lyamin-Borodin, General Director of the Internet service for ordering repairs Rewedo.ru

It is believed that cool colors create the effect of freshness and coolness, while warm colors soothe. One of the current trends is the design of rooms in natural shades.

Dark tiles create a depressing impression. Contrary to popular belief, dirt is clearly visible on it. Use dark colors carefully. For example, for decorating the floor and the lower part of the walls.

Avoid very bright colors, such as scarlet or gold. In such rooms, you will get tired very quickly.

Use bright or patterned tiles to create accents or a room.

When choosing a tile for the kitchen, match its color with the set.

How to choose the shape and size of tiles

Most often, stores offer square or rectangular tiles. If you're remodeling your own, check out these classic options. It is much more convenient to work with them than with unusually shaped tiles.

Want to achieve different visual effects? Use a rectangular tile. Place it on the walls vertically, and you will stretch them in length, horizontally - in width. To visually expand the room, lay out the floor tiles diagonally.

Don't choose very small tiles for small spaces. Also give up the idea of ​​decorating a room in a mosaic style. It greatly narrows the space. Do not use very large tiles. With it, there will be large seams on the walls, which will also unprofitably divide the room into parts.

It is also worth avoiding extremes for reasons of economy.

From the point of view of practicality and cost of work for walls, it is better to choose medium-sized tiles. Too small or, on the contrary, large format can cause an extra charge when laying. Mosaic is on average more expensive than ordinary tiles, and working with it will also not be cheap.

Andrey Lyamin-Borodin

How to calculate the required number of tiles

Measure the length of the walls and their height and multiply these numbers. From the resulting product, subtract the area of ​​​​the door (if necessary, also the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe bath). Calculate the floor area.

Then calculate the area of ​​one tile by also multiplying its length by its width. By dividing the total area of ​​the walls or floor by the area of ​​​​one tile, you determine the number of the latter.

An example of calculating tiles for a wall with a door

When in doubt, use any online tile calculator.

Do not forget to add 10–15% to the value obtained, since part of the tile will inevitably be damaged during transportation or installation.

Naturally, this is the most primitive way to calculate tiles. With an unusual layout, you may need the help of professionals who will draw up the correct drawing and, based on it, calculate the required amount of materials.

How to choose a tile of the desired structure and quality

If you're choosing tiles for your home, it doesn't make sense to opt for super-sustainable materials that are essential for decorating common areas. It is unlikely that the same number of people will walk in your kitchen or bathroom as people visit cinemas or exhibitions.

Choose tiles with a wear resistance coefficient from I to III (III - for the floor) and do not overpay.

If you are not going to arrange a large freezer or solarium from your apartment, then the temperature resistance of the tile should not be taken into account either.

When choosing tiles for the bathroom, pay attention to characteristics such as water resistance and relief (for the floor).

The tiles of Italian and Spanish production are considered to be of the highest quality. To save money, combine expensive tiles with cheap ones.

Many Russian manufacturers, such as Kerama Marazzi, Keramin, Italon, offer tiles of acceptable quality. It can be taken as a base, pointwise complemented by a more expensive and expressive one, or, for example, a mosaic.

Andrey Lyamin-Borodin

But you need to be careful when buying tiles with huge discounts. The fact is that a low-grade product, presented as a better one, can get on sale. The coating from such a tile will come out sloppy.

How to check the quality of a tile

The marriage of a tile is chips, cracks, uneven geometry and a difference in height between different tiles. If, after buying a tile and unpacking it at home, you find such defects, go to the store and return the defective product.

Andrey Lyamin-Borodin

There are ways to check the quality of tiles before buying:

1. View the tile against the light: this way, possible cracks and other imperfections are better visible on it.
2. To assess the flatness of the material, place two tiles against each other and check how tightly the surfaces fit. Take a couple of tiles from different boxes and attach them to each other in the same way.
3. To assess possible slippage, drop water on the tile and run your finger over it.

If you opened the package with tiles and found a marriage, write a claim. In this case, you can either bring low-quality tiles to the store yourself, or ask a broker to come (it happens that half of the package is already on the wall).

The broker will draw up an act on the non-compliance of the goods with the declared characteristics and send your claim to the manufacturing plant. There, your appeal will be considered and, if deemed justified, the product will be replaced with an appropriate quality. As you can imagine, the process is not fast. If a renovation is in progress, it's often easier to buy a new pack of tiles.

Can I return a tile to the store if there is an error in the calculation? According to Andrey Lyamin-Borodin, this is possible if you bought tiles with a large supply and you still have whole packages. According to the law, tiles can be returned within 14 days from the date of purchase, excluding this day. Some manufacturers offer customers buyback as a bonus, but this only applies to budget tiles.

Do you know any tile selection hacks? Share them in the comments.

August 23, 2016
You can talk about design canons for a long time, but every day the existing canons become less and less stable. Aesthetics and harmony, balance, colors, materials, brought together in order to get such a long-awaited result are the essence of your knowledge, practice and self-development. My motto is to learn, see, touch something new every day, and I am sure that this is the only way to keep the right course in “high design”.

Moisture resistance and inertness to the effects of cleaning agents have made tiles the most popular finishing material for the bathroom. So, it's time to talk about how to choose the right tile for the bathroom.

Tile type and layout

The layout, according to many, is an exclusively design technique that has a decorative function, but this is far from the case. A competent combination of color, texture and size of the tile allows you to solve the problems of the room, among which there is more often a low ceiling, an elongated shape or technological niches and ledges in the walls.

1. High ceiling. Choose decorative tiles for horizontal installation. It can be several horizontal thin stripes or one wide line occupying at least 1/6 of the height of the room.
   If the narrow shape of the room is added to the problem of a too high ceiling, your choice is to lay tiles according to the “dark bottom, light top” principle. As an alternative solution with a focus on savings, you can consider a combination of tiles on the top and dark-colored wall panels on the bottom.

In addition, the lower part of the walls can be decorated using decorative panels (per square meter, they can be cheaper).

If your choice fell on the use of a contrasting bright horizontal edging, pay attention to the height of the furniture, the location of the heated towel rail and the mirror.

1. Low ceiling. This is where vertical accents come into play, helping to make the room more "slender" and cohesive. In addition, this layout is actively used to accentuate a separate wall. In most cases, one wide strip and several thin ones are combined.

1. Pushing back the wall. No, no, we will not destroy the walls, and build new ones, we will move it visually. To do this, we need a dark tile that fits on the wall that needs to be brought closer. When is this approach relevant? In the event that the room has a disproportionate elongated shape.

1. beat the corner. To implement the reception, the same tile is laid not on parallel planes, but on perpendicular ones. This will help to highlight separate areas, for example, a bath-shower, a toilet-bidet, a washbasin-mirror.

When choosing the same tiles for walls and floors, remember that the latter must be labeled "floor" and a high level of anti-slip.

1. Mosaic. A separate category is mosaic. In a small bathroom, its all-consuming power can turn into a visual reduction of the room, so I advise you to use it in doses. With what to combine? With single-color large tiles with the thinnest possible seams.

As a panel, you can use not only mosaics, but also patchwork tiles. In this case, you are almost unlimited in choosing a plain tile for other surfaces. Where to locate? I recommend using patchwork in the bath/shower area or on the wall with a mirror.

1. Prioritize color. You can completely abandon the stripes and lines of tiles. An excellent solution would be a chaotic arrangement of contrasting tiles on 1 or 2 parallel walls.

If you are used to ordering everything and do not accept chaos in its classical sense, “collect” the interior with the help of a contrasting edge of the bathroom trim or a decorative colored frame around the mirror.

1. Neighbors, Friends, Enemies. Before choosing tiles for the bathroom and toilet, think about what it will be combined with. The introduction of paint and decorative plaster is becoming more and more urgent. More often, ceramics are laid in the lower part, it is important to follow the rule here - the tile strip must have a height of at least 115 cm with a standard installation of the sink at a height of 85 cm.
   When combined, tiles can be used in a separate part, for example, behind, in the shower or bath area.

Saving must be economical

A lot has been said about which bathroom tile is better to choose, but few know how to save money when buying. I share personal secrets.

The main way to save money is to combine inexpensive tiles with designer collections. If you find a compromise, you will get an excellent result and a unique interior.

Neutral background

The first way to save money is to purchase inexpensive plain tiles and focus on colored grout. One point is important here - “inexpensive” does not mean poor quality. Choose a well-known manufacturer and look for a budget collection.

If you do not understand how the selected tile with colored seams will look, lay out a square meter of tiles on hardboard or drywall and fill the seams “dry”.

different size

The square background tile is a universal "soldier". Sum the multiples of the dimensions, for example, join the 10, 15 and 20 cm squares and combine them with the 30, 40 cm floor squares.

Change Orientation

Rectangular tiles with a chamfer (“boar”) are often laid horizontally, by changing the orientation of the installation, you can visually enlarge the bathroom. Oh yes, savings. Do not buy thick classic crosses for the "boar", they make the tile look cheap. Choose separators no larger than 0.5 mm.

If the laying will be done by the master, you can choose a "parquet" layout diagonally, for example, herringbone. I would not recommend doing this kind of work with your own hands.

If the bathroom is small, get a medium-sized tile. After cutting it, there is less waste.

As simple as possible

A great way to save money is to choose brick-shaped tiles. In this case, it is laid without displacement so that no pieces smaller than 5 cm remain.

This layout option also has a significant drawback, when laying on walls “littered” vertically, the flaw will become more noticeable.

Having decided which tile to choose in the bathroom, you can proceed to the calculation. To do this, on a sheet of paper, draw all the walls of the bathroom to scale and “lay out” the tiles. To the resulting square meters, add a margin of 10% for a straight layout and 15% for a diagonal and herringbone.

Elite meter

You can create an “expensive” design with a small amount of elite tiles, which are used locally in wall decoration, for example, near a mirror.

If the selected design tile option does not fit into one canvas with an inexpensive background, for example, because of the hexagonal shape, use paint.

Forever young and forever drunk

Fashion is a capricious and changeable lady, today she is in red, tomorrow she will prefer beige. Unfortunately, the interior of the apartment does not change at such a speed. How to choose the color, texture, size and pattern of a tile so that it remains relevant for a long time.

Imitation of natural material. Thanks to digital printing, tiles imitating stone, wood, and marble have become widespread. In addition to the complete identity of the drawing, we managed to get a similar texture and relief. If such a tile has one more advantage - the price, which is an order of magnitude lower than the cost of natural material, such as onyx or marble.

Designer Tip! Today, not only imitations of expensive natural materials are popular, but also tiles with the color and texture of shell rock, sandstone and slate.

Such "special effects" as brushing and aging make "wood look" tiles as realistic as possible. Such solutions are indispensable when arranging a bathroom in a loft style.

The "stone-like" tile has no style restrictions. Marble stains create a calm, beautiful backdrop for expensive sanitary ware in a classic form or emphasize minimalism in design.

You can choose high-quality "stone" tiles in the collections of Kerama Marazzi, Atlas Concorde and Peronda.

Maxi format. Large tiles have climbed to the very top of popularity and are not going to go down from there. Today, you can easily find a 1x3 m tile, which rather allows you to attribute it to the plates.

Single flat surfaces with stone imitation can be found in the Italian brands Graniti Fiandre and Rex.

Ten. Classic tiles 10x10 and 20x20 cm are relevant regardless of the area of ​​the room. The visual effect is assembled from three "whales": the color of the tile, the shade of the grout and the layout.

Your Naf-Naf. "Boar", which I talked about above, also refers to the immortal trends. If you choose a "boar" with a glossy surface and beveled bevels, let it be pastel shades: beige or white. "Boar" is relevant for interiors in country style, modern.

The charm of patchwork. Patchwork is a technology of sewing from separate multi-colored shreds. The same "patches" of ceramic tiles are folded into a single canvas. More often used as an accent or in floor decoration.

Ready patchwork collections are produced by CERAMICA FIORANESE (Inside collection), Serenissima CIR (Biarritz series), ABK (Docks), Del Conca (Amarcord).

3D reality. I recommend using three-dimensional tiles in bathrooms with an area of ​​at least 10 m².

Floor tiles, what are you doing, stop it!

“Well, not easily soiled and not slippery”, often the requirements for floor tiles in the bathroom end there, and in fact it is capable of more, for example, visually hide the flaws of the room.

Problem	Liquidation instructions
crooked walls	The ideal option to eliminate the disadvantage is the diagonal layout. A seam pattern in a contrasting color will turn attention to itself, while distracting from problematic walls.
narrow room	Choose from checkered or herringbone patterns. These schemes have been transferred from the ways of laying piece parquet, therefore the shape of the tile must be appropriate. I can safely call tiles with the color and texture of wood an ideal solution.
elongated room	The optimal layout is scatter (deck, with a shift). Rectangular tiles are more often shifted along the long side by 1/4 or 1/3, the maximum allowable shift is 1/2. To prevent the floor from looking crooked, use tiles in similar shades and don't forget about a 10% margin.
Zoning	Laying according to the “carpet” scheme, which may have an additional edging or be laid out without it.
Reducing or increasing the area	If you have a small bathroom, choose an irregular, repetitive layout in pastel shades. The same “recipe for a hundred troubles” is also relevant for a large area, you just have to replace pastel colors with contrasting ones.

Project with tiles in the lead role

And by tradition, I offer you a full-fledged bathroom interior, in which the main decorative role is assigned to the tile.

Initially, the bathroom was separated from the toilet, after the merging, it was possible to get 6 m², which acquired Mediterranean features and vintage notes.

The central part of the room was occupied by a bathtub, opposite it - a wall on which two antique mirrors are fixed. It is thanks to them that the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room has visually increased and looks more spacious.

The finishing tile has an unusual pattern and color, which is a combination of turquoise, blue and white. The size of one tile is 20.5x20.5 cm, the combined four elements form a single composition measuring 41x41 cm, which resembles the pattern of a classic painted tile.

In the company, white brick-shaped cement tiles from Fired Earth, laid in the open shower area, were selected for her.

The toilet was moved to the opposite wall, due to this, it was possible to find a place for an open shower without a pallet.

There was a window in the niche next to the shower, we tiled it and equipped it under a shelf. Photographs by Slim Aaron taken in the 1960s and 70s are used as wall decor. They found their home next to the shower.

Bath and shower faucets are nickel-plated, which is a very good solution for an interior with vintage touches. In addition to them, gilded accessories and door handles were purchased.

Storage areas are organized in a spacious custom-made closet. Lighting - four adjustable light sources.

In the interior used:

• siphon, bath, shower with watering can and faucets, oval mirrors, - Drummonds;
• mirror panels - Rupert Bevan;
• toilet - Brora;
• double sinks - Atlantic Gray Double Crake;
• wall lamps – Jonathan Adler.

Summing up

Tile has long ceased to be exclusively a way of decorating walls, now it is a design technique that can change perception, accentuate and hide. On this, I say goodbye to you and wish you success in the difficult repair business. Before you start designing your dream bathroom, be sure to watch the video in this article.

And I have a question for you - do you consider tiles the only option for finishing a bathroom? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Ceramic tile (tile)- these are just plates made of baked clay or carved from some types of stone, it is often used for wall and floor cladding, it has gained its popularity mainly for its practicality and aesthetic appearance. In Russia, it is often used for the bathroom or kitchen, as the tile has good water resistance.

Choosing a tile by type

To date, there are many types of this coating, but the most commonly used:

• Tile
• Porcelain stoneware
• cotto

We will analyze each of them in more detail and try to understand which one is more suitable for you.

Tile

This is the most common type of tile and is made up of a mixture of clay, sand and various minerals. It is made by firing, and then the top layer is applied to it. (glaze), which serves as a pattern.

It's important to know. A good tile should have a good pattern. It should be very clear and in no case should it be blurry.

The most common method for its manufacture is pressing - this is the cheapest method, but oddly enough, when using it, the tile turns out to be quite strong and neat, which cannot be said about manufacturing by casting.

Porcelain stoneware

It is a cheap replacement for natural granite, has maximum water resistance and tolerates temperature changes very well. In appearance, this tile is very similar to granite, which is not surprising, because it is produced in much the same way as natural stone appears, only many times faster.

Thanks to the latest developments and the high quality of raw materials, manufacturers have the opportunity to almost completely imitate natural stone. This is achieved by fast, dry pressing at an incredibly high temperature. (1200 - 1300 degrees).

It is worth noting that this tile has a very good resistance to chemicals and perfectly tolerates temperature changes.

This type of tile is one of the most ancient and very popular in Europe, where they loved it for its naturalness and pleasant, natural color. (shades of red, yellow or brown).


Of course, one cannot talk about its high practicality, but it looks really very beautiful. If you want to use it in the bathroom, you will have to apply a special protective coating, otherwise it will not last long.

How to choose the right tile by manufacturer

Nowadays, there are a huge number of tile manufacturers, so it’s simply impossible to say which one is better, there are the largest industries that use the best technologies, and there are very small ones that have not even heard about these technologies, but they produce tiles very high quality and almost by hand. Therefore, we will understand this issue more globally - at the level of countries.

• Italian tiles. She is probably well-known to everyone, absolutely everyone once heard about her as an element of luxury, but recently this is not entirely true, Italian tiles are certainly not the cheapest, but there is definitely nothing elite about them. Italian tiles, as always, are of fairly high quality and popularity. Most popular productions:
  • Valverde
  • Saloni
  • Tilegres
• Spanish tiles. It is no less popular and is not inferior in quality to the Italian one. In one of the Spanish cities there are about three hundred factories that produce tiles and the most popular are:
  • Novogres
  • pamesa
  • Ceramica
• Turkish tiles. Turkey produces a huge amount of tiles (about half of the world volume) The most popular factory in this country is: Kalebodur- they produce relatively high quality and very affordable tiles.

Video about choosing a tile

In this video you will see a lot of useful things in order to make the right choice of tiles.

Conclusion

You have learned the basic secrets of choosing, about some of the ways to produce tiles, and about their types. If you still cannot decide which ceramic bathroom tile to choose, you can look through the catalogs of the companies listed above - of course, without forgetting our advice.

During the renovation of the bathroom, many are faced with the question: "How to choose a tile?". Choosing a quality tile is not easy.

It is necessary to combine two tasks:

• purchase a tile of beautiful colors that all family members will like;
• choose a tile that can be laid with minimal loss of quality and nerves.

Features of tiles

The choice of tiles according to the manufacturing method

There are three types of tiles according to the manufacturing method:

• cast - clay mass is poured into special forms;
• pressed - production under high pressure from a mixture of powder structure with additives;

• tiles made by extrusion - punching through a certain shape.

Choice of tile sizes

Before choosing a tile, you need to decide on the size of the tile that is suitable for.

1. Ceramic tile- these are rectangular or square plates.
2. The most common are the following sizes in centimeters:

• 15x15;
• 20x20;
• 20x30.

1. The thickness of the tile can vary from 8 to 20 millimeters.

Tip: with large tiles (larger than 25x40), the cladding can be completed much faster, although it will have to be cut, for this you need to purchase spare tiles.

What kind of tile coating

How to choose the right tile, what is the coating of ceramic tiles?

The tile happens:

• glazed (enamelled);
• without enamel.

The top layer of enameled tiles is of two types:

• glossy;
• matt.

The colors of glazed tiles are quite diverse, they also come with decorative patterns or simply one-color.

Ways of heat treatment of tiles

How to choose a tile for a floor, walls and? What you need to know about heat treatment of tiles?

There are two categories:

• single firing;
• double firing.

1. Single firing (monocoturra)- glaze is applied to wet clay, then the tile is placed in the oven, as a result, the base and glaze are fired at the same time. When firing occurs, these two components are very tightly soldered to each other and the tile is quite strong.

Tip: single-fired tiles are best laid on, as they are very durable and less likely to crack and split.

1. Double firing (bicoturra)- first, the base is placed in the oven, then the glaze is applied. The tile is then fired again at a lower temperature, resulting in a smooth and shiny glaze with bright, saturated colors.

Tip: Double-fired tiles are less durable and are best used for ceiling and wall cladding.

1. The number of firings is indicated on the packaging with a special symbol - a flame petal with a number drawn next to it.

Variety of tiles

Buying tiles: how to choose a specific type to cover different surfaces of the bathroom?

Depending on the number of firings and the method of molding, ceramic tiles are divided into the following types:

1. Majolica is a type of double-fired glazed ceramic tile with a porous colored base, produced by pressing. Majolica is used for wall cladding.

1. Faience is a double-fired pressed enameled tile that has a porous white base. The glaze is painted in a variety of colors. This type of tile can be tiled both on the walls and on the floor of the bathroom.

1. Cotto is a non-enamelled tile with a single-fired, porous backing, which is produced by extrusion. This type of tile is used for laying on the floor, because it has high wear resistance and strength.

1. Clinker is a single-fired tile that can be either enameled or unglazed. Clinker is usually used for flooring.

1. - a special type of tile, which is made from heavy clay with the addition of various mineral additives that give the tile special strength and hardness. Porcelain stoneware is used for laying on the floor in the bathroom, as it has a low level of moisture absorption.

Choosing a tile

How to choose the right tile? What do you need to have with you?

So, let's go buy a tile - how to choose the right one will help an ordinary ruler and a square.

1. The edges of the tiles must be perpendicular. Usually, in stores, samples of tiles are glued to a stand, where you can evaluate the overall future picture, but the geometric dimensions can only be estimated when you hold the samples in your own hands.

Tip: you need to look at several tiles, but the whole box is best, as the packaging may contain defective and cracked tiles.

1. The right choice of tile is a tile of the same thickness. This is a guarantee that when laying the situation will be controlled only by the amount of glue, and not at random, while adjusting to each tile.

1. There should be no curved tiles. This can be checked with the edge of another tile or with a ruler. Basically, this situation is visible to the naked eye, one has only to look at the box with the packed tiles.
   On the edges of the tile, the glaze should look the same and uniform on all tiles, spreading equally along the edge. The repeatability of the glaze swim to the edges of the tile is important.

1. The right choice of tiles - no cracked glaze. These are manifestations of violations of production technology, or incorrect transportation.

Tip: it is correct to transport the tile not on the base, but on the edge.

1. Coloring ceramic tiles should be uniform. If even insignificant dots are visible that are not filled with glaze on more than 3-4 tiles, the purchase must be abandoned.
2. A coarse-grained fuzzy pattern should also alert, which looks like in old newspapers or printed on a printer. This means that the equipment is already old and you should not expect a good result in terms of product dimensions.
3. You need to get acquainted with the information about the parameters of the tile, which are indicated on the packaging by symbols.

Tip: if any of the drawings is shown twice, this means that this tile has improved characteristics for this indicator.

Summing up, how to choose the right tile for the bathroom, we can indicate the following:

• tiles should be with reduced moisture absorption;
• glazed smooth tiles are well suited for walls;
• floor tiles should not be slippery, the best option is a tile with a matte surface.