Vitrified tiles keep promise of quality

Jagvir Goyal

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Vitrified tiles entered the housing sector about a decade back and gradually expanded the length of the arc of their sector on the flooring disk by constantly reducing the area of marble and other natural flooring materials. Today, almost everyone is familiar with the word 'vitrified'. During the past 10 years, the demand for vitrified tiles has, therefore, generated a fair competition among the manufacturers who have strived to produce better quality and finish of these tiles to make a better hold on the market. It is time to have a look at the latest aspects of these tiles:

Production of tiles: Three materials namely Silica, Quartz and Feldspar are added to the imported clay to prepare a mixture that is burnt at a temperature of more than 1200 degree centigrade. Silica and clay hold major percentage in the mixture. Before burning, the mixture is hydraulically pressed into tile cakes by applying a heavy weight of 4,000 to 5,000 tons on it. Application of such heavy weight removes all voids and porosity from the tile cakes. The tile cakes are then dried and burnt in the kiln at extremely high temperature. On burning, the ingredients melt and form a glass substrate which results in imparting high strength to the tiles and makes them very smooth also.

Salt glazed vitrified tiles: All vitrified tiles look similar but these are produced in different manners by different manufacturers and have different performance. The buyer has to pick up the best tiles and thus should know the different type of vitrified tiles available in the market. One type of these tiles are salt-glazed vitrified tiles. These tiles are produced by causing thermos-chemical reactions between certain salts used in glazing and the silicates of clay. These reactions help in providing a lustrous glazed finish to the tiles. These tiles are called screen printed salt glazed tiles. The print penetration in the tile is only 1 to 2 mm.

Double charged vitrified tiles: In double charged vitrified tiles, a layer of extremely fine powders called micronized powders is applied to the surface of the tile body which is then pressed, fired and polished to produce multi-colored tiles that resemble marble and granites. Advanced technology is used in producing double charged vitrified tiles and many suppliers mention this feature of vitrified tiles while marketing them. The tiles are called double charged because double layer of pigment powder having 3 mm or more thickness is applied to them. The tiles thus produced have a surface that can withstand good traffic without showing any signs of wear for a long period.

Fully vitrified tiles: In fully vitrified tiles, the vitrification of clay tiles is done for the full thickness of tile instead of its surface portion only. The pigments enter the full body of the tile and can be seen if the tile is broken to view its thickness texture. These tiles have uniform pigmented structure throughout their thickness. These are also called Full body tiles. In this type of tiles, any wear of the tiles is not visible because the design and colour extends to full depth of the tiles. That's why these tiles are ideal for high traffic zone or commercial areas. Any scratches don't become visible in them while in other varieties, these are easily visible.

Digital vitrified tiles: Digital vitrified tiles differ from other vitrified tiles only in the method of printing of tiles. There are various methods such as flat screen printing, roto colour printing and digital colour printing of tiles. The customer has a tendency to go for 'digital' tiles as the word attracts him, giving the impression of the tiles being of latest variety in the market. A tile buyer should look for other properties rather than opting for 'digital' property only.

Thickness: Earlier, vitrified tiles of 8 mm to 10 mm thickness only were being produced. Now, the thickness of tiles has increased to 12 mm. Some manufacturers produce fully vitrified tiles of even 16 mm thickness. Fully vitrified tiles of 16 mm thickness are obviously highly durable as well as costlier than other tiles of lesser thickness and are extremely strong.

Size: Vitrified tiles are available in many sizes and it is entirely the buyers' choice to finalise a size as per his budget and tastes. Size wise, 600 mm X 600 mm tiles are most commonly used. However, preference should be given to rectangular shape tiles instead of square tiles of 600 mm x 600 mm. This size has mostly been used in the commercial and office buildings and gives a similar feeling when used in residential properties. If one prefers to use square sized tiles only, then choice should be for bigger size tiles of 1000 mm x 1000 mm or so. Rectangular tiles of 1200 mm x 600 mm look most beautiful. Size wise, even bigger sized tiles are available but bigger sizes demand higher cost and perfect levelling of sub surface as any void below the tiles result into their breakage during their service period.

Colour and finish: Vitrified tiles are available in many colours, mostly in light colours as people prefer to choose light colours to make the rooms look bigger and shining. Mind boggling range of finishes is available in vitrified tiles including marble and granite finishes and polished and unpolished surfaces. Perfect finish of vitrified tiles sometimes doesn't allow one to differentiate whether tiles have been used in the flooring or granite or marble have been used. It is only the uniformity in colour and finish that helps in concluding that tiles have been used in a floor as natural stones sometimes don't have the same uniformity.

The choice: While choosing vitrified tiles for your house, choose full body vitrified tiles. Double charged vitrified tiles can also be chosen as their cost should be lesser but these tiles too are quite durable and wear high traffic loads. The thickness of tiles chosen should be more than 10 mm in any case. Light colours should be preferred. Design and print can be as per user's choice and should go with the colour scheme of the rooms. Size wise, 1000 mm x 1000 mm or 1200 mm x 600 mm tiles look beautiful. 600 mm x 600 mm tiles can be chosen only if cost is a constraint.

— The writer is HOD and Chief, Civil Engineering Department in a Punjab PSU