Did you know that the method production is one of the main factors in how a tile is going to look and feel? There are basically four main types of glass tile production methods: smalti, fused, sintered, and cast. In addition, there are two prominent glass surface treatments for the tiles: slumping and etching.
How long will a hardwood floor last in your home? If you guessed 20 years, you're may be understating the durability of most hardwoods. Some manufacturers warrant their products for 50 years.
Mosaics can be described as the art of decorating a surface with designs made up of small, closely placed pieces of hard material, or tesserae. Tesserae glass material, known by the Italian name smalti, is opaque and brilliant in color and can be manufactured in hundreds of hues.
While ceramic floor tiles are typically pretty resistant to liquid spills, the same isn’t always true of the grout between the tiles. Let’s talk about how long you should wait after flooring installation to apply a grout sealant to your floors.
If you’re like many people, you may associate clear panes of glass with glass tiles. In actuality, you can get glass tiles in a variety of textures and colors that may be the perfect addition to your next redecoration project at home.
The Janka Rating System measures the hardness of all the American hardwood species available. This is a great tool to use to determine which hardwood species fits your needs. It can help you determine if you need pecan or hickory, the hardest hardwood available that is five times as hard as aspen, the softest of the hardwood species.
Ceramic tile mosaics can be a great way to introduce new styles, colors and patterns into a room’s flooring. Today’s vast selection of color tones allows you to add a highly personalized look to any room of the house.
Early Islamic mosaic art was marked by its carefully crafted use of stone, glass, and ceramics, which was incorporated into ornate and tapestry-like artwork. This was similar to Persian rugs, which use a kind of stylized imagery and symbolism that is still in use today.
Decorative wood flooring has been popular for a long time. Care to guess in what century it first became a decor superstar? If you guessed the 17th century, you're right. Care to guess what European country spawned hardwood chic? If you guessed France, you're right again.
Have allergies? Tile floors may be best for you. Tile is much less likely to collect dust, pollen, or pet dander than other materials, like carpet.
Can you guess in what year the first portable belt sander, an important power tool, was invented? If you guessed 1926, you're right. The inventor was an engineer named Art Emmons.
When you're installing ceramic tile floors or walls, it's often a good idea to purchase plenty of extra tiles. This will ensure you have a matching tile if one ever needs replacing in the future.
Moisture-cured finishes are clear to amber in color. They’re extremely durable, and as the name implies, they are the most moisture-resistant of all the finishes. These finishes are ideal in very humid areas or in spaces where the flooring could be exposed to water regularly, such as a bathroom.
One of the benefits of incorporating glass tiles into the interior design of your home is that this type of tile will help you make the most of the light that’s currently available. Due to its reflective surface, the tile can really brighten up a room.
The Art Nouveau movement of the 1890s increased interest in mosaic art. By the 20th century, Catalan artists Antoni Gaudi and Josep Maria Jujol invented a technique called trencadis, which utilized broken tiles and shards of crockery to cover the surface of architectural designs.
Have you been toying around with the idea of installing hardwood flooring in your bathroom? Remember, if your pipes have any sort of a leak that you don’t detect right away, you could end up with warped boards. Ceramic tile may be a better choice.
Mosaic tile art took a turn towards the future in 200 BC when artists began using "tesserae" to give full range to their artistic expression in terms of color and detail. Indeed, most of these tesserae were tiny (a few millimeters in size or smaller), which allowed mosaics to imitate complex paintings.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, instead of using very large planks, using very small strips or tiles makes a small room appear larger than it actually is. Seeing so many tiny pieces tricks the brain into thinking the room is larger than it really is.
Wood flooring was first recognized as a favorable design element for a living space in the late 1600s in France. Only the wealthiest people could afford solid-plank floors because they were handcrafted and very expensive.
If it’s time to clean the grout on your glass tiles, you can use a mild soap and water solution or water and vinegar. Spray the area and use a small bristled brush to gently scrub the grout clean.
Are hardwood floors popular? You bet they are. Hardwood flooring is a $2 billion a year industry in the U.S., with a projected 10.9 percent annual growth rate. Care to guess how many employees work in the industry nationwide? If you guessed nearly 8,000, you're right.
If your area is subject to occasional flooding, it might be a better idea to put in ceramic tile instead of wooden floors or carpeting. This is because a properly installed ceramic tile floor will not be affected should water invade your home.
Mosaics can also be geometric or abstract and do not have to contain any definite picture. Ancient Roman mosaics were initially just black tiles arranged geometrically.
Ceramic tiles is rated on terms of its hardness on a scale from 0 to 5. Tile with a 2 hardness is usually used for wall tile, while your flooring tile usually rates a 3. Tiles rates 4 or 5 in hardness are often used in commercial applications or pools.
