Tiles are one of the most durable and practical building materials ever made.
The Romans were using ceramics tiles in their buildings thousands of years ago, many still in use today. Tiles have proved their worth by evolving with technologies and setting the fashion trends of the future.
Tiles today are in use in every area of our homes and offices. Tiles are replacing yesteryears carpet by being used, not only in bathrooms, kitchens and laundries, they are used in bedrooms, patios, balconies, swimming pools, gardens, in both domestic and commercial applications, in fact there is no impediment for tiles to be used in any situation.
Tiles make a great investment
Ceramic tiles are a cost effective floor and wall covering. They may cost slightly more than some alternative products initially but they come into their own when the others start to wear out whilst tiles will look as good as new. Careful selection will enhance your home further as it will add value to your home now and into the future.
Choosing Tiles
Always make sure that the tiles you have selected are suitable for the area you wish to tile. Consideration should be given to how a particular tile will wear; all tiles have a wear rating, ask before making a choice. Check that your tiles are suitable for wet or outdoor areas, these areas require slip resistant tiles to reduce the likely hood of some one slipping over.
Guarantee
All Tiles from Ultimate Tiles are guaranteed for 10 years, If your Ultimate Tiles are correctly fixed with our recommended Ultimate Tile adhesives to meet the Australian standards AS3958.1 the tiling system is covered with an exclusive 10 year guarantee.
How Much Should I Pay For My Tiles?
Always buy the best quality products available in your price range. Remember tiles are a long term investment for the sake of a couple of dollars buy a tile fits your dream.
Tiling Floor Layout
If you are planning on laying your own tiles one of the first things you need to do is centre the room you are trying to tile. Measure both directions of the room and divide in half. This now gives you a centre point with which you can gauge how close the tiles will finish to the wall. You are trying to avoid having a thin and narrow cut (under 15mm).
Now you have marked up your room take a tile and place it on its edge with an edge of the tile on the centre line. Simply roll it toward the wall until you get as close as you can be without touching the wall. This will give you a good idea on what your final cut will be. If you find that you finish with a small cut, mark the centre of the tile and start with this mark on the centre line of your room. Repeat the rolling process and you should find the cut will now be a decent size. This is only an option if you are using square tiles. If you are using rectangles you will have to rely on measuring alone.
Not every room is an exact square or rectangle, what you are trying to accomplish is a balanced look in the finish. You may have to compromise in some areas to get an overall balanced result.
Once you have the room centred and know what the final cuts will be the next thing to do is layout a grid on the floor. Layout three to four tiles including spacers. Next take a piece of timber and mark on it the centre point for the last grout joint. You now have an accurate measure to start marking on the ground the centre point for three to four tiles. Once your floor is marked take a string line and flick all of your lines leaving a grid like pattern across your floor.
Wall Tile Layout
Similar to our floor layout (insert link to floor layout) the wall layout is about balancing the final result so we have similar cuts at both sides of the wall. The difference with a wall layout is we have to take into consideration the set out for extra obstacles such as bath heights as well as vanity and shower heights or cupboards in the kitchen and laundry.
Once again we need to find the centre point across the wall and use the same measuring technique as the setting out the floor(link to floor) to ensure we don't end up with a small cut into the wall. Your height measurement may not be set out the same way if you want to keep a full tile across your vanity for example. If this is the case you may want to use this as a starting point and see how the rest of the room will finish up. Remember you are trying to avoid very small cuts.
Another thing to think of is, if you have borders, how are they going to look into the corners and are you going to continue the pattern around the corner or are you going to be happy just cutting it to suit however it finishes up.
