Bathroom Wall Tiles

The last post I did was about Inkjet bathroom tiles, we are now just starting to see a new wave of matt finish inkjet tiles.

I have seen them in a marfil colour, a sort of earthy grey and in the box I wasnt too much impressed, however, put them on a low level display, grout them and then add a feature mosaic and wow, what an impact that had.

They really look stunning and the real stone and glass in the mosaic was superb. These are very new and not really available as yet in any great quantity, however, we do have small stock and the next batch is due in soon - I cant see them lasting for long.

I am hoping to get some images to put on for future posts so it will be much easier to explain with the aid of a picture.

Inkjet Printed Ceramic Tiles

Fashions and trends are always evolving and changing in the tile industry, one of the newest manufacturing techniques is inkjet printing.
In the past the most common method of printing onto ceramic tiles was the rotary printing technique. This involved the body of the tile to move along the conveyor and then pass under a drum that would roll out the pattern onto the face of the tile.
The timing using this method is important as the pattern can be easily smudged, looking blurry an out of focus if the conveyor and rotary drum do not move together.
Another feature of this method with ceramic tiles is that most ceramic tiles are pressed, this means that when the body of the tile is made, a press comes down, cuts them and is then raised. In order for the tiles to be left on the bed, they have a slight bevel on the edges to allow them to fall out of the press. Tiles that are rotary printed will only be printed on the flat surface, often leaving a white, unprinted edge. This rarely causes a problem as grouted joints will cover a portion of this and it is a perfectly acceptable manufacturing technique.
Inkjet tiles overcomes many of the issues common with rotary printing. The first improvement is the quality of the print. The patterns are often much sharper, creating strong colours and shading, stone replica tiles look more like polished marble than almost all rotary printed tiles. Another plus is the printing goes right to the edge of the tiles, eliminating the white border commonly found on rotary printed tiles.
Hopefully this not too technical article helps explain a bit about inkjet printed tiles.
Thank you for reading

Why can't bathrooms be square

At first glance nearly every room appears to be square and the walls vertical! Having just tiled my bathroom I only wish this was the case.
Unfortunately the start wasn't as straight forward as I had hoped as a leaky shower screen over the bath had made the floor a bit dodgy, so that needed to be rectified first! 18 mm play was the answer and well screwed down, we needed to get a plumber in to disconnect the water and toilet so we could tile the entire floor.
In my infinite wisdom and to match the wall tiles, I had chosen a porcelain floor tile, they look the part, however they are pretty tough and take a lot more care to cut than a ceramic tile.
After a day of messing around the floor was finished, except for the grouting - hooray.
Then onto the walls. The plan was to half tile most of the bathroom, except around the shower that is over the bath, with a natural pebble border to go around the top of the half tiled area.
I thought I would start with a full tile by the door frame and move around the room from there, not good! I assumed, foolishly that the door frame would be straight, but when I got to the corner the problem became clear, so off they came.
I called a friend who is a more experienced diy expert so he advised me to start with a vertical line in the middle of the wall, which would most likely mean cutting both ends, but your joints would be vertical.
So this I did and it worked well, so the thing I learn from here is not to assume that rooms are built straight, square, vertical etc, to start by using a level to make sure the joints are straight




Thank you for reading

Problems With Hard Water

We all know the look when you get watermarks on your new bathroom tiles or your freshly cleaned shower door or screen!

It isnt always the easiest thing to get around, but depending on the tile, but a good sealer can always help.

If you are using an uneven tile, a sealer will help fill the microscopic holes that can hold water and dust residue, if the water and dirt can't get into them, then they wont stain as easily.

It may seem like a pain, but an hour or so doing this before the tiles are used much is much better than a couple of hours cleanng them, then applying a suitable sealer.

You can also apply the same thought to floor tiles. By helping to fill all the possible dirt traps, you will prolong the aesthetic appearance of your floor! It may sound like a pain, and you wont necessarily notice the effect immediately, however, over a period of months, floor tiles subject to heavy foot traffic will inevitably get dirty!

But whatever course of action you prefer, the best thing to do is to clean your tiles regularly. Mild detergent solution, used regularly, worked in and mopped up to help remove the dirt is on of the best ways to help overcome any problems.

By doing this you will avoid the need for more chemical detergents, chlorine based bleach products, although one of the best and oldest remedies is white vinegar for your tiles and taps.

Designer Bathroom Tiles

It is always interesting to see the products that some house hold designer names get into. A prime example I have recently noticed was Laura Ashley, having popped into to one of their high street stores to collect some wall paper swatches I strolled around to see what else they may have to offer in one of their continuing sales.
I got home and thought I would try and check the samples and see if there was anything else I may have missed, on searching through the Internet I was amazed when I saw that Laura Ashley have a range of ceramic wall tiles.
There must have been at least 5 or 6 ranges of bathroom tiles, and all of them, in my opinion were extremely tasteful and very Laura Ashley. There was a beautiful classic flock / brocade style called the Laura Ashley Delancey Bathroom Tile, you can buy 2 types to create a stunning diagonal pattern. Other ranges including the Highgate and Milford tiles were very nice wall tiles with a twist of Laura Ashley, but the one that really was stunning was the Laura Ashley Erin. It shows the idyllic chrysanthemum in a soft two tone sheen.
Well done to the team at Laura Ashley for this one.