A
tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as
ceramic,
stone, metal, or even
glass, generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops. Alternatively,
tile can sometimes refer to similar units made from lightweight materials such as
perlite,
wood, and
mineral wool, typically used for wall and ceiling applications. In another sense, a
tile is a construction tile or similar object, such as rectangular counters used in playing games (see
tile-based game). The word is derived from the
French word
tuile, which is, in turn, from the
Latin word
tegula, meaning a roof tile composed of fired clay.
Flore
Cement tiles are handmade, decorative, colorful tiles used primarily as floor coverings. Floors or walls covered with these tiles are noted for their multi-color patterns, durability and sophisticated look. These tiles are widely used in Latin America and Europe. Their popularity spread to the US, primarily in California and Florida through the 1930s and 40s.
Kota Stone
Although sometimes mistakenly called
encaustic tile, which refers to kiln-fired clay tile or commonly used ceramic tiles that have been placed in a kiln and heated, cement tiles are not fired and derive their durability from the combination of finely dehydrated ground
Portland cement layer and a more coarse layer of sand and Portland cement. The pigment layer is hydraulically pressed into the surface and becomes a part of the tile, not a glaze or paint layer on the surface of the tile.
Marble
Tiles are often used to form wall and floor coverings, and can range from simple square tiles to complex mosaics. Tiles are most often made of ceramic, typically glazed for internal uses and unglazed for roofing, but other materials are also commonly used, such as glass, cork, concrete and other composite materials, and stone. Tiling stone is typically marble, onyx, granite or slate. Thinner tiles can be used on walls than on floors, which require more durable surfaces that will resist impacts.