CERAMIC TILES FOR
WORKTOPS & FLOORS
If you have some experience of cutting and fixing wall tiles
then this will prove invaluable when moving on to the much
tougher tiles used for floors and worktops.
Wear eye protection when using a tile cutter. Take care with
sharp edges. Avoid prolonged skin contact with adhesive and
grout.
Ceramic and quarry floor tiles provide a hardwearing and
attractive surface for kitchens, bathrooms, hallways and
conservatories.
Ceramic tiles can be laid on concrete or suitably prepared
wooden floors and worktops. Be careful when setting them
out because a lot of cutting work can be saved at this stage.
The other important point is to get the whole surface flat
and level so the edges of the tiles don't stick up. On uneven
handmade or terracotta tiles, a few protruding edges are
inevitable but you still need to be careful about how you lay
them. There is an art in laying uneven tiles because it's
impossible to lay a spirit level over several handmade tiles -
you need to use your eye and judgement.
2
- Worktops
Tiled worktops are durable enough to withstand hot pans
and will resist staining and abrasion provided that flooring
grade tiles are selected.
The drawback of tiles is that the grout lines between the
tiles can harbour dirt. It is therefore essential that the grout
is durable.
Two part epoxy grout is used in commercial situations where
food is prepared because it doesn't stain and it won't
harbour bacteria easily. The problem is that this type of
grout has to be mixed and applied very quickly because the
setting time is only around half an hour; once it is set the
only way to remove it is by sanding.
For a domestic kitchen, where the food is prepared on
chopping boards and not directly on the tiles, you might find
it easier to use an acrylic grout. This is more durable and
resistant to staining than powder based wall tile grouts, but
it won't last as long as epoxy grout. However, when