Facing with ceramic tiles in the bathroom: a classic of the genre

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

Ceramic Tiling: Modern Design

Modern manufacturers of finishing materials regularly offer our attention their new developments. Many types of materials, even wood and wallpaper, today can be used in rooms with high humidity.
But ceramic tiles for bathroom lining, has been the most sought-after finish for many decades. And she seems to be not going to give up her positions.
We will talk about how ceramic tiles are applied to bathrooms and what types are used for this.

Getting to work

Tiling It requires a perfectly even base, and this happens infrequently, so that walls and floors do not require leveling. Relatively even walls are found only in prefabricated houses.
And only in this case, after treating the surface with a concrete contact, the tile can be immediately mounted on glue:

• The walls of houses built of wood, brick and various types of blocks require thorough preparation before facing the bathroom with ceramic tiles. This includes waterproofing and alignment of walls and floors, which are carried out in various ways, depending on the structural basis.
• In order to be able to veneer wooden walls, it is best to sheathe them in a frame way. This will allow not only quickly and without wet processes to level the walls, but also, if necessary, to insulate the room.
• For this purpose, several types of sheet materials can be used: moisture-proof drywall (GKLV), glass-magnesite or cement-bonded particleboards (DSP). All of these materials have low thermal conductivity, are not subject to deformation under the influence of moisture, and high temperatures.

Cement chipboards of different thicknesses

• They also have antiseptic properties that prevent the formation of mold. From the point of view of profitability, it is best to use DSP - the price of this material is an order of magnitude lower, since inexpensive raw materials are used in their production: cement and wood chips.
• In aesthetic qualities, cement-bonded particleboards are inferior to magnesite and drywall, but in this case, it does not matter. By the way, OSB boards will also be an excellent, but more expensive, option for such lining.
• They also contain chips and wood chips, but the cement is not cement, but polymer resins. They make the material completely immune to moisture.
  Moreover, OSB slabs do not even need to be primed before starting the cladding.

Scheme of wall cladding of a bathroom with glass magnesite

• All sheet materials can be mounted on a wooden crate, and on a metal frame. If wooden beams are used to create the battens, they must be treated with antiseptic impregnation before installation begins, as well as walls, if the house is wooden.
• Dry wall alignment can be done not only in wooden housesbut also in any others. But given the fact that the frame method reduces the area of ​​the room, its use in the bathroom is relevant, mainly for private houses, where the bathrooms are quite spacious.
• Before proceeding with the installation of the crate, it is necessary to waterproof the floor, since it is carried out with a wall capture of about 15 cm. Today, there are many ready-made and dry waterproofing compounds, roll materials can also be used.
  It all depends on what basis the waterproofing will be made.
• If the base is concrete, as is the case in most cases, it can be treated with any penetrating primer. Penetrating into the thickness of concrete, it crystallizes and completely blocks the ingress of moisture.
  If you live in a multi-storey building, the ceiling should also be treated with such a composition, because leaks from neighbors are quite common.
• When the surface treatment is finished, you can proceed with the installation of the crate. We will not go into details of this process now.
  If you want to do it yourself, look for articles on this topic, which are many on our site, watch the video.
• Facing with ceramic tiles the walls in the bathroom with brick walls is carried out, most often, with a cement screed. Masonry is rarely even, especially in multi-storey buildings, often it is necessary to apply a fairly thick layer of plaster in order to level the walls.
  And the dimensions of this room do not always allow you to use the wireframe alignment method.
• Each master performs facing in his own way. Someone first plaster the walls with cement-based dry mixes, primer, and then lay the tile on the glue.
  Experienced craftsmen do without prior alignment, making a solution of a mixture of cement, sand and dry tile glue, and remove the decorative layer by level.
• As for the floor, its alignment and cladding are carried out last, after all other finishing work is completed. Usually the first row of tiles on the walls is not mounted close to the floor, but with a gap, which should take into account the thickness of the screed and flooring.
• So that the tile has something to lean on, and it doesn’t “move” down, the starting profile is mounted on the walls. To carry out screeding, there are dry self-leveling compounds on sale that are mixed in a certain proportion with water, poured on the floor and distributed over its entire area.
• The composition of this mixture contains special additives that give the solution elasticity, and contribute to its self-alignment. The surface of such a floor becomes perfectly flat and smooth, and is simply an ideal base for laying flooring.

The purchase of decorative material: tiles, glue, grout, usually done after the preparatory work. It is advisable to think over the design of the decoration in advance and calculate: how many and which tiles, including decorative elements, you will need.
In our next chapter, we will talk about some types of ceramic tiles, and also offer a choice of several options for decorating the bathroom.

Tile selection and design options

Getting into a store selling ceramic tiles, a person, often, is simply lost by the variety of the offered assortment, does not know what is better to choose. I would like the material to be not only beautiful, but also high-quality, because the facing of bathtubs with ceramic tiles is not a sticker on the wallpaper, it is made almost once and for all.
We hope that our short instruction will help you understand its many variations, and make a good choice:

• Ceramic tiles vary both in external size and configuration, and in the method of production.
  Products can be fired once or twice, covered with glaze, have a pattern. Each technology gives the product certain properties and specifications.
• One of the most beautiful, you can consider the metlakh tile, or as it is also called, majolica. Italians came up with it, but now it is produced in many other countries, including Russia.
  For the manufacture of Metlakh tiles, a special type of clay is required containing fractions of sand and iron oxides.
• It is always fired twice, and is covered with an opaque glaze.This technology makes the tile very durable, so it can be used both for wall cladding and for flooring.
  Majolica is a small-format tile, with basic sizes 20 * 20; 15 * 15 and 20 * 15 mm.
• As a rule, it is not monophonic, but has a florid pattern or geometric pattern. Since the strength of the tile is also suitable for laying on the floor, the facing of the walls of the bathroom with majolica ceramic tiles is often done in harmony with floor finish.

Flooring and wall covering in the bathroom with majolica ceramic tiles

• Since Metlakh tiles are quite expensive, in the interior bathroom it is combined with a cheaper monophonic tile, finishing like a panel. You can see a good example of such a design in the photo above.
• Another type of Italian tile has gained popularity around the world. This is a cotto tile.
  Unlike majolica, selected grades of clay are used as raw materials for the production of Metlakh tiles, and after drying and firing the product has a porous surface. It can be processed both on equipment and manually, but glazing is not used.
• Just the surface of the cotto tile after laying needs to be treated with special impregnation. Its configuration may differ from the classic options, and be diamond-shaped, or, for example, hexagonal.
  Cotto tiles have extraordinary strength, which is why it is also used as flooring.

Cotto tile in bathroom design

• A distinctive feature of this tile is its small format and chic mosaic patterns on the surface. It is this tile that is used when the facing of the bathroom walls with ceramic tiles is done in the patchwork style, as in the picture above.
  And flooring made of majolica and cotto tiles can be laid out in the form of a carpet - believe me, it is very beautiful!
• In the design of bathrooms often used and tiles "boar", originally invented for facing facades. This is a special type of tile, which has the shape of a brick with two front glazed sides.
  There are two through holes along the axis of the brick, which makes it look like a pig’s piglet - hence the name.

Tile "boar" in the design of the bathroom

• An exact blow with a special hammer - and the brick turns into two tiles. Their surface is not even, like that of other tiles, but convex, which makes the surface of the lined wall textured.
  In the interior design of the bathroom, different types of ceramic coatings can be perfectly combined. In our example above, the walls were finished with boar tiles and the flooring with majolica.
• One of the most expensive types of ceramic wall decor is tile called terralia. Its high cost is due to the use of a rather rare white clay in production.
  The technology of its production is also not simple: there is double firing, and a beautiful relief, and glass glaze.
• The standard terraille tile format is rather small: 150 * 150 mm. Although, according to this technology, decorative ceramic coatings of a larger format are currently being produced.
  Terralia tiles have a minimum coefficient of water absorption, which means that it can even be used for facing pools and facades.

Facing the bath with several types of ceramic tiles

• In principle, many manufacturers create their own recipes and tile production technologies, each of which has its own original name. It may be extruded or extruded, coated with various types of glaze, and may have a base (uel) of different colors.
• Designers of manufacturing enterprises are developing various options for plain and patterned tiles for walls and floors, which make up the kit and combine perfectly not only in color but also in configuration.

Variant of interesting bathroom design

• In addition to the tiles themselves, each set offers a variety of decors, which are narrow stripes or half tiles. Thus, facing the walls with ceramic tiles in the bathroom, even with the use of tiles of the same series, can have many different design variations.
• You can, for example, design your bathroom in a specific architectural style. This can be done even if the room is small.
  And if you have a spacious bathroom, and even with a window, its interior can be no worse than in our next example.

Art Deco Bathroom

• As you can see, not only turquoise ceramic tiles with beautiful decor were used here for wall cladding, but also a gilded mosaic made of glass or smalt. A Roman curtain and a crystal chandelier complete the design of the room, betraying the involvement of the interior in the art deco style.

You can talk about design endlessly. You do not have to completely copy one of the proposed options.
Images of finished interiors will give you an idea, and you can add something of your own, work on a different color scheme. And most importantly, it will be easier to determine: which ceramic tile is the best for embodying your idea.