If you're planning bathroom renovations, you've probably put a lot of thought into what tiles to choose. You may have decided on the size, shape, and color. You will need to make another decision: should you use the rectified tiles that seem to be all the rage?
A Reason For Rectified Tiles
You should choose rectified tiles if you are after a specific effect. Rectified tiles, particularly large-format rectified tiles, provide the ultimate polished, modern, sleek look. If you love clean-edged minimalism, rectified tiles are an excellent choice.
What is it about rectified tiles that create this minimalist vibe? Rectified tiles are traditional ceramic or porcelain tiles with their edges mechanically trimmed to an exact size. Not only is each rectified tile precisely sized, but each tile also displays a clean, straight edge rather than the cushion edge of traditional tiles. Because of the precision and clean edges of rectified tiles, they can be laid very closely together with super-fine grout lines.
Traditional, cushion-edged tiles, on the other hand, need to be laid with thicker grout lines. The firing process that tiles undergo is imprecise; each tile shrinks slightly after firing to different degrees, which means that the size of each tile is not exact. This might be invisible to the naked eye; tiles that are supposed to be the same size might look the same size, but they are minutely different. Thicker grout lines allow these minute differences to be disguised as each tile is maneuvered when being laid.
The fine grout lines and clean, straight edges of rectified tiles produce their streamlined, sleek appearance. On top of this, rectified tiles are often large-format tiles, which means less-frequent grout lines crisscrossing and disturbing the clean tiled surface.
A Reason Against Rectified Tiles
You should not choose rectified tiles if your bathroom has particularly uneven surfaces. While it may not be evident to the naked eye, a particularly uneven surface can make rectified tiles challenging to install. Cushion-edge tiles, on the other hand, can hug uneven walls better to disguise any unevenness.
While the edges of rectified tiles are trimmed so each tile is a precise length and width, this process does not affect the tile thickness. The thickness of tiles, whether rectified or cushion edged, varies minutely. Thicker grout lines can work to disguise the variation in tile thickness by allowing for gradual slants in the tiling surface that are imperceptible to the naked eye. However, the fine grout lines and straight edges of rectified tiles make it difficult to disguise uneven wall or floor surfaces.
The main reason you would choose rectified tiles for your new bathroom is if you love the streamlined, minimalist look that these tiles evince. However, if the wall or floor surfaces in your bathroom are particularly uneven, rectified tiles may not be a good idea. If you're undergoing bathroom renovations, an expert should be able to give advice on what is best for your own bathroom.
Share14 August 2018
When I decided to become a freelance designer, I decided I would work from home. I was sick and tired of being in an office all day and to be honest, some of my workmates were pretty annoying. However, I did not consider that I might have to make some changes to my home in order to make it suitable. On the first day of my new life working from home, I realised I would need much more natural light, so I had new windows installed. I then realised that I would need a larger work table to work on my cut out designs. In the end, I made hundreds of changes and I learnt an awful lot about home improvement.