Living with Tile - Tile Terms

Backer Board: Underlayment designed as a proper substrate to receive tile.

Bicottura Tile: A tile that is fired twice; once to form the bisque and a second time to fuse the glaze to the bisque.

Bullnose: Rounded or finished exposed edge of a tile or stone.

Calibration: Measurements taken to assure the same size tiles in a specific production run. This can relate to facial dimensions as well as thickness or gauge dimensions.

Cleft Finish: When the surface of a stone or tile is rough, due to the method of splitting the material during quarrying or fabrication.

Crack Isolation Membrane: Membranes installed between a substrate and tile or stone to isolate those materials from minor in-plane substrate cracking.

Dust Press Method: Tile that is formed from nearly dry clay ingredients under extreme pressure.

Efflorescence: A powdery substance that forms on the surface of rocks and brickwork. Often the results of salts being carried to the surface by excessive moisture.

Extruded Tile: Tile created by forcing a clay mixture through a die, resulting in a continuous ribbon of clay that is then cut into tiles and then kiln fired.

Glass Tile: Cast or fused tiles consisting of mutually dissolved silica and silicates that also contain soda and lime.

Glazed Porcelain Tile: High fired clay that was been manufactured by the dust-press method with a layer of color pressed onto a neutral color base. A vitreous material that is normally rated for high traffic areas acceptable for both interior and exterior applications.

Granite Tile: Cut from blocks of hard, crystalline, igneous rock formed when various minerals such as feldspar and quartz are fused by extreme heat. Often available with polished and honed finishes.

Grout: A cementous or epoxy based material used to fill the joints between tiles.

Heated Floors: A system installed under the tile or stone flooring that warms the floor. Types of installations include electric mat or cable systems and hydronic systems. Electric systems work from programmable thermostats to assure efficiency.

Honed: Matte finish on stone or porcelain tiles.

Honed and Filled: Process by which the holes in a travertine tile are filled with a resin and the tile is polished to a honed or matte finish.

Honed and Polished: Process by which the holes in a travertine tile are filled with a resin and the tile is polished to a gloss or shiny finish.

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Limestone Tile: Cut from blocks of stone that are formed from the sedimentary process, underground and underwater, comprised mainly of calcium and deposits of shell and bone. Often available with honed and polished finishes.

Lippage: The difference in height at the joints where tiles meet.

Metal Tile: Tile made of metal products or sometimes resin tiles coated with a metallic finish.

Marble Institute of America: (M.I.A.) Industry Guidelines for the installation of natural stones.

Monocottura Tile: A tile that the clay and the glaze are fired simultaneously.

Mortar: The material used to set tile or stone. Composed of water, sand, cement, and lime.

Mosaic Mural: A field of tiles created from numerous smaller tiles which are set to form a picture or pattern.

Mosaic Tile: Stone, porcelain, glass, metal, or ceramic tiles that are typically less than 3x3”.

Mud or Mud Bed: Mixture of sand, cement, and water used as a substrate to bond a floor

Non-vitreous Tile: Low fired tile that can absorb up to and greater than 7 percent of its weight in water. Typically used in interior applications only.

Polished: Glossy, shiny finish on stone or porcelain tiles.

Porcelain Tile: High fired white clay that was been manufactured by the dust-press method. A vitreous material that is normally rated for high traffic areas acceptable for both interior and exterior applications.

Quarry Tile: Extruded thru-body vitreous or semi-vitreous floor tile.

Rectified: The process by which tile is re-cut after standard production methods to ensure a very tight size tolerance. Mostly done with porcelain tiles.

Saltillo Tile: Typically handmade clay tiles that are dried in the sun.

Sealer: Product or coating applied to natural stone, grout and / or some porcelains to protect from dirt, oils and other products that may cause staining.

Semi Vitreous Tile: High fired clay tile with absorption between 3 and 7 percent.

Size: Be careful! Tiles maybe measured in standard US inches or Metric centimeters. Normal approximate conversions include 10x10cm = 4x4”, 15x15cm = 5 7/8 x 5 7/8”, 30x30cm = 11 13/16 x 11 13/16”, 45x45cm = 17 11/16 x 17 11/16”, and 60x60cm = 23 5/8 x 23 5/8”.

Slate Tile: Cut from rock composed of shale and clay. Normally supplied with a flat, honed finish or left in a “natural cleft” finish.

Thinset: Setting material used to bond a tile to the substrate.

Thru Body Porcelain Tile: High fired clay that was been manufactured by the dust-press method with a continuous color consistency through the body of the tile. A vitreous material that is normally rated for high traffic areas acceptable for both interior and exterior applications.

Tile Council of North America: (T.C.N.A.) Industry guidelines for the installation of ceramic tile.

Travertine Tile: Cut from limestone blocks that formed near natural springs that cause its characteristic “pitted” surface. “Pitted” holes can be filled with resins or grout or left natural and “unfilled”.

Tumbled: A process to achieve an “old world” look to a natural stone where the tiles are tumbled in a drum or machine along with aggregates to give the tile’s surface a worn appearance.

USGBC: The United States Green Building Council, an independent organization generally accepted as the leading source of green building standards, sponsors the Leadership in LEED recommends standard environmental guidelines for sustainable building projects.

Vitreous Tile: Extremely high fired tile that absorbs 0.5 to 3 percent of its weight in water. Acceptable for exterior applications in a freeze-thaw environment.

Waterproof Membrane: Membranes installed between a substrate and tile or stone to prohibit the penetration of water. Membranes may have sheet applied, multiple components, trowl or roll-on methods of installation.