Mosaics and Tile

  The most interesting part of building floors and walls with tiles is that – they create insulation and help keep your indoors a few degrees warmer in winter and a few degrees colder in summer. But when you have to choose between ceramic tile and vinyl tiles, making a decision can be a bit challenging. The Better Insulation – To understand this factor, we will need to understand these two materials first. Ceramic – Ceramic tiles are made from clay dough. The tiles are cut using tile molds of different sizes and shapes, before drying. When the tiles are dried, they are taken to an extreme high temperature in a kiln. Because of that, these tiles feel colder and warmers when you touch them or walk on them barefoot. However, to make these floors appear warmer or more comfortable in winters, you can consider using under-floor heating system and central cooling and ventilation system to maintain the cool in summer. Vinyl – Vinyl tiles are also a manmade material. Made fr...

The best of installing vinyl tiles is that, you can install them right over your exiting floor. This means, they help you save cost two ways. First, they are most inexpensive flooring material. And second, you do not have to invest much on preparing the subfloor too. Here is a small stepwise guide to install vinyl tiles over your existing floor – Assess the condition of the floor. You will need to ensure that the old floor is in good condition. The tiles on it should not be damaged, cracked, or chipped. In addition, there should be no uneven areas on the floor. And it should be clean and smooth throughout. If one or more tiles are lose or shaking, you will need to fix them before installing vinyl tiles. Remove fixtures from the area where you have to work. Fix the height of the doors, before applying tiles, because applying tiles over tile floor will increase the height of the floor. Keep your tile placement or layout plan ready. Plan it in advance. If you want, you can dry install...

Vinyl is one of the easiest to install flooring. You can finish the flooring in a room in just a few hours. It does not take two to three days time for vinyl flooring to be able to take the load of foot traffic. But, to install vinyl tiles, you will need to learn how to fit them like a pro. And for that, you will need to cut vinyl tiles like a pro. Here are a few tips for cutting vinyl tiles and planks with knife or carpet knife– Outline the tiles that need to be cut. You can use an erasable pen or pencil to mark the areas. You can use a sharp knife for cutting these tiles. However, you will need to use a straight wood or iron bar to achieve precision. You could also use a carpet knife for the same. Now, run the carpet knife over the lines. Press the slightly scratched tile on a table edge or on knee. This will break the tile and give sharp, clean, and smooth cut. You can also use specifically designed saw for cutting vinyl tiles. Buy or rent a crosscut saw from a nearb...