Purchasing ceramic tiles is a technical job. Some people leave it directly to the decoration company and make do with it if the effect is not satisfactory. After all, changing the main material means various additions; some people choose to do it themselves. I went to the building materials market, listened to the advice of relatives and friends, and looked for brick selection guides on the Internet. In the end, I received too much information, too complicated, and difficult to distinguish between true and false. I could only buy based on my own feelings.
As the saying goes, each eye catches the eye. It is generally difficult for people to get the most suitable tile purchase standards or even plans through an article. However, through an article, you can avoid 80% of the problems in tile purchase. Pitfalls, but still achievable. Today, Zhongtao Jun will list 8 blood and tears lessons learned by people who have experienced decoration, and teach everyone how to avoid pitfalls from four aspects.
01 Choosing the wrong tile size
“Not many people buy square tiles. Nowadays, long and large tiles are popular. They look grand after being installed and the space has a sense of extension.” It is said that many people can choose from this when they go to the store to buy tiles. I heard this sentence from the shopping guide's mouth.
Some consumers consider that the size of their homes is relatively small, so they choose 600×1200㎜ ceramic tiles. When they look at the single piece in the store, they feel that they are indeed more majestic than the 800×800㎜ ceramic tiles. After buying them, they can be laid at home. On the ground, I realized that there was a big gap between reality and imagination.
Pit ①: 600×1200㎜ paved floor
The 600×1200㎜ tiled living room not only does not look grand, but also looks stingy because the width is too narrow. A frustrated consumer said: It’s okay if the expected effect is not achieved. The amount of work required to make the seams is not small. If I had known this, I might as well have bought 800×800㎜ ceramic tiles.
The effect is not good because the size of the ceramic tiles is too small, so why not just go for the larger ones? Tell you, don't. 900×1800㎜, 1200×2400㎜, 1600×3200㎜… There is no maximum size for ceramic tiles, only bigger ones, but when used at home, bigger is not always better.
Pit 2: Oversized ceramic tiles
First of all, choosing ceramic tiles with specifications of 900×1800㎜ and above means that the space at home cannot be too small, otherwise a lot of losses will be caused when cutting is involved; secondly, choosingYou also need to have a good budget when choosing oversized tiles, because it’s not just the tiles that are expensive. If the tiles are too big to be put on the elevator, it will cost a lot of money to move them upstairs manually or call a crane; a large-sized tile requires more than two masters to lay it together, and the labor cost is also high; to lay a large-sized tile It is not easy to use ordinary cement mortar for ceramic tiles. Better auxiliary materials must be used, which adds another expense...
It is actually very simple to avoid choosing the wrong size when buying ceramic tiles. Just remember 3 tips: choose 800 for economical and cost-effective home decoration, 715 for high-quality small apartment decoration, and 918 for villa or large flat-floor decoration. (Note: 800×800㎜ is referred to as 800, 750×1500㎜ is referred to as 715, and 900×1800㎜ is referred to as 918)
02 Brick surfaces easily hide dirt
Ceramic tiles such as wood-grain tiles and antique tiles are prone to low flatness due to problems in the production process. When laying, it will test the craftsmanship of the master. For consumers who are detail-oriented, they will generally be very serious about product acceptance and construction supervision, and will not let go of every flaw; consumers who are not detail-oriented are the most likely to step into pitfalls in this place and use it later. Cleaning became the biggest problem during the process.
Pit 3: Concave and convex wood grain bricks
Take wood grain tiles as an example. In order to make the texture more restored and realistic, some styles of wood grain tiles will imitate wood to create an uneven texture, which is what we often call "hand-grabbing grain". These wood grain tiles with concave and convex surfaces are very easy to trap dirt. Even if you are diligent enough to mop the floor every day, you still need to perform deep cleaning regularly.
Pit 4: concave and convex antique bricks
Not only that, kitchens and bathrooms must carefully choose antique tiles with uneven surfaces. Let’s talk about the kitchen first. Because it is often exposed to oil stains, it must be cleaned with high-concentration detergents and brushes every time. It is really tiring. Let’s talk about the bathroom. Some antique tiles themselves are not very flat. If the master does not paste them properly, these will be damaged later. The height difference can easily cause water accumulation and shorten the service life of ceramic tiles.
You must know that the hygiene of the home environment is closely related to human health, so when buying ceramic tiles, you must avoid those ceramic tiles that have problems with later cleaning. Of course, this is not to tell you not to buy wood grain tiles and antique tiles.Most of the tiles produced by the traditional mold surface process have a strong concave and convex feeling, while the tiles produced by the dry grain process not only have a rich texture on the surface, but also have a more delicate texture than the mold surface process.
03 The wall tiles are not beautiful enough
When most people renovate their homes, they will lay wall tiles in their kitchens and bathrooms. In the past, the most commonly used wall tiles were 300×600㎜ ceramic tiles. Gradually, 400×800㎜ mid-boards appeared on the market, and they are larger than Porcelain tiles are more popular. Porcelain tiles and medium boards are relatively affordable wall tile categories with relatively low profits. Therefore, most businesses will recommend 800×800㎜ floor tiles to consumers for cutting onto the wall.
In fact, whether it is porcelain tiles, mid-board or floor tiles on the wall, it is difficult to achieve a particularly stunning decoration effect. Some consumers even frequently make mistakes on the wall tiles, only to find that they are ugly after they are applied.
Pit 5: "Public Toilet Style" Wall Tiles
In this regard, some professionals have concluded that there are two main reasons for the unsightly appearance of wall tiles. One is the joints between the bricks, and the other is the texture. When small-sized ceramic tiles are attached to the wall, they will inevitably produce a lot of gaps. After the gaps are removed, the gap feeling will still exist, which can easily create a cramped feeling in the kitchen and bathroom space that is not large. Wall tiles with stone texture are the easiest to overturn. If the tiles are non-connected and have only one layout, the effect will not only be repetitive and dull, but also give people a messy visual effect.
It is actually not difficult to get rid of the "public toilet style" and give a high-end feel to the wall tiles in the kitchen and bathroom space. Zhongtaojun has prepared several plans for you. You can easily do it yourself without hiring a designer.
The kitchen wall tiles use a combination of large bricks and mixed bricks. Most of the kitchen wall will be covered by cabinets, so the parts where the floor cabinets and wall cabinets are installed only need to be pasted with miscellaneous bricks. The remaining exposed wall in the middle can be paved with large-size ceramic tiles. The smaller the gaps, the better. Later cleaning is also easier.
There are two unmistakable options for bathroom wall tiles. First, use 600×1200㎜ ceramic tiles with light texture and close to solid color to stick them vertically. Excluding the bathroom ceiling, just two pieces reach the top. Then use a caulking agent of the same color to treat the brick seams. The overall space will look very coordinated. . The second is to use one stone and six sides of 800×800㎜ DaliThe stone tiles are cut into two 400×800㎜ tiles and laid horizontally. The texture is flexible and the sense of high-end is directly filled.
04 Construction is too difficult
If we were to rank the jobs that tiling masters least want to take on, micro-tiles and special-shaped tiles would definitely be among the top 2. The reason why I don’t want to apply these two types of bricks is also very simple. They are too difficult to apply, too labor-intensive, and the fault tolerance rate is too low.
Pit 6: Micro Bricks
The most common micro-tiles in daily life are mosaics. Many people mistakenly believe that the construction of mosaics is not difficult, but this is not the case. Because the size of the bricks is relatively small, the master must not only control the flatness of the brick surface at all times, but also control the seam spacing between the mosaics to be even. Not only that, the adhesive force on the back of the mosaics is not as good as that of standard ceramic tiles, and the paving process There may be phenomena such as slurry and the entire block slipping, and the constructor needs to control the rhythm of paving at all times.
Pit 7: Special-shaped bricks
The paving of special-shaped bricks is even more complicated, because in addition to the common hexagonal bricks, there are also scale bricks, feather bricks, lantern bricks, corrugated bricks, etc. Although the curved outline is very artistic, you must know that the edges of the space are straight lines. The first problem in laying special-shaped bricks is to close the edges. Secondly, laying special-shaped tiles is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and the error tolerance rate is very low. It requires that the position of each tile must be very precise, otherwise it will not be possible to piece it together, and rework will be very difficult.
Miniature bricks and special-shaped bricks are not only difficult to lay, but also more difficult to deal with the gaps, which greatly tests the vision and physical strength of the builders. Not only that, if there are too many gaps, it will inevitably face problems of hygienic blind spots and difficulty in cleaning.
Pit 8: DIY
Therefore, when everyone is purchasing ceramic tiles, after being deeply attracted by some Internet celebrity decoration cases, please return to rational thinking about the difficulty of construction, not to mention that after watching a few tutorials online, you feel that you You can DIY. Because there is a high probability that you just learned it with your eyes, and you will find various problems as soon as you get started. This is what people often say: you will know it once you see it, but you will lose it once you do it.
What pitfalls have you encountered when choosing bricks for decoration? Welcome to share in the comment area!
