A tile is a piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal or even glass, which is manufactured for general use in covering roofs, floors, and walls, or other objects such as tabletops.
Another type of tiles are ceiling tiles, which are made from lightweight materials such as perlite, wood, and mineral wool.
The word is originally derived from the French word tuile, which is, in turn derived from the Latin word tegula, which means a roof tile composed of baked clay.
Marble Floor Tiles Are Suited For Indoor And Outdoor Use The sophistication and chic design attributes of marble have long been famed in the history of architecture and home design.
Marble tiles have been widely used in large buildings, churches, mansions and small homes as well for centuries.
There are many variants of marble tile used in residential and commercial applications.
Their uses usually range to include indoor and outdoor flooring, countertops, wall covering, fireplaces and exterior facades.
However, since marble is not considered the hardest of natural stones, it would not suit well as a floor covering in extremely high traffic areas, though marble tiles are well-suited and perfect floor tiling for residential and light commercial applications.
The most popular and common residential uses of marble are for window sills, fireplaces hearths, decorative foyers, bathroom floors as well as outdoor garden pathways, columns, steps and other surfaces.
Other bathroom applications for marble tiles include wall covering, backsplashes, tub decks and showers.
Thanks to their durability, and their ability to not suffer the ravages of time and the strain of daily, public use, some marble tiles have proven to be ideal for outdoor furnishings.
And with the placement of special finishings, marble floor tiles could manage to combine class and functionality in each element.
Marble's other outdoor uses include covering for stone posts, benches and flower boxes.
Which Type Of Marble Floor Tiles Are Good For Outdoor Use Natural stone tiles like marble can be especially beautiful and appealing to the senses.
However, as a natural product, they are a little less uniform in color and pattern and require further planning for use and installation.
Since most stone tiles are mass-produced, they have very uniform width and length dimensions.
Stone tiles such as those of granite or marble are sawn on both sides and then polished or finished on the facing up side, in order for them to have a uniform thickness.
Some stone tiles such as polished granite and marble are inherently very slippery when wet.
A process is generally done to enable a marble floor to be slip-resistant when used for outdoor purposes, such as installing them in outdoor foyers and pathways.
Stone tiles with riven, or split surfaces are sandblasted to help them become more slip resistant.
The hardness of natural stone floor tiles could vary such that some of the softer stone, like limestone tiles, are not suitable for very heavy traffic floor areas.
There are marble tile types that are literally "tumbled" in a machine process that knocks off the edges and roughens the textures to create an "antiqued", or aged effect.
Tumbled marble has a rather rough, or lightly sand-blasted feel, which makes it less slippery, and could be used effectively for outdoor use, such as lawn or outdoor pathways.
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