Fireplace tiles

The fireplace in the house is a symbol of comfort and warmth. Now they are for every taste and wallet, you can buy them without any problems. However, with a variety of assortment, hand-made stoves are quite popular. Creating your own unique hearth is not an easy task, you need to take into account many details and one of the most important is how best to decorate it. The universal and most convenient answer to this question is facing the fireplace with tiles.

Even before the construction of the fireplace is necessary to think through everything. You need to understand what kind of focus will fit into the interior, calculate the size and proportions, make a design project yourself or contact the company that develops them. This will help avoid annoying inaccuracies and errors.With the help of meticulous design it will turn out to prevent defects and errors in the process of creating a fireplace, so that it will please many years and does not need constant repair.

Let's stop at the stage of choosing the tile. It is very important to immediately ensure that it:

1. Resistant to high temperatures.
2. It can increase the efficiency of the fireplace, giving off heat well.
3. Wear resistant. No one wants to constantly see how a tile that should have been happy for many years is scratched or peeled off, for this it is important to make sure that it is strong enough and no scratches are not afraid of it.
4. Made from a material with a small porosity, as high porosity reduces strength.
5. Does not absorb a lot of moisture. With a large coefficient of moisture absorption, the material becomes more fragile and easily destroyed.
6. Eco-friendly. When heated, the veneer can release substances that are harmful to health, so you need to make sure that the composition is safe.
7. And, of course, looks good.

To partially ensure compliance with all parameters, you just need to pay attention to the following qualities:

1. Same size.To determine this, you need to attach materials for facing to each other and make sure that they match and fit snugly. Irregularities can lead to the fact that it will fall wrong, and this will reduce the quality of finish.
2. The same thickness of all elements.
3. The color of all elements should be the same.
4. There should be no cracks and chips. Their presence will speak of brittleness and the fact that at the first heating the material may burst

In addition to visual analysis, the symbols on the packaging can also help a lot:

• The letter "T" is a heat resistance.

• The numbers 1 and 2 on the background of the fire indicate the number of roasting. The higher the numbers, the better.

• A PEI of 1 to 5 indicates how durable the tile is. Of course, you can choose any, but better than the one that is less prone to scratches and scuffs.

• The letter "E" and the number - the coefficient of water absorption. The higher the number, the more moisture the tile intervenes.

Materials suitable for lining furnaces have enough advantages for a fireplace to please for a long time, but their range is limited. The best for such purposes are:

• Terracotta.
• Majolica.
• Tiles.
• Clinker tiles.
• Porcelain tiles.

This is a tile made of a special type of clay, it has long established itself as the most convenient and heat-resistant material for fireplaces and for good reason, terracotta has the most functional advantages:

1. Environmental friendliness. When heated, terracotta tiles do not emit harmful odors and substances to health.
2. Good heat conduction. Heats up and gives all the heat to the fireplace room. He heats for a long time after he extinguishes.
3. Fire resistance
4. Easy to handle. Terracotta almost does not get dirty, dust is imperceptible on it.
5. Relatively inexpensive. Compared to other cladding options, terracotta is inexpensive.

This is an improved version of terracotta tiles, differs only in the fact that there is a pattern on the front side. It is heat-resistant, and the pattern on it does not crack, but the structure of majolica is porous, so it cannot be used in wet rooms.

Glazed tile is also considered a type of terracotta. She has a lot of advantages and almost no flaws:

1. Heat resistance.
2. Wear resistance
3. A huge range of colors and ornaments.
4. Looks great in any interior.
5. Environmental friendliness.
6. It gives off heat well.

The brick tile is very popular and is used not only for facing of fireplaces, it can be used even on the street, thanks to the advantages:

1. Very low water absorption.
2. High wear resistance.
3. Resistance to different temperatures and their differences.
4. Strength.

Just like the previous options, porcelain is perfect for facing the fireplace because of its advantages:

1. The lowest moisture absorption of all options.
2. Good resistance to different temperature conditions.
3. A large palette of colors and textures. Porcelain tiles can be made for almost any material.
4. Strength.

Despite all the advantages of these materials, it is not necessary to buy a special tile for the stove, you can do with ordinary ceramic. It should be understood that this option can not guarantee the desired, from an aesthetic point of view, result. Due to the heating, a thin network similar to cracks can go through it. This, of course, will not inflict any damage to the quality of the heating and urgent repairs will not be needed, but the visual appearance of the fireplace will be spoiled.Nevertheless, if the choice of ceramic tiles is approached carefully, then the fireplace lined with it will delight for many years.

One of the highest quality manufacturers of such tiles is the Russian company Kerama Marazzi. The product of this company meets all not only Russian, but also international standards. The range is huge: thematic collections from around the world appear constantly, the price range is very wide, all products are provided in different color and design solutions, and, not least, everything is absolutely eco-friendly. Undoubtedly, if you choose Kerama Marazzi products when facing the hearth, it is not difficult to choose what you need.

Strange as it may seem, there are those who want not only to make a fireplace with their own hands, but also not to look for the facing material in the store, but also to make it yourself. It will be pleasant to such people to hear that a brick or plaster tile is very easy for making independently.

For clinker will need: silicone mold, plaster, sand and cement. All the necessary "ingredients" are mixed and poured into the form. After 15 minutes, everything is ready, you only need to dry and coat with a primer so that nothing crumbles.

For the manufacture of gypsum tiles will be needed: silicone mold, gypsum, slaked lime, water.Everything is mixed and poured into the mold, but it is necessary to do it quickly, otherwise the gypsum will begin to freeze at the most unfortunate moment. After 15-20 minutes, the material can be removed from the mold and left to dry further; this should be done carefully, because the design is still very fragile.

Despite all the opportunities that the fireplace industry offers now, there are those who for some reason cannot get or make a real hearth, but for such cases there is an excellent solution — a false fireplace. In fact, it will be just a portal without a real firebox. It can be made of completely different materials, from brick to drywall and, which is a great advantage, facing will not require a lot of work.

When choosing a cladding material can be guided solely by their desires, because there is no need to inspect it for heat resistance or moisture absorption. Basically, the most comfortable and popular finishing options are:

• Ceramic tile.
• Fake diamond.
• Gypsum tile brick.