Tile Terms Glossary

A-K

Abrasion resistance: Ability of a surface to resist being worn away by rubbing and friction
Absorption: The relationship of the weight of the water absorbed be a ceramic specimen subjected to prescribed immersion procedure, to the weight of the dry specimen, expressed in percent.
Accelerator: A substance which, when added to concrete, mortar, or grout, increases the rate of hydration of the hydraulic cement, shortens the time of setting, or increases the rate of hardening of strength development, or both.
Acrylic: A general class of resinous polymers derived from esters, amides or other acrylic acid derivatives.
Additive: A term frequently (but improperly) used as a synonym for addition or admixture.
Adhesion: The state in which two surfaces are held together by interfacial forces which may consist of valence forces or interlocking action, or both.
Adhesion, mechanical: Adhesion between surfaces in which the adhesive holds the parts together by interlocking action.
Adhesion, specific: Adhesion between surfaces which are held together by valence forces of the same type as those which give rise to cohesion.
Admixture: A material other than water, aggregates, and hydraulic cement, used as an ingredient of concrete or mortar, and added to the concrete immediately before or during its mixing.
Aggregate: Granular material, such as sand, gravel, crushed stone, and iron blast-furnace slag, used with a cementing medium to form a hydraulic-cement, concrete or mortar.
Alkali: A chemical substance which effectively neutralizes acid material so as to form neutral salts. A base. The opposite of acid. Examples are ammonia and caustic soda.
Backing: Any material used as a base over which a finished material is to be installed.
Bisque cracks: Any fractures in the body of a tile visible both on the face and back.
Bond: The adherence of one material to another. Effective bonds must be achieved between the mortar and scratch coat, between the tile and mortar, and between the adhesive and backing.
Bond strength: The force per unit area or length necessary to rupture a bond.
Bonding agent: A substance applied to a suitable substrate to create a bond between it and a succeeding layer as between a subsurface and a terrazzo topping or a succeeding plaster application.
Bright gloss: Colorless or colored ceramic glaze have a high gloss.
Broken joint: Ceramic tile installation featuring each row offset for half its length.
Brushed/Antiqued: Obtained by brushing the stone with a coarse rotary-type wire brush.
Bullnose: A trim tile with a convex radius on one edge. This tile is used for finishing the top of a wainscot or for turning an outside corner.
Bullnose corner: A type of bullnose trim with a convex radius on two adjacent edges.
Butt joint: A plain square joint between two members
Buttonback tile: Tile that have projections on the bondable side. Many of these projections are round and therefore the term buttonback.
Butyl rubber: A copolymer of about 98% isobutylene and 2% isoprene. It has the poorest resistance to petroleum oils and gasolines of any rubber. Excellent resistance to vegetable and mineral oils: to solvents such as acetone, alcohol, phenol and ethylene glycol; and to water and gas absorption. Heat resistance is above average. Sunlight resistance is excellent. It's abrasion resistance is not as good as natural rubber. Usually low permeability to gases.
Catalyst: Substance which markedly speeds up the cure of an adhesive when added in minor quantity as compared to the amounts of primary reactants.
Caulking Compound: A soft, plastic material consisting of pigment and vehicle, used for sealing joints in buildings and other structures where normal structural movement may occur. Caulking compound retains its plasticity for an extended period after application. It is available in forms suitable for application by gun and knife and in extruded preformed shapes
Ceiling mortar: Extra-rich wall mortar.
Cement: Usually refers to portland cement which when mixed with sand, gravel, and water forms concrete. Generally, cement is an adhesive; specifically, it is that type of adhesive which sets by virtue of a chemical reaction.
Ceramic tile: A ceramic surfacing unit, usually relatively thin in relation to facial area, made from clay or a mixture or clay; and other ceramic material, called the body of the tile, having either a "glazed" or "unglazed" face, and fired about red heat in the course of manufacture to a temperature sufficiently high to produce specific physical properties and characteristics.
Cobblestone: A dimension stone, large enough for use in paving. A term commonly used to describe paving blocks (usually granite), generally cut to rectangular shapes.
Colored grout: Commercially prepared grout consisting of carefully graded aggregate, portland cement, water dispersing agents, plasticizers and color fast pigments.
Composition tile: A hard tile surfacing unit made from a mixture of chemicals. The finished surface can be the mixture of chemicals or can be marble chips to create a terrazzo finish. The unit is made hard by the set of the chemicals and the product is not fired as in the manufacture of ceramic tile.
Concrete: A composite material which consists essentially of a binding medium within which are embedded particles or fragments of aggregate; in portland cement concrete, the binder is a mixture of portland cement and water.
Covebase: A trim tile having a concave radius on one edge and a convex radius with a flat landing on the opposite edge. This base often is used as the only course of tile above the floor tile.
Crazing: The cracking which occurs in fired glazes or other ceramic coatings due to critical tensile stresses.
Cure time: The time required to produce vulcanization of hydration at a given temperature. The cure time varies widely, being dependent on the type of compounding used, the thickness of the product, etc.
Curing: Maintenance of humidity and temperature of freshly placed concrete during some definite period following placing, casting, or finishing to assure satisfactory hydration of the cementitious materials and proper hardening of the concrete.
Cushion-edged tile: Tile on which the facial edges have a distinct curvature that results in a slightly recessed joint.
Dead load: A constant load that in structures is due to the mass of the members, the supported structure, and permanent attachments or accessories.
Decorative tile: Tile with a ceramic decoration on the surface.
Density: The ratio of the mass of a body to its volume, or the mass per unit volume of the substance. When G.G.S. units are used, the density of a substance is numerically equal to the specific gravity of the substance referred to water a 4 degrees C, the maximum density (1,000) of water. For ordinary practical purposes, density and specific gravity may be regarded as equivalent.
Distressed Edge: A marred or faded bordered stone conveying an antique or used look.
Double bullnose: A type of trim with the same convex radius on two opposite sides.
Dry pack: Concrete or mortar mixtures deposited and consolidated by dry packing.
Dry packing: Placing of zero slump, or near zero slump, concrete, mortar, or grout by ramming into a confined space.
Dry spots: Small areas on the face of tile which have been insufficiently glazed.
Dutchman: A cut tile used as a filler in the run of a wall or floor area.
Eagle Beak: A 6 inch X 3/4 inch outside corner trim shape. (AC106)
Efflorescence: The residue deposited on the surface of a material by the crystallization of soluble salts.
Encaustic: Tile decorated with colored clays inlaid and fired. Also colored tile laid in a wall or floor to form a pattern.
Epoxy grout: A two-part grout system consisting of epoxy resin and epoxy hardener, especially formulated to have impervious qualities, stain, and chemical resistance, used to fill joints between tile units.
Epoxy mortar: A two-part mortar system consisting of epoxy resin and epoxy hardener used to bond tile to back-up material where chemical resistance of high bond strength is a consideration.
Estimate: Projected cost of materials and labor for a construction project or portion of a project.
Expansion joint: A joint through tile, mortar, and reinforcing wire down to the substrate.
Extruded tile: A tile or trim unit that is formed when plastic clay mixtures are forced through a pug mill opening (die) of suitable configuration, resulting in a continuous ribbon of formed clay. A wire cutter or similar cut-off device is then used to cut the ribbon into appropriate lengths and widths of tile.
Field tile: An area of tile covering a wall or floor. The field is bordered by tile trim.
Filled: An expression used to indicate the filling of natural voids in stone units with cements or synthetic resins and similar materials.
Fire, bisque: The process of kiln-firing ceramic ware prior to glazing.
Fire, single: The process of maturing an unfired ceramic body and its glaze in one firing operation.
Flat trowel: The flat trowel is used in conjunction with the hawk for the transferring of mortar from the mortarboard to the wall or to other vertical surfaces. It is frequently used for spreading pure cement on the finished float coat. The flat trowel also is used for spreading mortar on floor surfaces before tiles are set.
Float strip: A strip of wood about 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/4 inch wide. It is used as a guide to align mortar surfaces.
Floor tile: A ceramic, glazed or unglazed paver, quarry or mosaic tile resistant to abrasion and impact.
Frost proof tile: Tile produced for use where freezing and thawing conditions occur.
Glass mosaic tiles: Tiles made of glass, usually in sizes not over two inches square and 1/4 inch thick, mounted on sheets of paper. Usually sheets are twelve inches square.
Glaze: A ceramic coating matured to the glassy state on a formed ceramic article. The term glaze also refers to the material or mixture from which the coating is made.
Glazed tile: Tile with a fused impervious facial finish composed of ceramic materials, fused into the body of the tile which may be a non-vitreous, semi-vitreous, vitreous, or impervious body. The glazed surface may be clear, white, or colored.
Grout: A rich or strong cementitious or chemically setting mix used for filling tile joints.
Grout saw: The grout saw is a saw-toothed carbide steel blade mounted on a sometimes wooden handle. It is used to remove old grout.
Honed: A satin smooth surface finish with little or no gloss.
Impervious: The degree of vitrification evidenced visually by complete resistance to dye penetration.
Impervious tile: Has water absorption of 0.5 percent or less.
In/Out corner: Trim tile for turning a right-angle inside or outside a wall corner.
Kiln cracks: Cracks in tile, flat or trim, occurring when the tile is fired. Typically, the cracks are from one outer edge and do not go clear across the tile.

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