Decorative ceramic tile, custom hand made tile for unlimited possibilities

FAQs

All of our tiles are 100% handmade ceramic tiles that are made in the USA. Everything is 100% custom made at the time of the order, per our customers specifications.

You have the choice of loose tiles or film MOUNTED!

Safe for showers and floors?

Can tiles be used outside?

What does vitrified mean?

What grout should I use?

Do I need to seal the grout?

Designers, Engineers, & Contractors

Preparation Process

Can I mix grout colors?

Can dye grout?

Safe for Showers and Floors

Yes, all of our tiles are safe for showers and floors. They are fully vitrified.

Can tiles be used outside?

Yes and No. No tiles should be used in a cold climate on cement surfaces that are shovel. Snow removal will chip ANY ceramic tile. If you live in a warm climate they are fine because they are fully vitrified.

If you use tiles outside in ANY climate, ALWAYS seal the concrete where they are set. This protects the concrete from molds forming beneath the tiles, resulting in popping tiles.

What does vitrified mean?

A tile that is "vitrified" is considered "glass-like. It has been processed in such a way that it has extremely low porosity and water absorption. This means it stain resistant and very strong. By having extremely low porosity, this makes our tiles frost-free.

At Tiles with Style, we use mid-fire porcelain/earthenware clay-bases. These clays must be fired to a specific temperature to be vitrified. We fire to a slightly higher temp to assure that the entire load of decorative ceramic tiles are fully vitrified.

Vitrified tiles have better mechanical strength. They can be used in a variety of temperatures, are scratch resistant, resistant to acid, alkali, and chemicals, and resistant to staining. Stones, such as marble or natural granite, terrazzo, etc. can stain, scratch, and chip.

Most wall tiles, Mexican clay tiles, and decorative tiles are not vitrified. Tiles that are not vitrified can absorb water over time and possibly breakdown.

Tiles with Styles decorative ceramic tiles ARE FULLY vitrified to last for several generations.

What grout should I use?

Always use a "sanded grout." Sanded grout is basically cement with sand and coloring that has been added to it to create a concrete like condition.

If you cannot find a specific color grout, for example blue, you can purchase a neutral tone sanded grout and some cement dye, mix them together and the result will be a custom grout color. Just make certain that you mix an ample amount of grout so you have overage. Otherwise you might not be able to mix up another batch that is exactly the same color.

I would recommend that you weigh the coloring agent prior to mixing, just in case you don't mix enough of the custom color sanded grout.

Do I need to seal the grout?

YES! Always seal the tile grout using a premium grade sealer. These can be purchased at any home improvement store. Buy a top quality sealant like a silicone or teflon sealer. Don't purchase a cheap water-base sealant. These need to be reapplied yearly...just too much work. Especially seal Ceramic tile stove backsplashes should be sealed to resist grease and food splashes!

You DO NOT have to seal the tiles! It's actually best that you don't. Some sealers can leave a residue.

I recommend 501 Impregnator. It's a top quality grout sealer and is available from Home Depot. It's available in a small blue plastic container.

Can I mix grout colors?

YES! Please do! Nothing makes a nicer installation than using your grout color selection coordinate with you design. Below is a drawing that shows 3 colors of grout; PolyBlend Sand, Captain's Blue, and White mixed with Sand and Captain's Blue to get a turquoise color.

Can I purchase a grout dye to add to a bag of grout?

Yes you can! Go to www.directcolors.com. You can purchase an additive there to use with White and Gray SANDED grouts. Specifically see their Concrete Pigment page: http://www.directcolors.com/concretepigment/. Blue colors are near the bottom of the page and include:

"Our house remodel is almost complete and they finally finished grouting the coral reef today. www.DirectColors.com had the blue concrete pigment that you suggested on your website.  It is a true work of art — probably our favorite part of the remodel!  We really love it.  Thanks for creating something we'll be proud of for a very long time!" R & M Hudson, Ft. Walton Beach, FL

Designers, Engineers, & Contractors

Everything is 100% custom, "yes", we make everything from scratch based on the customers unique specifications. Nearly any size, shape, color, texture, and thickness. We use medium fire clays for ALL residential and commercial applications.

See the Ordering link for time to delivery

Preparation Process
also see Design Process

Let me explain why it takes this long to prepare an order...first grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea, it's a little lengthy...first we start with the design, most of our artists take 3-10 hours to create a design. Once the design is finalized and approved, we start the tile process.

First we take a huge, 25 lb. block of wet, mid-fire clay. We cut a chunk off of it by hand and roll it through a slab roller to the required thickness. Then we trace the design onto the slab of clay and cut it out. Sometimes we have to make foam templates for numbers, etc. to raise them off of the tile surface for a slightly raised effect and for a neat appearance-much nicer than a plain flat tile.

The clay piece is transferred to a board and pressed until it dries. This can be anywhere from 3 days, up to 1 1/2 weeks. This process cannot be rushed or the piece will warp and crack, then we have to start all over again...I hate when that happens. During the drying process the tiles have to be rotated to dry boards daily.

Once the clay pieces are dry, they have to be shaped by hand because the clay shrinks and twists as it dries-anywhere from 8% up to 18% depending on the clay base used. Once they nicely fit together, they have to be tooled, wet-sponged smooth, loaded into the kilns, fired to 2000 degrees, and cooled for 2 days.

The clay turns into bisque during the firing process. This is the hardened state without a glaze color. The bisque has to be sponged again to remove any powder that was created during the clay firing and the kilns have to be vacuumed. Then the tile is hand-glazed with the color 3 times, the bottoms wiped off to remove any dripped glaze, loaded into the kiln again, fired to the appropriate temp, and cooled for an addition 2 days.

Once the tiles are complete, they must be rechecked again for proper fit and any glaze errors. They can actually get misshapen again during the glaze firing or a bit of dust can drop onto the glaze, ruining the tile. If they are perfect, then they have to be carefully packed between cardboard & bubble wrap, double-boxed, labeled, etc. for shipping. We then drive to town to take them to the P.O.

As you can see, it's a very time-consuming and exacting process. 

Ceramic Tile Leaves

The tiles are leaf-shaped, not square. Thus our slogan..."It's no longer hip to be square." We feel by eliminating the nasty horizontal and vertical lines caused by the grout lines, the overall appearance is more soothing to the eye. The grout actually becomes part of the design.

You can have the leaf tiles in pretty much any size, shape, color, finish, and thickness. You just need to either tell us your color palette, or send us paint store color swatches of your colors.

The process of installing the decorative tiles is similar to  mosaic tiles. You just arrange them as you see fit. We like to leave the design process up to our clients. Some people use round glass globs as filler tiles, others use stones, broken tile pieces (chards), or tiny ceramic tile leaves for backfill. The tiny ceramic tile leaves are more expensive than medium-sized or large-size leaf tiles because they are very tiny and tedious to prepare.

We can make square tile corner motif's and trim for around the fireplace opening. Most people need those too, but it depends on the type of insert (if any).

Scenerio...if you have 10 linear feet of area to tile, you'll need to tell us the width. 4", 6", etc. That way we can better calculate the size and quanity of leaves, as well as the cost.

If you order, please indicate your custom specs (finish, size, thickness, etc.) as well if you have a leaf preference. Most people go for a mix of vegetation. :)

Ceramic Tile Medallions

We make all our medallion ceramic tile designs from scratch, based on your specific requirements. 

Basically what we do is finalize an order on a tile medallion, based on the customer's needs. Then I pass off the order to one of our very talented artists (or keep it myself) that will create a sketch of your medallion, and select the colors based on your requirements. I then send the sketch and color swatches back to the customer for their approval. Once approved, I enter the order into the artists work queue. We're currently running about 3-4 weeks to delivery.

We make each ceramic tile medallion design unique. They are based on $75 per square foot. The picture below is a sketch of a medallion is a 3x3 foot.  

The photograph below is of the medallion in progress. It is a 5' round. It contains approximately 23 square feet of tile. It costs 23 SF x $75 per square foot.

We can make medallions in ANY size, shape, color, and finish. You just need to tell us what elements you want in the medallion: nautical, birds, rocks, sundial arms, NSEW, frogs, turtles, leaves, etc. It's that simple. Then we create a rough drawing of the medallion for your approval.

More coming soon!