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!
Can tiles be used outside?
Do I need to seal the grout?
Can I mix grout colors?
Can dye grout?
Yes, all of our tiles are safe for showers and floors. They are fully
vitrified.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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
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
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!
If you would like more information on
my products or would like to place an order, contact Diane @ Tiles with Style at
dholycross@tileswithstyle.com
OR her directly @ 716.870.7172. If there are cell phone signal
problems, please call 716.791.4229.
We pride ourselves on our customer
service!
I
look forward to hearing
from you! |
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