ROOFING PRODUCTS :

The roofing tiles are earthenware that is baked

products. Its manufacture is similar to that of brick.

Types of Tiles
1. Pan Tiles
2. Pot Tiles
3. Mangalore Tiles
1. Pan tiles: These tiles are curved in section. These are 33 cm
to 38 cm long and 23 cm to 28 cm wide.
2.Pot tiles: These are semi circular in section and taper along
the length. The diameter at larger end is about 23 cm and at
the smaller end it is about 20 cm.
3.Mangalore tiles: These are flat pattern tiles with suitable
key projection. About 16 tiles are required to cover one
square meter of roof.
FLOORING TILES:

• Floor tiles are too designed to bring the beauty of

flooring and movement.
• But it is subjected to higher load, pressure and other
undesirable material action.
• So, these tiles are made more durable, abrasion resistant,
water impervious and easy clean form.
• Floor tiles along with the mentioned properties should
also provide good aesthetics.
1. CERAMIC TILES:
Ceramic tiles are used for the interior floors, swimming
pools, exterior floors, walls and for special installation
both in interior and exterior cases.
Most types of tiles come under the category of ceramic
tiles. They are made from a mixture of clay and other
materials. They are fired in a kiln. Types :
 Earthenware tiles & Stoneware Tile
 Terracotta and faience
 Vitrified tiles
i) Earthen Ware & Stone Ware:

The earthenware tiles are made of clay while

the stoneware tiles have a large quantity of silica
that is present in the form of sand, crushed
stoneware etc. 

Stone Ware Tile

Earthen Ware Tile

ii) Terracotta Floor Tiles

Terracotta Floor Tiles cannot be laid in paper joint.

There must be laid with a minimum of 3 mm space
between tiles.
This is because of two reasons, one is size variation
up to 3 to 4 mm is common and the edges of terracotta
flooring tiles is not sharp cut due to limitation in
production.
The space in between the tiles is filled later with a paste of
cement mixed with red or black oxides or different colours
of joint fillers or epoxy of any contrast colours can give a
stunning royal look for terracotta flooring.
 Cleaning excess joint filler while filling without letting
it getting dried is very important. It will be very difficult
to clean once the excess joint fillers make stain on tiles. 
Mild acid wash can be done to clean terracotta tiles to
clean though stains.
Light, tile to tile colour variation can also be noticed even in
the same production lot. This is caused because, in India we
most of the time produce flooring tiles by burning with
firewood and this variation in burning can cause the colour
variation.
Terracotta Floor Tiles
ii) Faience Floor Tiles :

Terracotta tiles are manufactured by the

use of high-grade fired clay.
When the firing is done twice ,
unlike the case of terracotta tiles, we obtain the faience.
Faience initially is subjected to fire, that is initially
terracotta.
After glazing the terracotta tiles, it is again fired. This
will finally give Faience.
 The Faience is available in large variety of color change.
This would help for improving the terracotta works.
iii) Vitrified Tile:
 Vitrified tiles are tiles that are made from clay materials
plus other finely ground materials.
 These are subjected to a higher temperature firing.
 Fully vitrified tiles are those tiles whose whole thickness
are also vitrified.
 Vitrified ceramic tiles have higher abrasion resistance and
can be employed in the areas of heavy traffic. These tiles are
said to hard as granite. These are polished with the help of
carbide or diamond abrasive tools. When compared to
vitrified tiles, the glazed tiles are not long lasting.
Vitrified Tile:
iv) Hourdi Tile:

The hourdi block is used to create floors and roofs.

 These blocks rest either on reinforced concrete T

beams or on ferrocement channels.

 As these blocks are hollow they create roofs which

are more comfortable under a hot climate.

 The resistance of these blocks is extremely high. We

could not break 8 hourdis with 750 Kg stacked upon
them, which means about 3125 Kg/m2.
PORCELAIN TILE:

 The manufacture, absorbing capacity and the breaking

strength of porcelain tiles differ from the ceramic tiles. The
porcelain tiles are also made from clay. But compared with
the ceramic tiles, they make use of heavy or denser clay.
 Porcelain tiles during manufacture are subjected to heavy
temperature for a longer time. This baking is carried out
until all the water present in the element is evaporated. This
unique method of manufacture makes these tiles harder and
denser compared to ceramic tiles.
This is the reason why porcelain tile is regarded as a
superior product when factors of durability, design, color
and value factors are considered.

 Porcelain tiles are highly impervious to water. It has a

water absorption rate lesser than 0.5%.
The cost of porcelain tiles is higher when compared to the
ceramic tiles. These tiles are a type of vitrified tiles. It is
sometimes referred to as porcelain vitrified tiles.
The porcelain tiles demand special cement for their
installation.
These tiles are harder and denser compared to ceramic
tiles.
So, when these tiles are used for wall surfaces, the
cement that has high adhesive property are used.
The porcelain tiles that are polished are also available in
the market. After firing of the tiles, they can be polished.
This would bring a shine in the tile, without any glazing.
PORCELAIN TILE: