Since ancient times, the hearth has been considered a symbol of reliability and comfort in various parts of the globe. It was from him that for centuries people received warmth and prepared food in it; he gathered all generations of the family around him.
Each culture has its own special practice of decorating a stove or fireplace. In most cases, in addition to the aesthetic function, such decorative details improved technical characteristics and served as elements of magical protection of the house and family.
Today, not everyone knows about tiles, what it is and why they are needed. Recently, however, interest in this method of decorating various surfaces has been increasing. Owners of their own houses and cottages, when decorating fireplaces and stoves in their homes, are increasingly paying attention to this beautiful and functional material.
What are tiles
Tiles are burnt clay tiles of various shapes, but mostly rectangular and square. Their outer side can be either single-color or decorated with multi-colored relief images. A design feature that distinguishes tiles for a stove or fireplace from ordinary tiles is that the inside of them looks like a box that is open at the top, and it’s called roulep.
How do they
Before proceeding with the manufacture of tiles, a gypsum model is made, with which the mold is then removed. The composition obtained from sifted clay and water mixed in certain proportions is laid in it, and then slightly dried. Then the billet is removed and sent for four hours to the muffle furnace, the temperature in which is in the range from 950 0 to 1200 0 . After "cooking" the furnace is turned off, wait for it to cool completely and remove the tile from it.
After the final cooling, the tiles for the fireplace, stoves or decorative decoration are cleaned and adjusted among themselves, and only after that they start painting with engobe or oil paints. Engobes are clays that have different compositions and change their color after heat treatment. After drawing, the tile is coated with a special glaze and allowed to dry. Then again sent to the oven and re-fired. Such products are called majolica. In addition, unglazed tiles are also produced, which are called terracotta.
What are they
Talking about what tiles are, you should separately talk about the diversity of their species. By texture, these tiles are embossed and smooth, and by color - plain and multicolor. According to geometric forms, tiles are divided into:
- shaped;
- basement;
- wall (flat);
- angular;
- cornice.
Shaped tiles are used in the decoration of convex sharp corners of a fireplace or stove. Basement tiles, outwardly similar to baseboards, are used to decorate the joint of the lower tiled row and the floor surface. The main smooth surfaces are laid out flat - with wall tiles, and corners are trimmed with corner elements.
Tiles for a stove, fireplace or wall decoration can be the same, but the plot canvas made up of them looks beautiful, especially on large surfaces.
How to decorate them
As in previous times, tiles are made by hand, only when applying patterns use devices. Modern masters can create a variety of decorative effects on the external tiled surface. The tiles can be applied with an artistic pattern, age the surface or make it dull, smooth or create a convex pattern.
The better to revet a fireplace or stove
Tiles are stamped from a special semi-synthetic press material. Tiles are made only manually from clay. So this piece of finishing material is almost a work of art. In addition, the tiles are thicker and have a rump on the inside, due to which they are attached to the decorated surface. In addition, tiles with rump, covered with clay composition, not only additionally accumulate heat, thereby increasing the efficiency of the fireplace or stove, but also protect masonry joints from "burnout". Due to the fact that the tile does not have a special fastening system, it will not last long on the surface of the stove or fireplace: either it will fall off itself, or it will simply “tear” it.
Advantages and disadvantages
The use of tiles can not only enrich the interior artistically, but also they:
- accumulate heat;
- increase the efficiency of stoves and fireplaces;
- contribute to greater structural strength, which are fixed;
- create additional protection of the room from carbon monoxide penetration;
- mask a variety of external defects;
- effectively heat the room, but do not heat up;
- easy to care for;
- allow to show individuality of owners;
- beautiful and unique;
- durable and also resistant to negative environmental influences.
Among the large number of advantages, the following “cons” of tiles can be distinguished:
1. Quite a lot of weight, because of which it is possible to clad only massive stoves and fireplaces.
2. The high cost of both the material itself and the installation work.
3. High-quality laying of tiles, so that they serve not only you, but also your great-grandchildren, is possible only by an experienced specialist due to the high complexity of the technology.
In the article we tried to tell what tiles are, how they are made, about the advantages and disadvantages of this material. When thinking about the decor of your home or stove, think about this antique, but very relevant decor. Maybe this is exactly what you need?