Cement Tiles 101. Encaustic Tile Installation in Los Angeles.

What you should know. 

Hello, students! 

This is your friendly professor of everything related to tile installation in the Los Angeles, Glendale, Beverly Hills, Burbank, and overall Southern California area. 

Take out your pens and notebooks. 

Class is now in session! 

Oh, don’t worry. There won’t be a quiz later and I won’t be sending anyone to detention. 

What I actually want to do is tell you some interesting information about tile. 

With so many tiling options out there, it can be difficult to choose the right tile for your project. 

Hopefully, this will help make the choice easier and also teach you some fun facts you didn’t know. 

For starters, let’s learn a little bit about the origins of tile and travel back in time to the year 711 in Moorish Spain. 

It was a turbulent period in history. Lots of fighting. Lots of blood.  

Berber tribesman and their Arab allies crossed what are now called the Straits of Gibraltar from North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, conquering virtually everything they saw and laying the foundations of what is now modern day Spain. 

This is also the first recorded instance of tile making an appearance. 

These early tiles were usually created by using a mixture of ground clay, sand and various colorful pigments. 

They would then be used to decorate bathhouses, courtyards, and places of worship. 

Unfortunately for the common person, only the rich and powerful could afford to decorate their courtyards with tile back then. 

Imagine that! No affordable and professional tile contractors in your area who are just a phone call away. The absolute horror! 

Fast forward to around 1855-1875 in Northeastern Spain and Southern France. 

Concrete tiles began to appear around that time period once again, but they were still pretty expensive. 

These tiles were commonly referred to as “encaustic cement tile” or simply “encaustic tiles” due to them resembling the popular encaustic clay tiles of those times. 

Back in those days, fire and energy were very costly, so it was more expensive to make tile out of clay. 

As I just mentioned, making cement tile was also fairly pricey, but at least those tiles were not fired. Thus, cement was the cheaper option of the two. 

Now let’s come back to the present day. 

In modern times, pretty much anyone can enjoy the benefits and beauty of cement tiles. 

And you don’t even have to be a French or Spanish aristocrat! 

It is far easier and more practical to have cement tile nowadays than it has ever been before. 

Unlike those early days of tile making, we now have many newer tile materials and manufacturing methods thanks to advancements in technology. 

Thanks to the rugged quality of cement, we can use cement tile for high-traffic areas, such as entryways. 

The main advantage of using this material is the large amount of options when it comes to colors and tile patterns. 

Since concrete tile is not a natural stone, it’s possible to create pretty much any color or pattern that you can think of. 

And it can be installed almost anywhere! 

Although if you live in a very damp area or a part of the world that experiences very cold temperatures, it is often better suited for the indoors. 

A typical cement tile will usually have two layers. 

The first layer, or the face of the tile, is a most likely be a mixture of white cement, powdered white marble and natural colorants. 

The second layer, is typically a mortar made out of sand and standard gray cement. 

The end result of this combination is a kind of tile that looks great and has a lot of endurance. 

Ok, but what about other materials besides cement? 

What if you’re not concerned with high-traffic areas and want something shinier? 

No worries, there’s also the option of having clay and glazed porcelain tiles for that. 

These tiles won’t be as durable as the cement option, so I wouldn’t recommend using them for a mudroom or anything like that. 

However, there are times when clay looks better and makes sense for a specific application. 

Clay tile is typically made out of a mixture of… you guessed it… clay, as well as post-consumer glass, porcelain, and granite dust. 

Clay body tile can be used in many indoor applications, such as kitchen backsplashes, as well as some exterior applications as well. 

For outdoor applications, such as swimming pools, a lot may depend on the region you’re in just like the case was with cement. 

It’s basically a great option for the more sensitive non-high traffic areas that need to look extra nice. 

Regardless of whether you end up choosing clay or cement tile though, you can rest assured knowing that the finished product will be worthy of a Spanish noble. 

History itself tells us so!

Of course, if you would ever like more help with all of your tiling related needs, feel free to contact us and our friendly tile contractors will answer all of your questions. 

Here at Joseph & Sons Tile, we are your go-to LA tile experts and we will gladly assist you in choosing the tile that is right for you.

And with that, my dear students, class is dismissed!