Cement Tile Technical Information

Product Description

  • Cement tiles are made of decorative-quality concrete and are composed of two layers, a pigmented color layer (a single color, or multi-color patterns), and the structural tile body.
  • Cement tiles are handmade, and non-fired.
  • Cement tiles can perform in most applications, including commercial, with the correct sealant.

Manufacturing Processing

  • Cement tiles are completely handmade. The pigmented cement mixtures are prepared in batches and every component is weighed in order to guarantee color consistency. The mixture is tumbled in a mechanical mixer to guarantee a uniform distribution.
  • A slurry is formed by adding water, and the color slurries are hand poured into the pattern molds. The thickness of the color layer will always be between 3 and 5 millimeters. Two layers of cement and sand aggregate are poured on top of the color layer and then the tile is pressed using a hydraulic press which applies 1,700 PSI of pressure.

Product Components

A. Wear Layer or Color layer

  • 3-5 mm thickness. The layer is composed of:
  • White Portland Cement
  • Marble Dust
  • Silica Sand
  • Calcium Carbonate
  • Mineral Pigments for Color (i.e. Iron, Cobalt and Chromium Oxides)

B. Tile Body

  • 8-12mm mm thickness. This part of the tile is composed of:
  • Gray Portland Cement
  • Silica Sand
  • Calcium Carbonate
  • Optionally: Reinforcement fibers

Manufacturing Tolerance

  • For 20x20 cm tile:
  • Length/width: +/- 0.4 mm
  • Height: 0.7mm

Dimensions

  • 20 cm x 20 cm (8" x 8")
  • 1.3 kg/tile (2.9 lbs)
  • 32.5 kg/m2 (6.53 lbs/sqf)
  • 25 tiles/m2 (2.25 tiles per sqf)

Average Coefficient of Friction

  • Unpolished / dry: 0.88
  • Unpolished / wet: 0.92
  • Polished / dry: 0.83
  • Polished / wet: 0.68
  • Slip Prevention Rating - R9 as tested by the Berufsgenossenschaftliches Institut für Arbeitsschutz (BGIA) (Institute for Occupational Safety and Health - Germany), untreated raw tile.

Abrasiveness (scratch-resistance)

  • 3-4 Mohs - (Comparable to marble)

DIN 18500

  • Assessment according to DIN 18500 in preparation.

Freeze/Thaw Resistance

  • Like concrete, cement tiles are not resistant to freeze/thaw cycles and should not be used outdoors where freezing temperatures may exist.

Acid Resistance

  • Cement tiles are not resistant to acids and should be cleaned with pH neutral cleaners.

Use in Wet Areas

  • A high quality effective sealant must be used for shower, spa, or pool use. Villa Lagoon tiles have been tested using numerous sealants. We can make recommendations with your order, if the application falls outside of the scope of our house sealant.

Common Formats

Generally the most common and most economical format for cement tile is 8" square (20cm), though 8" hex is becoming very popular. Price per square foot tends to increase as you move away from these sizes. Smaller formats are more labor intensive, while larger formats suffer more losses to breakage.

Freeze Thaw Resistance

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Skirting baseboard tiles

Freeze Thaw Resistance

Several relief patterns are available for added slip prevention outdoors, and we may be able to to provide sandblasting services by request to increase the slip prevention for larger commercial projects.