There are two main reasons for covering floors and walls with finishing materials. Firstly, from an aesthetic point of view, the appearance of the surface is significantly improved. Secondly, finishing coatings protect the wall and floor from harmful environmental influences, provide impermeability, stability, strength and durability, and also make it easy to keep clean.
There is a wide choice of finishing materials for cladding floors and walls, and various installation methods are used. For walls, you can use cement or gypsum plasters, paint, wallpaper, cover with fabric or cork. The floor can be covered with natural stone such as marble or granite, concrete stone, wood, plastic (in the form of sheets or tiles), carpeting, etc.
Currently, ceramic tiles, one of the oldest materials, are very popular. Already in ancient Babylon in the 4th century BC, ceramic tiles were used as a finishing material. Over the centuries, production technology and potential were gradually expanded and improved, and this material remained a luxury item for the rich. In the 20th century, especially after World War II, with the advent of mass production technologies, the production of ceramic tiles underwent significant development. A typical example is Italy, where production has a long history. At the initial stage of this development, ceramic tiles had to satisfy such requirements as hygiene and ease of maintenance. Most often it was used to finish floors and walls in the bathroom and kitchen. The ceramics industry developed rapidly, new types of glazes appeared, new production technologies and new materials were introduced, and the range and types of tiles offered expanded significantly. As a result, ceramic tiles began to be used for finishing the hall, hallway, bedroom, and also became the most suitable material for the construction of public and industrial premises, for interior and exterior cladding.
Ceramic tiles have gained such popularity for two reasons: firstly, a wide range of colors, a variety of shapes and decoration possibilities offer the designer and architect a wide choice of design solutions compared to other finishing materials; secondly, the technical characteristics of ceramic tiles greatly exceed the characteristics of the materials mentioned earlier. It has long been known and confirmed by testing in many laboratories that ceramic tiles have a greater degree of resistance to chemical reagents than marble and granite, are not subject to cuts and scratches like wood, linoleum and carpets, are not flammable and do not leave marks after contact with fire and hot materials. items such as cigarettes. In addition, ceramic tiles are easy to keep clean, difficult to damage, and have a high degree of hardness and wear resistance. Such properties are not typical for other materials.