Chipping of glaze and tile base

Chipping of the glaze and shard (body) of ceramic tiles is a common defect in the cladding of floor surfaces (less often wall surfaces), resulting from the following factors:

1. Laying ceramic tiles without seams . The desire to obtain a continuous coating of ceramic tiles, that is, laying them without seams on large surfaces, can lead to noticeable defects. Subject to temperature and humidity changes, the edges of adjacent tiles in the absence of seams will affect each other, leading to chips of the glaze and/or base. The presence of seams (at least 3-5 mm) allows you to compensate for excess stress.
2. Facing with non-frost-resistant tiles on the street . An important technical indicator for using ceramic tiles outdoors is frost resistance. The absence of this indicator leads to complete destruction of the tile body over several seasons, especially on horizontal surfaces.
3. Periodic impact loads on the coating . In terms of chipping of part of the material, glazed ceramic tiles are most susceptible to this risk, since they are covered with a layer of glass - glaze - an extremely fragile and thin material, which, although bonded to the body of the tile, however, there is a physical and chemical interruption between them. The risk of part of the material breaking off is much lower for unglazed tiles, especially for very dense materials, such as porcelain stoneware. To determine the impact resistance of ceramic tiles, there are certain methods, for example, by measuring the rebound coefficient, standard EN ISO 10545-5.