Glass Floor Tiles
Light the Way With Glass Floor Tiles
No one wants to live in a dark gloomy house but since most people are trying their best to conserve energy, they often have no choice. Other homeowners opt to change their flooring or wall covering that absorbs light. Clear glass and glass laminated floors were used to illuminate light from below. But since most homeowners don’t want to do any renovating, glass floor tiles are an excellent substitute.
Glass floor tiles are a convenient sized, modular form of laminate glass panels. Unlike laminated glass floors or clear glass, glass floor tiles reflect back absorbed light instead of illuminating from below. They are great at making most whatever amount of light the room has. Glass floor tiles are frost proof, fade proof and impervious to water, stains, and other chemicals. A lifelong investment, these glass floor tiles never discolour. Glass floor tiles come in variety of shapes like squares, rectangles and polygons and sizes from 1” x 1” as the smallest and 12” x 24” as the largest.
The glass floor tiles are set against crack suppression membranes with a flexible and fast-setting thinset adhesive. When laying glass floor tiles, it is important that no air pockets are trapped beneath the tiles. An uneven underlay can weaken the glass floor tiles and cause them to eventually crack when walked on. Make sure every piece of glass floor tiles are back buttered and settled into its right position to prevent pockets of air.
Most people are sceptical about glass floor tiles. They have numerous concerns whether the glass floor tiles will support weight, scratch or break. Glass floor tiles, just like ceramic tiles, shatter. But this only occurs if they are subjected to sudden impacts or if they are hammered. If the floors where you will install the glass floor tiles are of a high impact use, there are glass floor tile types that are floor-rated for this kind of purpose.
Smalti glass floor tiles, made from a glass paste mixture of silica, metal and metal oxides, have a sort of a rough and cloudy texture that doesn’t show scratches. It also provides the floor an anti-slip protection. Another kind of glass floor tile is the fused glass tiles. This translucent type of glass needs to be textured or etched to protect against scratching and to make it non-slip.
In terms of skid resistance, glass floor tiles are usually slippery when wet. But if you are using 1 × 1″ tiles or smaller on your home floors, the frequent grout lines should create enough texture to inhibit slippage. Others may also opt to use un-textured glass tile inserts for those using large format glass floor tiles.
Make sure to use only floor-rated glass floor tiles when using large format glass tiles. Several glass tile manufacturers such as Interstyle, Villiglas, Vetrotile and Oceanside textured surface large format glass floor tiles. This kind of tiles provides high friction and eliminates slippage.
Save more on your electricity bills and beautify your home at the same time. Select glass floor tiles for your next home improvement project.