Our ceramic

Ceramic tiles are thin pieces of material, generally employed to apply on walls and floors, manufactured from different compositions of clays and some other inorganic raw materials.
They go under a grinding and/or kneading, which are later on pressed and dried out to be fired at enough temperature to achieve the required features in a stable way.
Ceramic tiles moulded in dry conform GROUP B

The glaze is a layer vitrified through firing and strongly stuck to the visible face of the support. It has a different composition to the support and in our case – single firing – it is applied over the support in raw before that single firing, becoming the- refore the glazed tile (GL).
Ceramic tiles porosity comes shown as a percentage of water absorption against overall weight of the tile itself, measured via normalized test. The porosity has close relationship with some of the rest of characteristics of ceramic tiles. Besides, water absorption involves another classification:

Group BIII
Ceramic tiles with high water absorption, above 10%.
Their natural features make them particularly suitable for wall coverings, homes or premises.
The support – called biscuit – can be white colour, just light, ochre, brown, red and variable, but in any case this feature affects to its characteristics.

Standard classification: group III, GL, from standards ISO
13006 and UNE-EN 14111, attachmeznt L

Group BIIa
Ceramic tiles with water absorption low to medium, between 3 – 6%
Their characteristics make them suitable for interior floors in homes and premises.
The biscuit can be of different colours: white, just sort of light colour, ochre, brown, red and variable, not affecting to its technical features.
Standard Classification: group BIIa, GL, from standards ISO
13006 and UNE-EN 14111, attachment H and J

Technical Characteristics

DIMENSIONS
Dimensions determine the dimensional features and superficial look, which consists in measure over 10 samples the length, width, thickness, straightness, and flatness of the surface (central curve, lateral curve and warpness.
To this end, it is of utility having in mind these definitions:
Nominal measure: used to design the product
Manufacture measure: it is the expected to the manufacture of the ceramic tile
Real measure: it is the result of measuring the test pieces
according to the mentio- ned standards.

WATER ABSORPTION
Water absorption is a measurement of the porosity of the ceramic biscuit. It shows the quantity of water that pieces absorb, immersed to boiling point during a certain time. It is expressed in % of water absorbed against the dry mass of the pieces.

RESISTANCE TO FLEXION. BREAKAGE STRENGTH
It consists in determining over a sample according to the standard norm the streng- th of breakage en N, necessary to break the tile.
Breakage strength is applicable to floor by agreement in accordance of its use, and may vary depending of the support.
Resistance to flexion for wall tiles is obliged only to tiles for hanging roofs.

SURFACE ABRASION RESISTANCE
It consists in putting the surface of the tiles under the action of an abrasive load. After the test a visual evaluation will determine the deepest phase in which anyone can spot the change in look of the surface tested.

THERMAL SHOCK
Determination of the resistance of the tile, whether it stands without a problem high temperatures. All tiles meet this characteristic due to their inert feature.It is determined referring the tile to 10, cycles of of temperature variations between 15ºC and 145ºC.

CRAZING RESISTANCE
Determination of the resistance to the appearance of fissures taking whole tiles un- der high pressure steam in a pressure cooker, being checked out in search of fissures after applying a dye.

FREEZING RESISTANCE
Important to the usage of tiles in exteriors in cold climates, it studies the behaviour of the tile to cycles of freezing-defrosting after being impregnated of water.

STAINING RESISTANCE
Keeping the surface in contact with several different solutions according to the norm, and afterwards it is applied – also according to the norm – different methods of cleaning. It is established a
classification to determine irreversible changes of as- pect: from class-1 (the stain persists) to class-5 ( the stain is eliminated after rinsed with hot water and wiped off)

CHEMICAL RESISTANCE
Resistance to domestic cleaning products, acids and alkalis.
Application over the surface of each reagent product for a certain time.

Application Advices

Should the pieces be submerged in water during the process ofapplication , and moreover the clear colours, the tiles may experiencea change in tonality. The tile will recover its initial shade once the pieces are dry.

FITTING JOINTS
Fitting joints are the separation left in between adjacent ceramic tiles, despite being done on purpose – functional or looking reasons – or by the need of compensating the dimensional deviations.
In general terms it is considered jointed fitting when the separation in between tiles is equal or wider to 3 mm and minimum jointed fitting when it is narrower. In any case it is not recommended to apply tile with a narrower joint of 1,5 mm.
There is quite a few advantages of employing joints: technical (they absorb defor- mations produced by the support), aesthetics (enhancing the beauty of the tile, which vary deeply depending of the type of tile).
Due to all these reasons CERAMICAS MYR advises to apply its floor tiles with joint of 3 mm minimum.
Dimensional features to apply with minimum joint according to UNEEN ISO 10545- 2. The material must be fixed with continuous joint, if put brickwise then max 20%.

USE AND MAINTENANCE
En general, los revestimientos cerámicos se caracterizan por ser uno de los materiales que presentan In general, wall tiles are known as one of the easiest of use products, and requires very little to keep them in conditions due to the ease of cleaning.
Due to the nature of their surface, ceramic materials avoid adherence phenomenon and in it happens through an intermediate agent (grease, etc) it is easily eliminated by wiping a wet wipe with normal
detergent.

FIRST CLEANING AFTER FITTING
Once the work of fitting tiles has been finished as well as grouting the joints, etc, the surface of the ceramic material will show rests of cement in the shape of a thin lay or small accumulations. In the vast majority of cases it is enough to wipe away with simple vinegar (for instance). It should be enough. There are anyway specific commercial products to take away cement rests, but they must be used with caution as they normally present higher quantities of acid in their chemical formulation.
As a general rule, some cautions must be taken in mind:
— Never clean with acid tiles just fitted.
— It is convenient to wet the surface with clear water before any chemical treatment, what will avoid a possible absorption of some products used when grouting. Wipe with clear water soon after this treatment to fully eliminate chemical rests.
— This kind of works must be carried out by experienced professionals, having always in mind the characteristics of the tiles and the manufacturer advices.
— Avoid at any cost abrasives, hits and punches that might scratch, deteriorate or even break the surface of the floor.

Maintenance: Maintenance works, in normal circumstances, will be just cleaning every now and then with clear water or a light solution with normal detergent, being this enough to give the tile back to its original features.
The appearance of black or dark green stains are usually due to existence of fungus for humidity. To eliminate it you must clean as soon as possible with domestic bleach (try on one just tile before to see the effect). You or a professional must identify the origin of these facts and eliminate the motives of
such humidity.
Replacement. When the job is finished, it is very convenient to keep a small amount of the tiles used (around 1% of the total) for future replacements.
Whenever a job is needed to replace some tiles or other components used during the fixing and grouting, etc will be carried out with the same materials than first time.
Extraordinary cleaning of stains and incrustations.
Sometimes some products that are strong dyers can be dropped or get in contact by accident with the surface of the tile, producing stains or incrustations that cannot be taken out by cleaning procedures.
In these cases you must employ specific cleaning products and works, which election will has to be taken with care and having always in mind the type of wall/floor tile and th nature of the stain. It is recommended before trying to delete such a stain through a hard way to check out the effect on just one tile and a small amount of grout to avoid chemical degradations or mechanical actions that might worsen the problem.
In most cases the use of domestic products is enough to eliminate the most common kind of stains.