Tile
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A tile is a small, manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as clay or stone used for covering roofs, floors and walls. Other similar objects, such as rectangular counters for playing games, are also called tiles (see tile-based game).
Roof tiles
Roof tiles are designed mainly to keep out rain, and are traditionally made from locally available materials such as clay, slate and wood (wooden tiles are called shingles). Modern materials such as concrete and plastic are also used. Some clay tiles have a waterproof glaze.
Because of their long history, a large number of shapes (or 'profiles') of roof tiles have evolved. These include:
- Flat tiles - the simplest type, which are laid in regular overlapping rows. This profile is suitable for stone and wooden tiles, and most recently, solar cells.
- Roman tiles - flat in the middle, with a concave curve at one end at a convex curve at the other, to allow interlocking.
- Pantiles - with an S-shaped profile, allowing adjacent tiles to interlock. These result in a ridged pattern resembling a ploughed field.
- Mission or barrel tiles - semi-cylindrical tiles made by forming clay around a log. Laid in alternating columns of convex and concave tiles.
Roof tiles are 'hung' from the framework of a roof by fixing them with nails. The tiles are usually hung in parallel rows, with each row overlapping the row below it to exclude rainwater and to cover the nails that hold the row below.
Floor tiles
These are made of stone or clay. Clay tiles may be painted and glazed. Small tiles may be laid in patterns to form mosaics. The tiles are usually laid on a bed of sand, with cement sometimes added for extra strength. The gaps between the tiles are finally filled with a mortar mixture.
Wall tiles
These are usually ceramic, but other materials such as mirrored glass or polished metal can be used. Wall tiles are usually glazed, and often patterned by painting or embossing. Pictorial tiles, consisting of many tiles that the installer assembles like a jigsaw puzzle to form a single large picture, are available.
Modern wall tiles are fixed to a wall using a synthetic tile adhesive. The spaces between the tiles are filled with a fine cement called grout, which is rubbed smooth before it hardens.
Mathematics of tiling
Certain shapes of tiles, most obviously rectangles, can be replicated to cover a surface with no gaps. These shapes are said to tessellate (from the Latin tessera, 'tile').
History on tiles
Tiles were developed as a product of earthenware pottery.
Tile is also the name of a town in Somalia.
