Cement tiles and marble grit tiles
Cement tiles and marble grit tiles are materials with a simple origin and were very popular in Italy during the 19th century because they were easy to produce in various colours, motifs and designs.
Floral borders and “carpets” in marble grit imitated venetian terraces while full colour cement tiles were used for geometric designs. Today the designs and motifs are produced using the original manual techniques used in the past while single colour tiles and marble grit tiles are produced by a mechanical artisanal methods.
The principal difference between the two is the granulatory aspect: in the marble grit the piece of marble and pebbles are clearly visible while the cement tile are composed of cement, oxides and marble powder.
THE SURFACES BEFORE BEING SMOOTHED AND POLISHED
HAVE DIFFERENCES SO THAT EACH PIECE HAS A UNIQUE CHARACTER.
Form and finishing
The traditional form is a 20/25cm square.
Products in 10×10, 40×40 and 60×60 are also available. A hexagon format of 11,5 or 14,4cm per side is available. We can also produce alternative formats.
Marble grit tiles can have a opaque, polished, antiqued or smoothed finish (cement tiles may be semi polished, goffered or smoothed).
Maintenance
Marble grit and cement tiles require a protective treatment after laying. They may be smoothed out and if necessary can be treated with water repellent and oil repellent products without changing the surface appearance. A wax treatment is often chosen. To clean and maintain we suggest specific soaps which can be diluted in water.
