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Glossary

Confused about 'rectification', or unfamiliar with terms like 'back buttering'? Whatever your existing knowledge, this is a layman-friendly guide to all terms tiling related.

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Back Buttering

The direct application of adhesive to the back of a tile to improve coverage.

Battens

Straight-edge wooden battens are used to align the tiles horizontally and vertically, and to support their weight while the adhesive dries when fixing wall tiles.

Bed

The depth of applied adhesive or mortar into which tiles laid.

Bevel Format

The tile has been cut to create angled edges that slope away from the flat top surface.

Biscuit/ Bisque

The name given to the ceramic tile body moulded under high pressure and then fired.

Bonding Agent

A substance applied to a suitable substrate to create a bond between it and a succeeding layer such as render, screed or plaster.

B
Bookmatching

The practice of matching two stone or marble surfaces, so that two adjoining surfaces mirror each other, giving the impression of an opened book. Bookmatched porcelain tiles, in both marble and other stone-effects, are an increasingly common design feature. End-matched tile installations - a pattern that runs across four tiles – is also growing in popularity.

Border Tile

Any tile, differing in appearance to the field tiles, used to frame a central body of tiles to add an extra design element to a tiling scheme.

Breaking Strength

A tile’s breaking strength, as defined by BS EN ISO 10545-4: 2004, indicating its resistance to cracking or chipping. Typical ceramic floor tiles have a breaking strength of approx. 113kg, which rises to approx. 181kg for porcelain tiles.

Broken Joint

Ceramic tile laying pattern in which each row is offset by half the length of a single tile.

British Standard/ BS 5385

British Standard relating to wall and floor tiling:

  • Part 1 is a code of practice for the design and installation of internal ceramic and natural stone wall tiling and mosaics in normal conditions.

  • Part 2 is a code of practice for the design and installation of external ceramic and mosaic wall tiling in normal conditions.

  • Part 3 is a code of practice for the design and installation of internal and external ceramic floor tiles and mosaics in normal conditions.

  • Part 4 is a code of practice for the design and installation of tiling and mosaics in specific conditions.

  • Part 5 is a code of practice for the design and installation of terrazzo tile and slab, natural stone and composition block floorings.

British Standard/ BS 12002

British Standard relating to the determination of transverse deformation for cementitious adhesives and grouts.

British Standard/ BS 12004

British Standard providing definitions and specifications for adhesives for tiles.

British Standard/ BS 13888

British Standard providing definitions and specifications for grouts for tiles.

British Standard/ BS 14411

Provides definitions, classification, characteristics and marking of ceramic tiles.

Brushed

The stone's surface is brushed with rotary diamond pads, resulting in a textured finish to the surface and rounded edges.

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