The Tile Association

On April 21st the Birmingham Hilton Hotel will host the 14th annual TTA Awards, honouring the very best of the wall and floor tile industry, and celebrating excellence throughout the past year.

The Las Vegas themed awards ceremony promises to be an exhilarating night of entertainment and excitement, but the legacy of the Awards runs far deeper than that. Winning a TTA award is a statement of excellence unparalleled in the wall and floor tiling industry. It is an achievement that provides a platform for further success, elevating the winners standing within the industry, providing not only media coverage and the opportunity to proudly display the TTA award-winners logo, but also recognition from their industry peers.

Following an exceptional high standard of entries this year, the shortlisted nominees await the announcement of the winning entry in each of the 22 categories at The Tile Association Awards Gala Dinner, taking place this Saturday at the Birmingham Hilton Hotel, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.

Being named as a winning entry in one of the 22 categories at the premier night in the tile industry calendar is truly an accomplishment to be proud of. Having been carefully checked for financial, technical and service standards members of The Tile Association are the best in the industry, and those that win the prestigious TTA Awards can proudly be acclaimed as the best of the best.

With The Tile Association exhibiting at ecobuild 2012 this week, TTA would like to bring to your attention the many eco-benefits of wall and floor tiles.

Vibrant and attractive, tiles add style, elegance and value to any property – but their qualities extend far beyond their aesthetic and practical appeal – they are also the eco-friendly choice.

With outstanding properties such as durability and robustness, you can rest assured that your tiles will not need to be regularly replaced. And the benefits don’t stop there, tiles are easy to maintain, waterproof and fire-resistant, they are odour-neutral and highly resistant to mould growth and therefore ideal for use in humid areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Due to the manufacturing method of firing at a high temperature allergenic or other substances, such as mites or germs, are left with no possibilities for nesting. Ceramic tiles are chemically and physically inert, meaning improved health and hygiene through ease of cleaning and no release of dangerous substances to indoor air. Ceramic tiles in particular also have a high thermal conductivity and are therefore an ideal choice for storing heat in the winter, whilst also storing the cool night air in the summer to provide passive cooling.

Over the past few years the tile industry has made great strides in ensuring that materials are recycled, that their procedures are pollution-neutral, and many Tile Association members have implemented highly successful green initiatives.

You can find a TTA fixer or showroom by visiting the directory section of The Tile Association website. And remember, a good tile, properly fixed, will last you a lifetime.

Please click here for more information. Ecobuild will be held at ExCel London from Tuesday 20th to Thirsday 22nd March 2012.

With the shortlist for the 2012 TTA Awards to be announced this week, anticipation continues to build for the biggest event in the tile industry calendar.

There are now just forty days remaining until the annual TTA Awards Gala Dinner, considered to be the premier event in the tile industry calendar, and tickets are selling fast. The prestigious event will honour the best of the wall and floor tile industry, and celebrate excellence throughout the past year.

The dinner will feature the presentation of the 2012 Tile Association Awards, and everybody who is anybody in our industry will be there. It is a chance to rub shoulders with the best in the industry, and as always the event promises to be an exhilarating night of excitement. But the legacy of the Awards runs deeper than that. The Tile Association award-winner logo is a symbol or excellent unparalleled in the tiling industry, showing customers that they are dealing with an award-winning company, and to be named on the shortlist is an accomplishment to be proud of. The event will also continue to raise funds for Children Today, a charity that helps disabled children and young people enjoy a better quality of life.

An evening not to be missed, if you are in the tiling industry – then you need to be at The Tile Association awards.

Tables of 10 are available at a special rate of £995 +VAT. Individual places are available at just £125 + VAT.

Accommodation at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole Hotel is available at a specially negotiated rate, but please note that the hotel gets very busy with this event. So be sure to book early.

To reserve your tickets and book hotel accommodation for The Tile Association Awards visit the ‘Awards 2012’ section of The Tile Association website.

In the UK ceramic and natural stone tiles used to be confined to the bathroom and kitchen but not anymore. Now British homeowners are becoming more like their European neighbours and are using tiles throughout the home. If your home is minimalist loft, cool, uncluttered Scandinavian, richly decorated Victorian or warm country cottage there is a tile that will perfectly reflect and enhance your style.

Why not use the same floor tile throughout the house and change the moods with soft furnishings. Using the same floor covering gives a feeling of spaciousness as the hall blends into the dining room, which merges with the kitchen and melts into the lounge.

Go for the latest porcelain, natural stone lookalikes in trendy pale beige or cream. They provide a neutral background to the rest of your furnishings and are extremely robust and hardwearing. Ring the seasonal changes with colourful rugs Cool pastels for the summer and deep reds and golds for the winter. You can even tile outside as many tiles are frost resistant; but do check. Tile the floors both sides of the patio doors with the same tile and watch as the dining room passes almost imperceptibly into the garden. But don’t forget tile for the rooms in the house that do all the hard work.

In kitchens ceramic tile is ideal on floors, walls, splash backs and work tops. Fat, grease and food spills are just wiped away and dirty footprints from pets and children are no problem. For extra hygiene and assurance you can use a grout with antibacterial protection and you can use bleach and strong cleaners on a glazed ceramic floor with no risk of long term damage.

In bathrooms tiles are clean and hygienic on walls and floors. We all know how careless children and some grown ups can be about water in the bathroom. With ceramic tiles you no longer need to worry; whether it’s from little drips or big drips liquids can just be wiped up. Why not turn your bathroom into a wet room or add a walk in shower. There are kits available for tanking (waterproofing) the walls and floors so that the water stays in the bathroom. With the latest adhesive technology, you can tile on suspended wooden floors so give that bathroom a face lift; and while you are doing that why not treat yourself to a bit of extra luxury and have undertile heating installed? You’ll get the bonus of extra wall space where radiators are no longer needed. The systems are so thin they are easy to install and relatively inexpensive.

For more information, inspiration or to find your nearest TTA fixer or showroom visit: www.tiles.org.uk

Choose your tiles carefully taking advice from a good tile supplier. It is also very important to get the correct adhesives, profiles, mattings and waterproofing systems to ensure the tiling lasts a life time.  A TTA tile fixer or retailer will be able to provide all the necessary information.

For wet areas such as in showers and wet rooms it is essential to tile onto an already water resistant background.  Sand/cement render, dense concrete or water resistant tile backer board are ideal backgrounds. Plaster, plasterboard, timber and timber-based products such as MDF or plywood are absorbent and should be made waterproof by the use of a waterproofing or tanking system.  Failure to do this is currently the most common cause of tiling failures in domestic bathrooms.

Don’t be afraid to be bold.  If, as in most homes, your bathroom is very small then nothing will make it look big.  Make a statement; why not use this, the smallest room to express yourself.  You could go for opulent luxury, off the wall trendy, something to make you smile or stark minimalism. 

It isn’t so long ago that tiling to suspended wooden floors wasn’t practical or advisable and this ruled out most bathrooms.  With modern adhesive technology the vast majority of wooden floors can be tiled.  Your TTA supplier will be able to advise.

The latest trend is for very large tiles and they are particularly suitable for large bathrooms or en-suites where you can carry the tiling through into the bedroom.  Large tiles are heavy so do check that your walls are suitable.

Tiles can add value to your home so be prepared to spend money and time.  Pay a little more and get something that really makes your bathroom special.  For luxury at a modest price tag choose inexpensive plain white wall tiles and add stunning borders or mosaics.  These vibrant tiles can be expensive but you will only be using a small amount.

Make sure floor tiles are suitably slip resistant for bare feet in wet conditions.  Your TTA supplier can advise.

Underfloor heating will add luxury at a surprisingly small cost.  It adds little to the thickness of the floor tiling so can be installed in most cases and it frees up valuable wall space.

If you are tiling yourself buy or hire the best  equipment, it will save time and money and before you start go to The Tile Association website at www.tiles.org.uk and download Tile it Right, a free DIY tiling guide which includes tips on tile selection and calculating the number of tiles needed.

The best tip of all.  Before you start; work out how long it will take you (about three times as long as a professional), how much per hour you earn and how much your house is worth then consider employing a professional.  To find a professional, reliable, experienced tile fixer use a Tile Association member.

When choosing your kitchen tiles, make sure you take advice from a good tile supplier, preferably a TTA retailer. The latest trend is for very large tiles but they may not suit your kitchen, particularly if there are a lot of electrical sockets to cut around. Large tiles are heavy and cannot be fixed to some backgrounds.

Plan how the tiles are to be set out ensuring that borders and motifs are not broken up by electrical sockets and light switches. Mosaics can be very useful in kitchens which tend to have a lot of switches and sockets to cut round. They come on a mesh which can be cut with scissors. Tiling an entire kitchen in mosaic could prove expensive. Instead, use mosaics between the worktop and wall units and choose a complimentary tile for the other wall areas.

Don’t try and match the colour of the worktop, a contrast or a similar colour to the floor, co-ordinating with the units, will always look more effective. Don’t be afraid to mix matt finish tiles with gloss units or worktop and vice versa.

Tiles can add value to your home so be prepared to spend money and time. Wall space in a kitchen is usually limited to between the worktop and wall units so the quantities are small. Pay a little more and get something that really makes your kitchen special.

If you are tiling yourself buy or hire the best equipment, it will save time and money, and before you start go to The Tile Association website at www.tiles.org.uk and download Tile it Right, a free DIY tiling guide which includes tips on tile selection and calculating to number of tiles needed.

Before you start; work out how long it will take you (at least three times as long as a professional), how much per hour you earn and how much your house is worth then consider employing a professional, in other words, a Tile Association tile fixer.

To find a TTA fixer visit the Directory section of The Tile Association website, www.tiles.org.uk.

The Tile Association represents the whole of the UK wall and floor tile industry under one organisation. Its mission is to promote professionalism and technical standards in the tiling industry, as such The Tile Association finds cowboy practices like ‘dot & dab’ fixing to be completely unacceptable.

The British Standard for tiling, BS5385, the code of practice for fixing wall and floor tiles offers guidance on how tiles should be fixed. The guidance below is taken from The Tile Association guide to DIY fixing, Tile it Right, and encompasses the guidance in the British Standard.

Tiling to Walls

Spread the wall tile adhesive using a tile adhesive trowel onto the wall. Work in small areas a metre at a time, so that tiles are fixed before the surface of the adhesive forms a skin. Press and twist the wall tiles into the adhesive starting at the bottom and working upwards, one row of whole tiles at a time, using spacers (if required) to ensure a uniform joint. Check the horizontal and vertical lines with the spirit level every few rows.

Tiling to Floors

Mix floor adhesive as per manufacturers’ instructions and spread with the recommended notched trowel to give a ribbed adhesive bed on the surface to be tiled.

Butter the back of each tile with a thin layer of adhesive immediately before bedding it firmly into the fresh ribbed adhesive bed with a slight twisting motion to ensure a solid bed and prevent voids under the tile.  

Some “solid bedding” trowels and pourable adhesives are available that allow the floor tile to be solidly bedded without the need to butter the back of the tiles.

If you want to be sure of a good quality tiling job, use the services of a Tile Association fixer member. 

To find a TTA fixer member or to download your free copy of Tile it Right , the TTA Fixing Guide, visit The Tile Association website www.tiles.org.uk.

Here are a few pointers about the value of tiled floors. You can download a free PDF version of this information.

In typically wet British weather it is the floors in the house that take the most punishment. With people going in and out of your house with dirty feet why not tile the floors? Kitchen floors that are tiled are hygienic and trouble free and a hall or porch with a tiled floor won’t be damaged by dripping brollies, dribbling wellies and muddy dogs. If your home is at risk of flood damage, then tiling floors will enable you to get your home back to normal much more quickly. When your home is at risk just roll up the rugs and if any water does get in it can be mopped away. Some house insurers insist on replacing existing floor coverings with tile when compensating for flood damage.

You can actually make your floor completely waterproof so the water doesn’t seep into cellars or foundations. Waterproofing systems can be used in areas that may suffer water ingress such as hallways or for the whole of your ground floor. You can put floor tiles, with a waterproofing system, on most suspended wooden floors. Choose the latest hardwearing porcelain, natural stone look a like floor tiles for a really robust floor. Tiles with a textured or riven surface will also add slip resistance even when wet.

Visit your local tile retailer to see the vast selection available and be inspired! Just be sure that it is a TTA member tile showroom and that you use a TTA registered fixer.

Members of The Tile Association are the best in their industry so the TTA logo is your assurance of quality products, excellent service and professional workmanship.

For more information visit www.tiles.org.uk

You can also follows TTA on twitter: www.twitter.com/tileassociation

When you visit a specialist tile shop you will see many types of tiles on display.  We though you might like to know a little more about the types of tiles on the UK market.

Ceramic tiles can be glazed or unglazed. Glazed tiles are available plain or decorated and can be used on walls and floors.

Unglazed ceramic floor tiles are more suited to commercial and industrial settings, but can be used in laundries and utility rooms. They are available with a non-slip profile.

Quarry tiles are a traditional product made in the UK for hundreds of year. They are made from natural clay, squeezed through an extruding machine, and then fired. They are mostly available in terracotta, black and white colours.

Terracotta tiles are also made from local clays. Terracotta means “cooked earth” and these products tend to be very absorbent, so need sealing when used on the floor.

Porcelain tiles are ceramic tiles, but with a very low absorbency. They are usually made from kaolin clays, feldspar, silica and colouring oxides and are fired at about 1200 degrees centigrade. Porcelain tiles are hard wearing and can be used on walls or floors.

Mosaics are very small tiles, usually less than 35cm squared. Mosaics can be glazed or unglazed and made from porcelain, ceramic, glass or natural stone.

Natural stone products; limestone, marble, granite and slate are quarried from the earth. Some are extremely hard, and some quite soft. Some may need sealing.

For more information on tiles and tiling visit TTA’s website: www.tiles.org.uk

Although The Tile Association publishes a guide to DIY tile fixing (Tile It Right) it strongly advises consumers to have their tiles fixed professionally. Professional tiling will give the finishing touch to a well designed kitchen and make a beautiful bathroom truly stunning.

Most people wouldn’t service their own car, cut their own hair or educate their own children - so why tile their own bathroom?  If they work out how long it will take, how much per hour they earn and how much their house is worth it really doesn’t make sense.

When recommending a tile fixer, remember: a plumber isn’t a tiler, a plasterer isn’t a tiler and a kitchen fitter isn’t a tiler.  The Tile Association recommends that all tile fixing work is carried out in accordance with the British Standard code of practice for wall and floor tiling, BS5385.  Do check that your tiler understands the standard and adheres to it. 

The Tile Association doesn’t just accept anyone into their ranks. Every business wishing to join has its financial health and company reputation checked out. Fixers and tiling contractors will need to provide customer references and some projects may be inspected.

Finish the job properly – choose a tile fixer who is a member of The Tile Association.  Click here to find a TTA tile fixer.