“There is lot beneath the DESIGN”, Dinesh Vyas, Advisor, H & R Johnson
Moment we think of ‘building material’, what comes to our minds is an under construction building, steel, cement, frames, dust, noise, men and machine under operation. Durability seems to be at the top concern for all building material as buildings are expected to remain there for decades! But are we really conscious about this when it comes to tiles, particularly for flooring? Honest answer is no. Not because people don’t know or want it; because somehow most people do not think beyond aesthetics. Why don’t they think? Because other things are already taken care of in tiles! Wrong. There is huge variety of tiles. They may look same and looks could be deceptive. Tiles need to satisfy functional and durability aspects also.
Advance technology can produce closely resembling tiles which have different characteristics. Creative marketing communication further complicates the issue and most construction professionals and customers think that if their tiles are ‘vitrified’, everything is taken care of. It is a wrong conception.
There is lot beneath the design and beyond the water absorption. Look for surface characteristics like breaking strength, hardness, slip resistance, scratch resistance and stain resistance. Performance of a tiled surface depends on the entire tiling system, not just the tile. Not every tile performs equally well in all usage conditions. Next is the tile installation process. It is high time when companies start educating the construction professionals to achieve desired results.
Good thing is that few building material companies seem to acknowledge this gap and initiate some efforts, The first step has to be an awareness drive for all stakeholders that include construction professionals, product makers and product users.