Building Construction Materials and Techniques

4

TILES AND CERAMIC MATERIALS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Naturally available clay is used directly or in the processed form to make tiles and ceramic materials apart from making bricks.

Tiles are thin slabs made out of brick earth by moulding and then burning them. The best clay for tile making is generally found a few metres below the brick earth. Tiles have been used for roofs, floors, walls, etc.

Ceramics is the term used for the act of making objects with a special type of clay. This term is derived from the Greek word keramos meaning potter’s earth. Clay for ceramics is the product of chemical weathering of various types of rocks. Orthoclase feldspar is mainly responsible for the production of clays in nature. This mineral forms kaolinite during ...