search  current discussion  categories  forms - tiles 

tiles for counter

updated mon 23 feb 98

 

Sandra K. Tesar on wed 18 feb 98

Hello there. I am fairly new to clayart so bear with me. I was talking
with a potter friend this morning who wants to try some tiles. Her
pottery is majolica and her clays and familiarity is with low fire. Her
question: Can she use greenware tiles from a local ceramics shop, low
fire with her own glazes and use as a counter top in a little used
bathroom? Will the tiles hold up to the task? She does not want to make
her own tiles...but wants to glaze them from the green stage. She plans
to do the counter and up the wall around the mirror. Anyone familiar
with functional tile work and what you can use? Thanks in advance,
Sandra
sashart@juno.com

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

Leslie McPherson on thu 19 feb 98

Sandra...

I would use high fire for the actual counter top...the low fire might be
okay for the wall tiles. High fire tiles stand up better to things being
dropped on them far better than low fire.

Leslie

JLHclay on sat 21 feb 98

I learned something very important when I grouted my white matte stoneware
tiles, matte glazes absorb grout color. I have pale gray tiles now that looks
great with my dk gray grout.

Unruly JuliE on sun 22 feb 98

matt tiles can be sealed with a sealant before grouting, that does
not affect the look of the "matt" tile. It makes washing off the
grout residue a breeze.

We tiled a 180 sq.foot bathroom in 1" sq. matt porcelain tiles.
We learned the hard way that there was a better way. It took us
both 3 days of scrubbing, one tile at a time, to get the grout
residue off the tiles. When we did the closet about 6 months
latter, we sealed it first and did not have a problem at all
getting the residue off.

JuliE

Yvonne M. Pund on sun 22 feb 98

Just read about your tiles absorbing the stain. I ran into this with
commerically purchases tiles once. I spayed the tiles with silcone tile
sealer before grouting and this kept most of the stain off the tiles.
Could work for you maybe.
On Sat, 21 Feb 1998, JLHclay wrote:

> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I learned something very important when I grouted my white matte stoneware
> tiles, matte glazes absorb grout color. I have pale gray tiles now that looks
> great with my dk gray grout.
>