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Interior design trends and new developing ideas have challenged existing interior room decoration and led to a new face in interior design in both commercial and personal properties. Vinyl floor tiles are often used by interior designers due to their multiple features. Vinyl tiles are considered as an alternate material to ceramic flooring tiles, they are relatively cheap compared to other flooring tiles but still have a similar appearance to the more expensive tiles. Vinyl flooring tiles are also easy to install but the cost of maintenance should be kept in mind when purchasing the tiles. Vinyl tiles should be chosen according to their usage and durability, kitchen and bathroom tiles will vary from living room tiles in their features. Vinyl flooring tiles have come a long way with many developments and new designs in the past few years. With a wide range of tiles in different looks, colors and sizes etc. A lot of manufacturers provide a variety of tiles for the customer to purchase, however the durability and quality may vary from one manufacturer to the other. These tiles can exhibit the appearance of stone, hardwood, decorative and geometrics patterns or overall decorative patterns. They are also available in different glossy looks or shiny looks, which come in three styles which are high gloss, medium gloss and low gloss. There are a selection of good Vinyl tiles which are used for flooring designs. Basically there are four types of vinyl tiles for flooring designs, which are as follows: • Inlaid tiles which are made up of granules deposited in the vinyl backing with an added wear layer on the top of the tile. • The second most popular basic tile is the printed vinyl tile; these are made up of three layers. The bottom layer is made up of vinyl, felt or fiberglass, this layer is surrounded with a core layer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) solution. • The third tile is called the solid tile or the homogenous tile; it only has one layer of vinyl which covers bottom and top layer. Most commonly it is used in commercial buildings due to its durability during rigorous usage. • Finally, the last type of tile is the cushioned floor tile; where the bottom layer is cushioned, a printed pattern is mounted onto it and the top layer is added with a wear reducing material. Patterns for tiles. There are 2 methods of putting a pattern onto the tiles which are: • Inlaid pattern - in this type of method, chips or granules are deposited onto the bottom layer of vinyl backing, forming a pattern for the tile. When the backing is filled, it is mounted with a top layer of wearing, this thickens the structure giving the tile a strong endurance. • Rotogravure pattern- in this process granules or chips are deposited on the core layer to form the pattern and the top layer is mounted with a wearing. The tile is then heated to bind the layers together. Types of wear layers and their importance: The most important part of the vinyl tile is the thickness of the wearing; it is the part which holds the heaviness of traffic and enforces the endurance power of the tile i.e. resisting damages and stains. It is the wearing again which determines the cost of the tile. There are three types of wearing: • Vinyl No Wax- This is the type of surface that gives off a shiny look and has a thinner top layer. It can be used where foot traffic is not great. This type of wearing tile requires polishing time to time in order to retain their shine. • Urethane (PVC) - this type of tile does not require regular maintenance to keep up its appearance. It is easy to clean and offers more resistance to stains, it has high durability. • Enhanced Urethane- it is the most long lasting wear layer because it does not need regular care or maintenance to keep it like new one. There are many advantages to Vinyl tiles such as they are easy and quick to install. They are cheaper than ceramic tiles and are also flexible compared to ceramic tiles. A variety of colors and design are available and they are easy to replace when they are damaged.
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