Glass Tiles
From Floor Coverings
Contents |
What are glass tiles?
Where can you use glass tiles in my home?
Glass flooring is certainly not for those people afraid of heights. It can be used as a walkway seen from the lower floor of a house so that light from a ceiling window or skylight will be appreciated by those looking upward. It has been used as a bridge floor for a semicircular pathway hanging out over the edge of the Grand Canyon. Staircases made from glass and glass blocks can be gorgeous accents for a commercial building or home. Liquid sealed within glass tiles is an innovative building product.
Glass flooring applications.
A famous application for glass flooring is its use in glass bottomed boats, usually in tourist spots in Hawaii or other tropical areas. Tourists can look into coral reefs and watch the underwater life from the safety of the boat. There are a lot of applications where glass flooring is used, and has been used, for a long time. Reinforced glass is used for staircases or heavily trafficked areas. Observation decks and observation towers may be composed entirely of glass. The ancient Romans used colored glass composites in their mosaic floors and glass tiles are fairly easy to install or have installed, for the modern homeowner. Glass is used for flooring because its light penetrating properties, and second floor applications let people see upwards, people on the flooring view lower levels, and light is able to illuminate dark corners of rooms and buildings.
Glass flooring and increased productivity.
Working in a tall building with many windows and glass flooring can lift people's spirits because of the sunshine being let in, and sunshine can lift your spirit and increase productivity. It feels far better working in a light filled structure than a dungeon-like, windowless office. Glass flooring also comes in laminate form. Tiles are usually set on a crack suppression membrane, with no air pockets because that could lead to cracks later. Like a lot of tiles, glass flooring can suffer breakage if subjected to sudden impact. Textured glass tiles or surfaces that are walked upon give good traction and help to prevent slipping on the surfaces. Small glass tiles provide excellent traction and their color is also very durable. You can even copy the ancient Romans and make your own foyer mosaic. All the better if you know a bit of Latin so that you can lay down an appropriate saying if you wish to.
Glass flooring and grout.
Glass tiles and flooring can get slippery when wet, as ceramic tiles do. When smaller glass tiles are used, the grout lines provide good traction and slippage is not usually a problem. Smaller tiles can be laid with bigger ones to provide this much needed traction, and also to make a more detailed design. Glass tiles can also be used for backsplashes in kitchens and sometimes their iridescent qualities are as wonderful on the walls of a home, as they are on floors. Glass is an old material and used in many applications today. Used for flooring, glass is a popular choice, as it was in ancient times.
