See the Kosmos close-up!

This is our gorgeous new Kosmos hi-res inkjet range. It's available in either Porcelain (<0,5% water absporption) or Gres Porcelain (<3% water absorption) in four colours; beige, grey, dark grey or ivory in 60x60cm size or cut-downs. Images and technical specifications are below. For prices and delivery please contact Brin.

Kosmos beige.


Kosmos grey.


Kosmos dark grey.


Kosmos ivory.

For prices and delivery please contact Brin.

New KREM Bathroomware Brochure!

Our new KREM bathroomware brochure is also available here orhere. The brochure includes exclusive ranges of... Freestanding baths, Shower doors and Art & pedestal basins, Toilets, including Cupc approved U.S. toilets, Cross-handle & single lever taps, Plus steam shower cabins. Contact Simone with any enquiries about KREM bathroomware or tiles. Other product brochures are available on our website and by request.

How to compare non-slip tile ratings.

Last week I discussed the four commonly used anti-slip tests in the industry: the Coefficient of Friction (CoF), Floor Surface Roughness (Rz), the R rating and the ABC rating. In this mail I'll show how the different measurements can be compared so that you, as a tile sales person can advise your customers to select tiles that are suitable for their application.

'R' Rating Ramp test & ABC ratings - Wet areas.

The resistance level, or ‘R’ rating, is the classification used by professionals to advise on whether a tile should be applied in a typically wet environment (like a pool surround) or is best in other low risk areas (like a kitchen) and takes into consideration the highest angle in which it remains safe, by measuring on a ramp.

Also taken into consideration is the tiles safety when walked on barefoot. Rather than an ‘R’ rating this is measured alphabetically, with ‘A’ being the least resistant and ‘C’ the most. Again these are tested to the limits through a ramp measuring system.

The two testing methods overlap and can be better explained in the table below. 
R ratings and angles are in red, ABC ratings and angles are in blue.

Classification	Angle ⁰	Classification	Angle ⁰	Application
R9	6⁰ < 8⁰			Domestic hallway/living room
R10	10⁰ < 19⁰	A	12⁰ < 17⁰	Domestic bathroom/kitchen
R11	19⁰ < 27⁰	B	18⁰ < 23⁰	Public toilet/dressing room
R12	27⁰ < 35⁰	C	> 24⁰	Public showers
R13	> 35⁰			Swimming pools/saunas

Pendulum Test

The pendulum test determines the tile from safe to dangerous and tests through a weighted swinging arm and its resistance once in contact with the tile. It is measured in a ‘SRV’ rating, which stands for Slip Resistance Value.  This rating is used by Health and safety professionals.

SRV Pendulum Test Result	Slip Potential	Rating	Application
0 – 24	Dangerous or high potential for slipping	Dangerous	Most domestic settings
25 – 35	Marginal or moderate potential for slipping	Moderate	Public toilets/foyers
36 – 65	Safe or low potential for slipping	Safe	Swimming pools
66 +	Very safe or extremely low potential	Very Safe

Next is a very simple R rating diagram. The shoes indicate what types are relatively safe at each rating.



Enquire about our anti-slip tiles with R11+ ratings.

How do you measure non-slip tiles?

There are four commonly used tests in the industry: the Coefficient of Friction (CoF), Floor Surface Roughness (Rz), the R rating and the ABC rating.

1. The Coefficient of Friction (CoF)
The Floor Slip Test Coefficient of Friction is determined using a Pendulum Test on horizontal floor surfaces A minimum CoF of 0.36 (36) is required.

2. Floor Surface Roughness (Rz) indicates the apparent slip resistance. The Surface Roughness Testing is conducted using a portable floor tester giving an average floor test surface roughness reading. Surface Roughness Testing is NOT a true floor slip reading, it is only an indication of floor friction. Two different floor surfaces having the same Floor Roughness Testing readings can have different a different Coefficient of Resistance and floor slipperiness. This is particularly noticeable where wet floors are involved as 90% of floor slips occur on smooth wet flooring such as marble floors.

3. The R Rating (Ramp Test Rating)
This is the most commonly used measure with tiled floors.  The test is conducted on a ramp set at varying inclined angles. (Performed to DIN* 51130) The steeper the ramp can be raised without heel slip the higher the R Rating. Ramp Test results range from R9, least floor slip resistance, to R13, most slip resistance. Ramp tests are used to test dry, wet and contaminated flooring surfaces by a person wearing deeply treaded safety footwear. R11 is considered the minimum in commercial high-risk areas such as shopping center entrances. R11 equates to a CoF of between 34 and 51, R12 between 51 and 70.

4. The ABC Rating (Ramp Test ‘Bare Feet’ Rating)
Another Ramp Test (Performed to DIN* 51097) but using a persons bare feet to represent, for example, a pedestrian walking on a slippery swimming pool floor. The ratings are A, B and C where C is the steepest.              

*DIN is 'Deutsches Institut für Normung', the German Institute of Standardisation. It is a standard by which floor designers and architects specify in many EU countries to conform with building regulations and to apply early prevention of floor slip accident injury claims.

Next week I'll go into a little more detail on how to evaluate and compare these ratings.

Enquire about our tiles with R11+ ratings.

See Our New Tile Display Walls.

The new KREM tile display walls in our head office are now complete.

More than 20 running metres of angled display panels now show our latest ink-jet ranges. Two full 60 x 60 tiles are displayed of each range with additional colours indicated by 15 x 15 samples.

A five metre section displays our regular ranges, mostly originally designed for screen printing but now converted to all ink-jet production. These are popular ranges that have been excellent sellers for years.

The new ranges include tiles from three broad design categories; Cement including terrazzo and polished concrete, Stone including quite a variety from slate to quartzite and Wood which is certainly our fastest growing category.

Contact us with any enquiries about KREM tiles. Product brochures are available on our website and by request.

4 key points on wood-look planks and large format tile

There are some things that neither the customer, their contractor or even you, the salesperson, may not know about large format wood-plank tiles. This article points out some key issues you should inform customers and contractors of when they are shopping for large format tiles, especially wood-look plank shaped tiles.

1. They’re not flat

They might look flat at first glance, but if you look closely, they probably aren’t. This is not to say they don't conform to the international standards, they probably do, but the very shape of these tiles makes their flatness all the more critical. Basically with these tiles, the center is higher, in other words, they are crowned in the middle. Some brands and types are worse than others. This becomes more of a problem when you offset (overlap) them. Variation should not exceed 2mm over the length but this is still enough to cause problems.

2. Don’t plan on doing a full offset with wood plank tile

By doing a 50% offset, where the middle of a tile is exactly in line with the grout joint of the next row, you maximize the amount of unevenness, or lippage, between the tiles. In fact, unless the tile manufacturers say otherwise, the American National Standards Specifications for the Installation of Ceramic Tile sets the limit at 33% maximum offset (ANSI A108.02 Section 4.3.8). This means that on a 60cm long tile the maximum offset is 20cm as in the photo above.

3. The floor has to be very flat

If your floor isn’t flat this will accentuate the problems with the crown of the tiles. For large format tile, any tile longer than 45cm, the maximum allowable variation is 3,2mm in 3m Floors are just not that flat nowadays.

4. Use the correct thinset - medium bed adhesive

Porcelain or ceramic plank floors can look good but the biggest problems with them can be avoided by simply knowing what to watch out for and planning accordingly. You’ll find that they should last a lot longer than their wood counterparts as well.With large format tiles you want to use the best medium bed mortar and the correct trowel. With these types of mortars a 12mm x 12mm notch trowel would be the smallest size that you will want to try. Yes, this uses more thinset and, yes, these types of mortars are more expensive, but this isn’t the time to skimp if you want well laid plank floors, 

Contact us with any enquiries about tiles.

Cutting Ceramic Tile.

The very first tile cutter invented by the Boada brothers in 1951 in the town of Rubi near Barcelona, Spain.

We've been assembling tile samplers for our newly appointed agent for the U.S. market recently. Of course this has required a lot of careful tile cutting. This got me to thinking about methods and tools.

Thin wall tiles can be cut using a simple glass cutter and a straightedge then snapping the tile along the scoreline against another tile. Mass-produced ceramic tiles of medium to soft grades are cut easily with hand tools. Heavier tiles require the use of a specialised tile cutter or a watercooled rotary tile saw. For extreme accuracy industrial high pressure waterjet machines are used

The ceramic tile cutter, or beam score cutter, is a tool invented in 1951 by the Boada brothers, in the town of Rubi near Barcelona, Spain. The first tile cutter was designed to facilitate the work and solve the problems that masons experienced when cutting hydraulic mosaic, a type of Spanish decorative tile made with pigmented cement.

Hydraulic mosaic was very popular in the 1950's but was particularly thick making it difficult to cut. The invention allowed for a deep scratch to be made in a straight line. Then pressure was applied on both sides of the scratch with a lever thus cracking the tile. The machine was popularly known in the industry as the 'Rubi'. Over time the tool evolved, incorporating elements that made it more accurate and productive. The first cutters had an iron pen to make the scratch. This was later replaced by the current tungsten carbide scoring wheel. Snapping pressures on modern machines vary widely, some mass-produced models exerting over 750 kg.

Contact us with any enquiries about tiles.