Mosaic Tiling Ideas
Mosaic tile is when a combination of tile sizes, materials, colours, shapes and textures is used to create a unique design. Mosaic art is an ancient practice that has been around for thousands of years, invented in Ancient Greece, it remains very popular.
At Avid Tiling, we have years of experience delivering exceptionally beautiful mosaic tiling to our customers in Brisbane and beyond. For mosaic tiling ideas that serve to elevate your tiled spaces, speak to Avid Tiling today.
What Are Mosaic Tiles?
Originally, mosaic tiles were small pieces of tile that were expertly laid one by one to create a custom mosaic pattern – a very time-consuming process. In modern times, mosaic tiles (also known as tesserae) are most often prearranged in a pattern and fixed to a backing sheet to make laying faster and easier.
Most often these tesserae are between eight to 12 millimetres squared, the number of tesserae per sheet will differ depending on the chosen design.
Why Opt For Mosiac Tiles?
Mosiac tiling is incredibly decorative and can add a real sense of style to a space that regular tiling cannot match. Using mosaic tiles gives you a lot more flexibility when it comes to designing your ideal space, allowing you to incorporate any number of shapes, colours and materials into one feature.
Types Of Mosaic Tile
While what constitutes a mosaic is fairly specific, the type of tiles used to create them can be incredibly varied. The benefit of this variety is that it makes it possible to bring virtually any of your mosaic tiling ideas to life.
Glass Mosaic Tiles
Glass mosaics are most often seen in pool or spa locations as well as steam rooms and kitchens. They offer beautiful light-reflecting properties and offer a soft shimmering or iridescent finish. They can be used to create a stained glass effect for a mosaic backsplash or to cover an entire wall. Consider using sea glass for a truly unique finish or focal point in your bathroom.
Glass mosaics are highly resistant to staining or damage from chemical cleansers, making it easy to keep them clean and looking their best for decades to come. If you like the look of glass mosaics, you may also like mirror or metal mosaic tiles.
Medallion And Mural Mosaic Tiles
For a more artistic and timeless mosaic, mosaic tile can be used to create medallions and murals on walls and floors. Get creative and design a pattern that takes inspiration from your family history or simply enjoy the different colors that custom pieces can bring to bathrooms, entryways or kitchen.
Stone Mosaic Tiles
Natural stone mosaics made from materials such as pebbles or marble mosaics deliver a beautiful texture to walls. They come in a huge array of colours and patterns to suit your style and can be used successfully both indoors and outdoors.
Stone mosaic is hardwearing and can be installed on both wall and floor areas, the porous nature of stone means it will need annual cleaning and sealing to remain at its best.
Waterjet Mosaic Tiles
Elevate your wall tile by opting for a waterjet mosaic tile. This tile features a curved or softer finish that brings dimension to the finished result. Enhance your bathroom design, create a feature wall or cover your shower walls with waterjet mosaic tiles and enjoy the intricate and more elaborate patterns that this style delivers.
Mural mosaics provide the ultimate opportunity to create a custom mosaic and will involve more planning and expense. At Avid Tiling we love creating art through our workmanship and will work with you to create the ideal results.
Hand Painted Mosaic Tiles
Want to add some art to your kitchen backsplash or shower wall? Hand-painted mosaic tiles allow you to inject patterns, colour and personalised style into your home. The hand-painted ceramic tile used for these mosaics is often sourced from Mexico, Morocco, Spain and Portugal, delivering genuine art to your project.
Ceramic And Porcelain Mosaic Tiles
Most pre-fabricated mosaic sheets are made from ceramic or porcelain tiles of various sizes and colours. Popular ceramic and porcelain mosaic sheets include fish scales, penny rounds, kit kat (slim rectangles), small grid mosaics and more.
Ceramic and porcelain mosaic tiles are hardwearing and durable. They are often the most affordable material for mosaic tiling also.They can be used in virtually any location from a bathtub surround to pools, splashbacks and bathroom floors and walls.
Where Can I Use Mosaic Tiling?
There are no set rules about where you can use mosaic tiling. The type of material chosen and the size of the tiles may determine a location that is better suited than another, but it is a flexible design choice for the most part.
Mosaic tiling ideas can be perfectly executed in residential spaces as well as commercial, including restaurants, shops, public parks, train stations and more. Incorporate the name of your business, your logo, family crest, street name or any other idea into your tiling. Impress your friends, family or customers and enjoy the unique results.
Mosaic Tile Flooring
If opting for mosaic flooring, steer away from smaller-scale tiles as this will create a mass of grout lines that is both hard to clean and busy to look at. If inserting a medallion or mural of course smaller scale tiles are unavoidable, but consider surrounding this with larger tiles.Glass tiles are not recommended for flooring unless it is within a pool as they are not well suited to foot traffic and may crack or chip.
Mosaic Wall Tiling
When covering a wall with mosaic tiling the options are somewhat endless. You can use any mix of materials, colours, shapes and styles to create the desired look. Keep in mind in bathrooms and for splashbacks however that the more grout lines and patterns you have, the harder it will be to clean.Many patterned tiles or those made of natural materials can’t be cleaned with harsh chemicals without damaging the surface. We recommend keeping this in mind for messier areas where grease or soap scum will be present.
“ Using a sand-free grout for mosaic tiles as this will help to limit the risk of scratching the new tiles during application”
What About The Grout?
The types of grouts and sealers used for mosaic artwork are the same as the ones used for regular tiling. The only real difference is that grouting a mosaic is a more time-consuming process than standard tiles. This is due to the many gaps present and the need to gently work the grout into them.
We recommend using a sand-free grout for mosaic tiles as this will help to limit the risk of scratching the new tiles during application. If your mosaic tiling ideas involve a single shape and colour tile, you may like to opt for a contrasting grout shade. For highly patterned or customised art mosaics, a neutral grout that doesn’t take away from the design is the ideal choice.
Are There Any Downsides To Mosaic Tiles?
Mosaic tiling can create a truly showstopping feature in your home. However, there are some potential downsides to consider before letting your mosaic tiling ideas run away with you.
- Cost. In most instances, mosaic tiling will cost more per square meter to purchase and lay. This is simply as it is more complex to create and more time consuming to install.
- They’re fragile. Due to their smaller size, the tesserae are more susceptible to chipping and breaking than larger tiles.
- You may see the adhesive. With translucent glass tiles, you may be able to see the surface beneath and the adhesive used, something that is often unavoidable.
- They can be quite slippery. When used on floors and in wet areas they will need a non-slip sealant applied. This is particularly important for glass or mirrored mosaic tiles.
- Harder to clean. For glass, mirrored or gloss finishes stains such as water spots, fingerprints and food splatter will be highly visible, making it necessary to clean the mosaic regularly. The higher number of grout lines and inability to use strong cleansing agents on more porous materials can make this a more challenging task.
Regardless of which type of tiles you choose for your flooring or walls, there are always pros and cons. At Avid Tiling we believe that the beauty of well laid mosaic tiles outweighs any of the possible downsides. Many of these downsides are also avoidable when the tiles are treated with care.
Why Choose Us?
If you feel you’ve found the perfect tile and perfect place to bring your mosaic tiling ideas to life all that is left is to secure an experienced tiler. At Avid Tiling we can help you with inspiration for a new mosaic or expertly lay your pre-selected one. We take great pride in the work we do and regard it as a true art form. Whether you wish to include mosaic tiling in your bathroom design, as a feature in your kitchen, pool area or anywhere else, we want to help you achieve it
For mosaic tiling in any setting, Avid Tiling is here to help. Engage our support for your mosaic tiling ideas and enjoy a uniquely beautiful space in your home or business. Call today to speak with one of our fully licensed and insured tilers on