Demosaica Blog
Old cement tile floor in a renovation: keep, make good or reproduce it
How to decide whether the old cement tile floor uncovered in a renovation should be kept, lifted and relaid, or reproduced with new tiles.
Cement tiles with underfloor heating: compatibility and installation
Thermal resistance, temperature limits, deformable adhesive, movement joints and first heat-up of a cement tile floor over underfloor heating.
How many tiles per square metre: pieces, waste and layout
Pieces and weight per m² for every format, how much wastage each layout needs, and how to turn metres into boxes without coming up short.
How to clean bathroom tiles without damaging the glaze
The glaze on a tile survives almost anything; cement grout does not. The workshop guide to cleaning a bathroom wall without ruining it.
Moroccan tiles: zellige, bejmat and traditional formats
Moroccan tile is not one single product: bejmat, mjeddij, kora or carved zellige are different formats, each with its own sizes and pieces per m².
Hexagonal cement tiles: formats, patterns and where they fit
H21, H22 and H23 formats with real sizes and weights, layouts, perimeter cuts and where a hexagonal cement tile really fits.
How to polish and restore an old cement tile floor without ruining it
How much an old cement tile floor can be polished, when not to do it, which diamond grits are used and what treatment comes after polishing.
Real cement tiles or porcelain imitation: how to tell them apart
Seven checks to find out whether a floor is a real cement tile or a porcelain that copies it, with figures from our own test reports.
How much a cement tile floor costs: what drives the price
The price of a cement tile floor depends on the format, the colours of the pattern, custom design and laying: this is how the quote is built up.
Indoor terracotta floors: where they work, how they are treated and what maintenance they need
Where terracotta works inside a house, when exactly it is treated and what you mop it with, with the figures from test report no. 7539.
Real zellige projects: bathrooms, kitchens, staircases and courtyards
Zellige is a glazed clay tile, fired and cut by hand in Morocco, used above all as a wall covering: kitchen backsplashes, bathroom walls and floors, stair risers, courtyards, showers and swimming pools. Here we have gathered zellige projects built
Cement tile floors in living rooms, hallways and entrances: real projects
Twelve real living rooms, hallways and entrances with cement tile floors: designs, MC colours, formats and how a tile rug is set out.
Outdoor terracotta tiles: water absorption, frost and treatment
A lab-measured 16.9 % water absorption and what it means for laying terracotta outdoors: frost resistance, slip resistance under the Spanish CTE and treatment.
Cement tile rugs: how to design, size and lay them
What a cement tile rug is, how to plan its layout in whole tiles and how to lay it, with real examples from our workshop.
Handmade washbasins: how to choose the right design for your bathroom
A guide to choosing a handmade washbasin: real dimensions, vanity unit height, materials, bathroom styles and how to care for hand-painted pieces.
Eco-friendly tiles: the real environmental impact of each material
What makes a tile eco-friendly: manufacturing energy, raw materials, transport, durability and end of life, with real laboratory test data.
How to choose cement tiles: a practical guide to getting it right
Material, format, colour, use and laying: the five decisions for choosing cement tiles without getting it wrong, backed by real data.
Cement tile designs: patterns, formats and how to put them together
Design families, modules of 1, 2, 4 and 6 tiles, formats with units per m² and tips for choosing the right motif for each room.
Outdoor cement tiles: where they work on patios and terraces
An honest guide to cement tiles on patios, terraces and balconies: where they work, what treatment they need and how to lay them step by step.
How to clean cement tiles: step-by-step care and maintenance
A manufacturer’s guide to cleaning and caring for a cement tile floor: what to use, what to avoid, reviving an old floor, when to polish and how often to seal.
Outdoor zellige: where it works, where it doesn’t and how to install it
Zellige performs well on walls, fountains and façades in mild climates, but not on floors or where it freezes: this is what its test results say.
How to decorate a bathroom with cement tiles: a practical guide with real bathrooms
A guide to decorating a bathroom with cement tiles: floor, shower and walls, colours, formats, laying and more than twenty real bathrooms with photos.
Popular cement tile patterns and how to choose the right one
Chequerboard, herringbone, floral, Mudéjar, rug or hexagonal: which cement tile pattern to choose for each room, its light and the tile format.
How to combine cement tiles and zellige in one project
Which material goes on which surface, how to choose the colour, how to handle the junction and where not to mix cement tiles and zellige.
Zellige tile ideas for the home: where it works best indoors
Where to use zellige at home and what to pair it with: ideas room by room, real formats with weight per m² and laboratory test data.
History of the cement tile: origin, golden age and today
The history of the cement tile begins around 1850 in the south of France. It is a pigmented cement tile made cold: a face layer of white cement, marble powder and mineral pigments over a base of cement and sand,
Cement tile floor designs: styles, patterns and combinations that awaken the senses
A guide to choosing cement tile floor designs by style and room: pattern, colour, format and layout, with a table of the formats we actually make.
Coloured terrazzo: what it is, types and how to combine it
What coloured terrazzo is, the types and chip sizes available and how to combine it on floors, in bathrooms and on worktops, with real test data.
Cement tile kitchen floors: ideas from real projects
Formats, rugs under the island, white kitchens, zellige splashbacks and maintenance: real ideas for a kitchen with a cement tile floor.
Where to use cement tiles, and where not to
Where cement tiles can and can’t go: indoors, on walls, outdoors, in showers, over underfloor heating and in high-traffic areas, with real data.
How to tile a roof with handmade clay tiles
Pitch, overlaps, tiles per m², fixing and finishing: how to lay a roof of handmade tiles and how those tiles are made by hand.
Patchwork tiles: tips and trends
How to combine patchwork tiles on floors and walls: compatible formats, how to split the tiles between designs, ideas for each room and common mistakes.
Zellige mosaic: what it is and how to use zellige tiles
What zellige is, how it is made by hand, how it differs from zellige-effect ceramics and how it is laid in bathrooms, kitchens, floors and outdoors.
How to make a tile mosaic step by step
A guide to making a tile mosaic: types, materials per m², seven steps with timings, mistakes to avoid and how to lay zellige and cement tiles.
Sevillian tiles: history, types and where to buy them
What Sevillian tiles are, how they are made in Triana, where to see them in Seville and how to use and buy them today.
Antique cement tiles: how to identify, restore and reproduce them
How to identify an antique cement tile, date it by its pattern and decide whether to restore it or reproduce the design with new tiles.
Geometric border tiles: what they are, types and trends for floors and walls
What a geometric border is, the seven repeat patterns that exist and how to work out the pieces per linear metre on floors and walls.
How to lay cement tiles: a step-by-step guide from the manufacturer
How to lay cement tiles step by step: a dry, level substrate, back-buttering, 1 to 2 mm joints, unpigmented grout, efflorescence and sealing.
Cement tile stairs: a project guide (Mod. 193 and plain tiles)
Formats, step dimensions, slip resistance under the CTE and step-by-step laying, with a real project using Mod. 193 and plain cement tiles.
Hand-painted tiles: techniques, formats and a country house courtyard with Mod. Gamonal
Techniques, formats, collections and installation of hand-painted tiles, with a country house fountain finished in Mod. Gamonal.
How cement tiles are made: the process step by step
Cement tiles are made cold, piece by piece: the craftsman pours coloured mixes of white cement, marble powder and pigments into the cells of a metal template called a divider, adds a drying layer and then a layer of mortar,
Cement tile furniture: tables, headboards and worktops
Formats, weight per square metre, adhesive, joints, edge finishing and sealing for covering tables, headboards and worktops with cement tiles.
Custom cement tiles: from idea to bespoke design
How to turn an idea into a made-to-measure cement tile: pattern, divider, formats, colours and what the workshop needs to give you a quote.
Specifying cement tiles: the most common mistakes architects make
The ten mistakes that come up most often when specifying cement tiles, and how to rule them out in the project description and the specification.
Tiling ceilings and vertical features: what holds and what doesn’t
Which tiles can go up on a ceiling and which cannot: real weights per m², the right adhesive, a step-by-step guide and the vertical features that work best.
Cement tile colour trends: palettes and combinations
Greens, blues, terracotta and neutrals with accents: the trending palettes for cement tile floors, how to combine them and what colour does once laid.
Cement tiles for commercial spaces with heavy foot traffic
Real test results, the slip resistance class required by the Spanish Building Code, formats by area and completed projects in bars, shops and offices.
Zellige damage and maintenance: causes and solutions
A guide to diagnosing damage in zellige, repairing it and maintaining it without harming the glaze or the joints.