The Phenomenon of Wood Effect Tiles

There is no question that last year saw a marked increase in the volume sold of tiles which were designed to replicate, and indeed compete with, natural timber floorboards, engineered planks, and laminates.

Consumers now have another genuine choice when it comes to a viable alternative to natural woodgrain, whether it be for domestic or commercial use. Up until relatively recently, the level of accuracy and realism achieved by the manufacturers of wood effect tiles was quite poor, and they simply did not possess the aesthetic qualities necessary to mount a serious challenge to the wood floor industry.

Let’s take a quick peek behind the curtains to see what has changed, and what forces are driving this ongoing trend in the world of flooring.

Technological Limitations

The techniques used for the mass production of tiles, up until the turn of this century, had not changed in decades. In essence it was “screen printing” where layers of colours and patterns were built up in succession, one at a time, until the final design image had been created. The tiles would then be dispatched to the kilns for firing.

For the majority of tiles, this was perfectly acceptable, especially where the desired effect was not complicated, and there was not an abundance of different dyes required. The patterns were simpler, and with a lower quality of resolution. More often than not, the designers were not attempting to replicate a naturally occurring material, be it wood or stone, or even the likes of cement. It was not important, therefore, that there was faithful reproduction of a recognizable object. It was often the case that a replicating composition was produced that was likely to meet a certain demand, not unlike the wallpaper business.

When it came to precise replication of natural products, however, this method had certain shortcomings.

One of the main drawbacks was that the tiles, having being pressed into shape, have a curvature around the edge of the surface, which causes a pillow effect of up to 2 millimeters all the way around. Not only is this feature not present in a piece of timber flooring, but the traditional printing method was unable to produce an image on this curve. This resulted in a tile with a thin beveled frame – an undesirable quality which detracted from favourable comparison with the natural product.

Furthermore, the grain of timber is something that can be reproduced in ceramic. The touch and feel of the surface of the glaze is exactly like that of wood. However the same problem persists – the screen printing techniques were not good when it came to three dimensional objects, and another step away from realism was the result.

Advanced Innovation

Around the year 2000 there was a major upheaval in the processes hitherto used to produce ceramic and porcelain tiles.

Gone was the tried and trusted screen printing, and ushered in was shiny new, high definition, contact free, digital printing. It was complete game changer.

There were numerous advantages to this technology.

Firstly, there were cost savings on the sheer volume of pigments required to produce an image.

Also, there was a reduction in the number of machines required on the line. Less capital investment, depreciation, servicing charges and space was now required.

Set up times were drastically reduced – prototype tiles could be fired as a matter of course, which led to increased efficiency and output from the design teams.

However, the most important consequence was in the quality of the tiles being produced.

With the “frame” now gone, and the newly found ability to achieve image printing on the entire surface of the tile, including any relief, the wood effect tiles become much more realistic than those which went before. The high definition helped enormously in creating a product that was now virtually indiscernible from the natural timber.

A Competitive Edge

With all this change came opportunities for the tile industry. One major target, previously unreachable, was the wood flooring market. Swift to capitalize on their freshly acquired capabilities, manufacturers found that not only could they supply the existing market with a practical alternative, but that they could quickly and cheaply develop new products, which while remaining within the genre of wood flooring, were far beyond the realm of what the existing timber suppliers traditionally offered.

For example, with the per square meter cost of production roughly the same irrespective of the design, retailers could now offer styles in ceramic or porcelain that would be prohibitively expensive in the natural form. So an exorbitantly priced Brazilian Walnut plank, out of reach of the budgets of most consumers, could now be purchased in the ceramic form, and at a fraction of the price, with no aesthetic compromise.

This advantage would extend in a couple of different directions.

Wide plank or long plank timber flooring always commands a premium. As too do any additional or bespoke processes, such as aging, distressing, painting, bleaching, etc.  With wood effect floor tiles, all these styles and formats are offered at the same price.

A further benefit of the ceramic option is the reduction of wear, tear and maintenance. With the glaze on a tile being as hard as it is, the floor is far less susceptible to scratching, denting, staining and fading. Also, there is no need for periodic major restoration work, such as sanding and re-sealing.

In Conclusion

The wood effect tile business can now stand up on its own, and with products easily the match of anything in the natural timber world. Viewing images online of a collection of wood effect tiles will bring this point home. The tile industry has made sizeable inroads into the market, and takes an ever increasing share of it year on year. All of this has been enabled by advances in technology, which has empowered the tile industry to deliver a comparable offering at competitive prices.