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Bernard J Arnull have some 40 years experience in the field of Ceramic Wall and Floor Tiles, and are happy to advise on choice of tile, installation techniques and maintenance.

Wall tiles do not present too great a problem in that once fixed, the tiles will perform, though some thought must be given to whether a vitrified tile is required for exterior use, and to the weight of the tile and its fixing bed and method, especially if used externally.

The most important area is the choice of the correct grade of floor tile. Tiles are rated with a PEI scale of between 1 and 5, 5 being the heaviest duty tile. The MOHS scale also rates tiles as far as a hard-wearing surface is concerned, and here again the higher the number, the stronger the tile.

We would recommend that only PEI 5 grade tiles be used in heavy wear and Public areas. Most porcelain tiles achieve this wear rating, though care should be taken to select through-body or doubled-loaded porcelain tiles which achieve the heaviest wear characteristics. Whilst this does restrict colour choice to some effect, even this is being eroded by new production techniques, and it is far better to specify a tile that will achieve its intention than use a colour which will not. Recent technical developments have seen single-fired tiles replaced with glazed porcelain tiles, which in effect have a glaze on top of a porcelain base. This base though is not necessarily the same colour as the face of the tile and incorrect use can cause problems. Polished porcelain tiles, on the other hand, are more than suitable for heavy wear areas where a stunning effect can be achieved. We have supplied these to many restaurants with great success.

Another area of concern is non-slip tiles. As a rule the greater the anti-slip finish on the tile, the harder it is to keep clean, and care has to be taken to specify the right mix of advantages.

There are specific slip resistance tests carried out on tiles which grade a specific tile for its suitability to given conditions.

DIN 51130 classifies tiles with ratings of R9 to R13 for slip resistance:

DIN51097 also classifies tiles from A to C for non-slip suitability, but this time for foot traffic in wet areas:

There is also the Pendulum Skid Resistance Test, which also gives rating for tiles:

And can be applied to tiles both dry and wet.

We will be pleased to supply information on the ratings of any of our tiles. And are fully at your disposal to advise on all problems connected with the tile industry.

Many of our products are designed to be non-slip, and meet the European non-slip standards, but can in certain situations become naturally and unavoidably slippery.

If tiles installed in external or public areas are wet following cleaning with detergents or soap, the areas concerned must be clearly marked as hazardous and closed off to the public, until such time as they are dry. Similarly to preserve the non-slip surface, the tiles must be kept clean so that they can perform as intended.

The website of CERAM (www.ceram.com) contains very useful guides to Maintenance and to Slip-Resistance tests and is well worth looking at concerning these two issues.

More recently a research project, co-financed by the European Commission F6 program, and led by CERAM amongst other Industry worthies, have produced SlipSTD PAD, an attempt to classify hard floor coverings according to their contribution to reduce the risk of pedestrian slipping.

Broadly speaking this offers a range of slip classification taking into account not only the tile surface but also the likely, indeed necessary, cleaning regime in place once installation has been carried out. In our opinion this offers a more coherent and useful standard to assess tiles for their suitability for the various areas. To our mind one has to take into consideration both of these issues when coming to a decision on what flooring to use where. It is hoped that this will now become the European Standard.