Welcome to my first blog entry. I am starting this blog because I want to help homeowners, who have never built or refinished a pool, decide how to choose which mosaics to install. In this first blog, I will discuss how swimming pool mosaics/tiles are different than what might be used on interior walls.
Without getting too technical, let me just say that ceramic wall tiles are much different from ceramic swimming pool tiles and it mainly revolves around the amount of water the ceramic material will absorb. Wall tile’s absorption rate is about 7% while swimming pool tile’s absorption rate is less than 3% and even down to 0.5% for porcelain tiles. Why should you care about this? If you live in an area that freezes, then the absorption rate can determine whether the tile will break if it is exposed to freezing temperatures. To insure that you are getting ceramic mosaics that will not freeze, just make sure the mosaics are called Frost Proof. Frost Proof means that the ceramic is made from Porcelain ceramic clay. The two major manufacturers in the US, Artistry in Mosaics, Inc. and Custom Mosaics, Inc., use either porcelain ceramic clay or actual porcelain tile.
Neither of these manufacturers, however, sells directly, they use Distributors, both storefronts and online. If you prefer online sales, the first eCommerce distributor devoted to ceramic mosaics is www.ceramicmosaicart.com. They have been online since 2000.
The takeaway here should be that not just any ceramic tile will work in your pool. Your pool’s environment is very harsh. Besides water, your pool contains chlorine, acid, and many other chemicals to help prevent algae and fungus from growing and to help prevent the calcium in your plaster finish from being absorbed. So you can guess that whatever you put in your pool needs to be able to withstand this harsh environment. To meet this need, not only are swimming pool mosaics made using porcelain clay but are coated with high fire, around 2100 degrees, paint/glass mixture. The paint gives the color and the glass allows the surface to be impervious to the harsh environment of the pool.
I hope this has been a helpful blog. Next time I will give you some thoughts on how to go about creating a scene that will give you years of enjoyment without becoming boring.