| The typical size of a mosaic tile is smaller than 50mm × 50mm. This size limitation is what allows the use of individual colors to be blended together in a harmonic arrangement, and also to give design patterns greater details and complexity. Because more tiles can be fitted into a given area due to the smaller individual tile size, grouting (the material that fills the joints in-between tiles) also becomes an important aspect of job finishing for most types of mosaic work.
In brief summary, when compared to other tile-finishing materials, mosaics have these peculiar characteristics:
- Composed of small pieces, wide selection of colors available
- Supports custom designed patterns, murals and emblem
- Supports installation for different surfaces from ceilings, walls to floors, most suitable for finishing curved surfaces
Though there are many different choices when it comes to mosaic materials, the following 4 categories introduced are amongst the most widely-used selections
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- Hand-cut pieces from glass slabs into desired size and shapes
- Opaque
- Uneven surface finish
- Different thickness
- Small number of color available
- Tends to be more costly to produce (hand-made process)
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- Produced from molten glass through roller or pressed mold
- Can be transparent, translucent or opaque
- Smooth and flat surface finish
- Standardized size and shapes available
- Wide selection of colors available
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- Made from materials such as clay or other non-metallic minerals
- Opaque
- Standardized size and shapes available
- Color is glazed onto the surface only
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- Made from small stones, natural or processed
- Different size and shapes
- Available colors limited to natural stone colors
- More often applied to flooring finish than wall finish
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