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Color Variation - What is an acceptable variance in the color of ceramic tile?
QUESTION
Color Variation - What is an acceptable variance in the color of ceramic tile?ANSWER
ANSWER - Ceramic tile typically varies in color to some degree. Some ceramic tile offerings intentionally give you a wide range of color variation. Others are intended to give more of a monochromatic (solid) look. Make sure you see enough pieces of the tile to represent the full range of color prior to making your selection!Ceramic tile does vary from each manufactured run, as well as within the same manufactured run. The manufacturer that wants to offer a limited range of color will sort the manufactured runs out in shade lots (this is what some refer to as "dye lot" with other types of materials). DON'T mix different shades unless you intentionally want to create a certain "look" and then make sure you mix them randomly! Size also varies from batch to batch, so watch out for that as well!
Note: Trying to match an existing tile can be almost impossible. It is difficult to match from one manufactured run to the next and even more difficult after years have passed, if it is still available. The natural raw material used to make ceramic tile changes as the location of the source in the quarry changes, so that causes the end product to change to some degree.
So the question should be, what is acceptable variance in ceramic tile shades? CTDA has a system they promote for qualifying color variation at www.ctdahome.org/education/shade.shtml so you can understand what to expect. For ceramic tile that is intended to be monochromatic, there is a test method referenced in ANSI 137.1 10.1.3 utilizing test ASTM C 609.
ANSWER - Ceramic tile typically varies in color to some degree. Some ceramic tile offerings intentionally give you a wide range of color variation. Others are intended to give more of a monochromatic (solid) look. Make sure you see enough pieces of the tile to represent the full range of color prior to making your selection!
Ceramic tile does vary from each manufactured run, as well as within the same manufactured run. The manufacturer that wants to offer a limited range of color will sort the manufactured runs out in shade lots (this is what some refer to as "dye lot" with other types of materials). DON'T mix different shades unless you intentionally want to create a certain "look" and then make sure you mix them randomly! Size also varies from batch to batch, so watch out for that as well!
Note: Trying to match an existing tile can be almost impossible. It is difficult to match from one manufactured run to the next and even more difficult after years have passed, if it is still available. The natural raw material used to make ceramic tile changes as the location of the source in the quarry changes, so that causes the end product to change to some degree.
So the question should be, what is acceptable variance in ceramic tile shades? CTDA has a system they promote for qualifying color variation at www.ctdahome.org/education/shade.shtml so you can understand what to expect. For ceramic tile that is intended to be monochromatic, there is a test method referenced in ANSI 137.1 10.1.3 utilizing test ASTM C 609.
2 thoughts on “Color Variation – What is an acceptable variance in the color of ceramic tile?”
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Is it acceptable to allow a builder who is going to replace cracked tiles to install tiles that don’t match?
If the tile floor is being repaired then it should be repaired with tiles that will blend in with the existing floor and not be noticeable. It is normal that the same matching grout color might look different at first because it is new and not soiled.
For insurance claims, the insurance company will pay for the replacement of the entire floor if they can’t find tiles that will blend in with the existing floor. But it has to be reasonable and obvious that it doesn’t match.
The question you should be asking the builder is what caused the tile to crack and what are they doing to prevent future cracks. They may be repairing the symptom of a problem rather than correcting the problem?