Evening star., 1914-10-10
JOINTS IN TILE FLOORS
NOW DEEMED DESIRABLE
Play an Important Part in Design
and Give Artistic Texture
to Work.
From the Dayton Journal.

T rfoh tne Dayton Journal
Tile floors have a practical value:
they also have great decorative value.
and 1t is with the latter that we are at
present concerned. Owing to the ne
cuilar limitations of the material and
the methods of manufacture, tiles are
necessarily small units. To cover a
large surface with these units obvious
ly requires joints Therefore. the
JOINTS as we'll as the titles, Should be
given Importance in the design. From
= =. designers point of view. the limita-
tlons OF a material are it's greatest as
set, each material requiring its own
peculiar treatment
NOT many years ago all the tiles that
we were re, available for floors were Of the
workmanship that they could be laid in
noor with joints of a hairs breadth
Sonoltlons have since changed, and
the ne nave ia, come to realize the value Of
,ay hoor of plain tiles with Joints
less than one-quarter of an inch in
Miutn. whether these joints are left
nned one haturai ., color of cement, Or are col
ored, they will always count in the de-
sign. and the slight unevenness Of the
.,ies themselves will give texture
tnaI Is not as hard and uninterestine
as the noors Of mechanical perfection.
Building Affects Design.
Ihe character of the building and the
.ooa a.ion OF furniture and rugs affect
'he oesisn OF the floor. If the floor is
..nportant room of a monumental
Duioine and Is free from large pieces
VI .urni'ure' It may well be treated SO
as 10 De In accord with the arcbitec-
turaf treatment of the walls h,,t =.
there is to be much furniture ana n,.n'
Tugs on the floor 1t is better treated as
a az whole. This is a point that is often
and restaurants iooilis
Cnurch floors afford as great an on
IoL.unty Tor tile work as the win
COWS DO for stained glass. Much conJd
o',a y. saio on this subject alone, but 1t is
suncIent mere to make the following
observations: The nave aisle should he
slmpie, the choir somewhat more elab-
orate, and the sanctuary very rich in
pattern: symbols and color. In short
is approached '"'
II Is not necessary to use large tiles
IN a large room to get scale. as the
tiles can be arranged so that the unit
is composed of several small tiles. and
the scale of the pattern Increased or
reduced at will
II Is not essential that all the tiles
laid In a floor come from one factory,
Herein has the tile setter great ad-
vantage. especially in colored tiles. In
is so easily nodded that there is almo st
no limit to the variety that the small
est factory can produce. 1t is in the
matter of glaZes and quality that man
ufacturers differ. -
There are many patterns that have
been common property ever since the
beginning of tile making, and are to
be found, with slight variations, in
| many tile manufacturers lists. New
designs can be readily produced and
old ones revived; the process is simply
model in clay or wax, from which
a plaster mold is made, then the clay
pressed in by hand, removed from the
mold, dried and baked; a simple proc
ess, to which tiles owe much of their
charm. The difficulties are in compo-
sition Of the clay and glazes; these, of
course. it is assumed, have been over
| come by the manufacturer.
The ideal method of designing floor
| is to arrange a general scheme and
then lay out the details on the job.
| changing and rearranging as occasion
arises. This, of course, requires an
artist as workman-and there are
such-or constant supervision. This
| is not always possible, but when it is
done, the result is spontaneous, and
might come from a hard and fast plan
| laid on the drawing board.
BY the use of color in pattern, and
pattern in individual tiles, there is
almost no limit to the richness and
elaboration possible for tile floors, but
on the other hand, it is also possible to
make an interesting floor of plain tiles
in one color by taking advantage OF
the joints.
The diagrams will serve as reminders
that the Joints are of equal Importance
with the tiles,