Porch facing is an opening chord to the stylistic decoration of the house. The choice of materials is quite wide: monumental stone, cozy wood, ultramodern plastic or reliable metal. The optimal option for those who want to get aesthetics and functionality in one bottle are ceramic steps.
Properties of ceramic coating
Even though practical stairwells can be made of traditional and clinker tile, ceramic stone, blocks and porcelain stoneware, not all materials, created on the basis of potter’s clay, demonstrate the same indicators in the exterior design of the porch.
Advantages of clinker tile:
- High strength due to the roasting at a temperature of +1200 – 1400 ºС.
- Resistance to the temperature swings (profile withstands from 300 to 1500 cycles of freezing/deicing).
- Absence of pores increase overall resilience and durability of the structure.
- Obstruction of sliding at the cost of special coating, the application of relief and notches (important security parameter of the porch and the stairs).
- Low indicator of water absorption (about 3%) prevents the increase of the pressure inside the material and its following cracking.
- Ceramic steps don’t require particular care.
- High variability of color and texture solutions.
Ceramic sheets are both practical and durable. The service life, guaranteed by the manufacturers, may reach a few decades. High-quality ceramic profile for the porch allows you to easily climb the steps in any weather.
Elements of staircases
Porch and stairs are perceived as a single whole, where all elements must fit harmoniously. Ceramic tile can be advantageously completed with railings (monolithic stone blocks, carved wooden beams or openwork forged models). You should choose the steps in the same color range as the whole exterior (including the profiles).
Natural shades, glazed surfaces and ability of finishing with marble, granite and other natural minerals offer significant opportunities for projection and design of your house.
Functions of angles and profiles
Different step linings (angles, profiles and nozzles) don’t just decorate the staircase and porch, but also make the movement comfortable.
After arranging the stairs, it is often found that the structure doesn’t fully correspond to the safety standards (especially when it comes to the country house).
Water, steam and hoarfrost accumulating on the steps and porch impede the movement. Installation of special profiles and angles will make the plate surface nonslip even in case of black ice or constant precipitation.
Another benefit of angles and profiles is an increased service life of the tile.
In case of constant operation grooves on the edges usually lead to the formation of cracks and chips, while the fastening of additional elements significantly extends the service life of the clinker coating.
Standard materials for the angles are metal and ceramic. Because of them, strong elements help you give any shape to the steps. Raised, lowered, rounded and sharp details allow you to realize your boldest ideas by focusing on the exterior decoration.
Types of clinker tile
All types of tile can be conditionally divided into two categories (depending on their production method).
Increased strength of clinker is achieved by extrusion. High temperature of roasting the raw material allows you to achieve incredible durability, wear resistance and resistance to different types of damages. Such tile, profiles, linings and angles are a bit more expensive, but they will also serve you longer.
Different coarse-grained additives are used to provide the necessary density and reduce porosity, due to which the lineup and palette of clinker tiles and profiles are very wide. Most manufacturers guarantee that these tiles will serve for a few decades without losing their effective and neat appearance.
Pressed clinker is very cheap. However, it is far below the extrusive type in terms of characteristics. Pressed elements are less reliable and quite vulnerable to external factors, which is why cracks and cheap can appear on the porch within the first few years of operation.
Aesthetic functions of clinker
Diversity of geometric forms, colors and textures lets your imagination run wild when choosing finishing materials for the stairs, pathways and porch.
Combination of ceramic materials with plastic, metal and wood looks unusual and very effective, making any premises look modern.
Due to the special technology of manufacturing of the clinker steps, you must not be afraid that their color will fade or that the patterns will disappear. At the same time, comfortable and beautiful rough surfaces will not rub off while walking.
Neat beauty of clinker materials will make your country house safe and comfortable.
Decoration of exterior with clinker elements allows you to enjoy the comfort and safety of your house for a long time. When used carefully, safe and durable tile will please your eyes for decades. We are waiting for your comments and feedbacks, which will help other users choose, install and care for the clinker surfaces.
Clinker tile is an excellent material. I highly recommend you to try it!
I decided to decorate the stairs with ceramic tile. It was an excellent choice!
Clinker tile is cheap, but at the same time high-quality material. It was a good solution to decorate my staircase with it!
I used rubber stairs for decorating my staircase. It was a good solution.