What is ceramic tile joint filling, beauty joint, and pointing?

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If you know something about decoration, you must have heard of the term “ceramic tile seam”, which means that when the decoration workers lay tiles, gaps will be left between the tiles to prevent the tiles from being squeezed and deformed due to thermal expansion and other problems.

And leaving gaps in ceramic tiles has led to another type of decoration project – ceramic tile filling. Ceramic tile joint filling, as the name suggests, is the use of joint filling agents to fill the gaps left during the laying of ceramic tiles completely.

It has always been a must-have decoration project for every household, but not many people truly understand it.What are the ways to fill the gaps with ceramic tiles? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Is it necessary to do it?

Let me introduce that joint fillers are all materials used to fill the gaps in ceramic tiles. To fill the gaps in ceramic tiles, the role of joint fillers is essential. There is more than just one type of sealing agent. In recent decades, sealing agents have undergone several major upgrades, from the initial white cement, to pointing agents, and now to the popular beauty sealing agents, porcelain sealing agents, and epoxy colored sand.

Joint fillers can be divided into three categories: the first type is traditional white cement, the second type is pointing agents, and the third type is beauty joint agents.

1. white cement

In the past, we used to fill the gaps in ceramic tiles, so we mostly used white cement. Using white cement for joint filling is very cheap, costing dozens of yuan per bag. However, the strength of white cement is not high. After the filling is dry, white cement is prone to cracking, and even scratches can cause powder to fall off. It is not durable at all, let alone anti fouling, waterproof, and aesthetically pleasing.

2.mortar

Due to the poor sealing effect of white cement, it was gradually phased out and upgraded to a pointing agent. Pointing agent, also known as “cement joint filler”, although the raw material is also cement, it is added with quartz powder on the basis of white cement.

Quartz powder has a higher hardness, so using this pointing agent to fill the joints is not easy to cause powder peeling and cracking. If pigments are added to this foundation, multiple colors can be produced. The price of pointing agent is not high, and like white cement, the construction is relatively simple, and has been the mainstream in home decoration for many years. However, cement is not waterproof, so the jointing agent is also not waterproof, and it can easily turn yellow and moldy after use (especially in the kitchen and bathroom).

3.Seaming agent

The joint sealant (cement-based joint sealant) is matte and prone to yellowing and mold over time, which does not meet our pursuit of home beauty. Therefore, an upgraded version of the joint sealant – beauty joint sealant – has emerged. The raw material of the sewing agent is resin, and the resin based sewing agent itself has a glossy feeling. If sequins are added, it will also shine.

The early seam sealer (which appeared around 2013) was a single component moisture cured acrylic resin seam sealer that sounded awkward, but could be simply understood as all seam sealers being packed in one tube. After being squeezed out, the sealant will react with the moisture in the air, evaporate water and some substances, and then harden and contract, forming grooves in the gaps of the ceramic tiles. Due to the existence of this groove, ceramic tiles are more prone to water accumulation, dirt accumulation, and the reaction process of seam beautifying agents can volatilize household pollutants (such as formaldehyde and benzene). Therefore, people have rarely used early seam beautifying agents.

4. Porcelain sealant

Porcelain sealant is equivalent to an upgraded version of sealant. Currently, the most mainstream sealant material on the market, although also resin based, is a two component reactive epoxy resin sealant. The main components are epoxy resin and curing agent, which are installed in two pipes respectively. When using porcelain sealant to fill the joint, when squeezed out, they will mix and solidify together, and will not react with moisture to form collapse like traditional beauty sealant. The solidified sealant is very hard, and hitting it is like hitting ceramic. The epoxy resin ceramic joint agents on the market are divided into two types: water-based and oil-based. Some people say they have good water-based properties, while others say they have good oil-based properties. In fact, there is not much difference between the two. Using porcelain joint agent for joint filling is wear-resistant, scrub resistant, waterproof, mold resistant, and non blackening. Even white porcelain joint agent pays attention to hygiene and cleanliness, and will not turn yellow after years of use.