What Is Subway Tile

And it turns out they aren t always rectangular anymore.

What is subway tile.

They were born from a victorian fascination with cleanliness. Subway tiles were first seen in the new york subway when it opened in 1904 hence the name. White tile pattern glossary. What is subway tile.

However the definition of subway tile has expanded as it has grown in popularity in the design world to include most sizes that are twice the length as they are wide. Inevitably the popularity of subway tile has expanded its working definition. Since they were so sanitary they started being used in other businesses such as butcher shops. One aspect that makes designing with subway tile so simple is the 1 2 height to length ratio and it used to be that a standard subway tile was 3 x 6 with many variations now we tend to think of subway tile as any smaller format rectangular shaped tile.

But as a result homeowners are left craving something a little different. The authentic subway tile is timeless beautiful and most importantly buildable. If any of your walls are glazed with those ubiquitous 3 x 6 rectangles you have a little piece of history in your home. These old standards are the perfect authentic material to act as the base for a redesign of any.

Subway tile fans can also customize their tiles with their choice of grout color. Manufacturers often use the term now to describe any rectangular tile with a length twice its height from 4x8 inch planks to 1x2 mosaics and even some tiles such as contemporary 2x8 strips that don t share the original s proportions at all. Subway tiles can be square reveals christine in remodeling 101. Subway tile is the classic older sibling to all of our other subway ceramics lines.

They are glazed and glossy resists stains and easy to clean. Larger subway tiles not just 3 x 6 subway tiles anymore. It will probably not come as much of a shock that subway tile was originally designed to be placed in subways. If you re a novice when it comes to tile installation you ll probably want to hire a professional to install your subway tile backsplash.

Read on for the story behind america s most beloved tile. Subway tile is riding a wave of enormous popularity right now but it s been around for a long time. A true testament of design function. While the classic subway tile measures three by six inches the definition is expanding.

Nowadays tiles that are twice as long as they are wide are generally referred to as subway tile. The most common size for subway tiles is 3 x 6 which have remained popular for years.