How hot can ceramic tile get?

[HomeDepotAssociate]

Couldn't find any old threads addressing this which makes me wonder if I just missed it as ide imagine after thousands of posts someone must'v asked. Just curious if you all know the temp range for porcelain/ceramic without a finish (or does it make a difference?) Given they are fired at a pretty high heat I imagine they'd be alright. Does the design/gloss if there is one melt off but the ceramic remain in tact?

600 degrees F too hot? I think that's the hottest an average consumer might get their tile up to. Was asked that today and didn't really have an answer.

[dhagin]

Good question. Don't think any heat a typical consumer would apply to a tile will damage it, but can't give you a temperature to go by. If they get a tile to 600F though, that may damage other parts of the install or structure.

Residential steam cleaners, however, may get hot enough to soften or damage some of the other components that may be part of a tile installation. For example; epoxy grout, caulk/sealants, etc...

Here's a quote from Laticrete regarding steam cleaning their SpectraLOCK Epoxy grout. From here

http://www.laticrete.com/architects/...ock_grout.aspx

Can I steam clean SPECTRALOCK® PRO Premium Grout or LATICRETE SpectraLOCK PRO Grout?

SPECTRALOCK® PRO Premium Grout or SPECTRALOCK PRO Grout can be steam cleaned using low temperature steam cleaners. Industrial-type steam cleaners which generate temperatures exceeding 250˚F (121˚C) are not recommended.

[zeaflal]

Might not need to be all that hot to cause thermal stress fractures. Especially if someone throws cold water on a hot tile.

[Kman]

I've cut up a few for customers to use to set hot pans on in the kitchen. It's never been a problem. Like Larry said, if you immediately put it into a cold environment, that might cause some damage.

[dhagin]

Here's way more info than most folks will ever want about how tiles are made, and what happens at what temp during firing.

From the Liberry-
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/...ead.php?t=3510

[jadnashua]

The tile can handle almost whatever you throw at it EXCEPT, it needs to be heated or cooled evenly and somewhat slowly or thermal stress can break the tile. Try cutting a tile you bought in from outside with warm water in your wetsaw...you'll often crack the tile. I can tell you this from experience that is quite frustrating.

[Houston Remodeler]

There is more to consider than the tile;

The entire tile assembly - what is the tile mounted to ? substrate ? grout ? thinset ?

If the tiles are set with mastic - that mastic is going to melt / soften in a heartbeat.

[HomeDepotAssociate]

Didn't even think to consider the other things like grout (and all its different varieties) as well as the thinset. So 600f+ + would be too much on everything else (mortar would soften?) ((Does that happen with concrete too?)) Do you guys happen to know if a polish/gloss would melt off of a tile as well? Ever heard of that happening? Thanks for the info all of you, very helpful

[Houston Remodeler]

Tiles are meant for "normal" use. The most extreme conditions would be exterior with great temperature swings. A black tile facing the sun would get to 200º or so. A far cry from 600º

What is the customer trying to do?

If they want to bake pizzas on one, there are loose tiles made for this purpose, which just set in the oven not attached to anything.

[HomeDepotAssociate]

Wasn't for baking, we get a few customers asking about that but ours aren't foodsafe. I believe he had some kind of grill with a propane burner under it (?) that he said would get very hot, something to that effect, but he mentioned 600f during the conversation.

[Houston Remodeler]

I wouldn't put one over an open flame; If it had a little bit of water in it, the tile could explode.

Wouldn't want to be nearby that.

They need to spend the money and buy a ceramic disc made for that purpose.

[jadnashua]

Mastic can soften with heat, cement based products don't at least until you reach a certain point, then they can fail and turn to dust! That's REALLY hot, though. You really want something designed for this purpose, and a generic tile isn't it! FWIW, I've owned a couple of TecInfrared grills, the surface temperature of those can get over 1,000-degrees. The one I have now uses what looks like a glass cooktop on top of the burner (the grill sits on the glass), and that glass gets red hot - it literally glows in the dark...now, that's hot. It is designed to handle the extreme heat, a generic tile isn't.

[HomeDepotAssociate]

Makes sense. Thanks a lot. So I gather its somewhat risky to use run of the mill tile in superhot areas due to failure from any number of installation related devices

[jadnashua]

Tile can almost literally explode when used inappropriately through thermal effects - porcelain chips are very sharp, it is risky.