Handmade unique staircase tiles

Handmade unique tiles on the staircase was the first idea for a wooden staircase in the house. It is integrated into a narrow space in the entrance hall. The staircase is the link between the main living areas on the ground floor, to the bedrooms and study rooms on the first floor. The floor is covered with vinyl throughout, so the choice of material for the stairs was not too difficult. The vinyl is also laid on the stairs, but only on the horizontal surfaces. For the front parts of the stairs, we chose hand-formed clay tiles 

Pottery art clay design by Polona Zajc

Pottery art clay design by Polona Zajc also offers handmade unique tiles. These make interesting mosaics. Sometimes the handmade clay tiles are made exactly to the size of the surface they are intended for, and sometimes the surface is filled with broken tiles assembled into a mosaic. This is how the staircase was enriched with a unique mosaic.

A unique mosaic of handmade ceramic tiles

This unique mosaic of handmade ceramic tiles was created from tiles that somehow didn't make it to where they were meant to go. With the help of a hammer, pieces of tiles were created from which a completely new story was pieced together. This story is a unique mosaic to enliven the staircase.  

 The first phase of the work has already been done. This is the handmade production of the unique tiles. Due to some circumstances, they didn't make it to the place where they were meant to go, so they were the right choice to be adapted to another surface. This means taking a hammer, breaking them into smaller pieces, sanding them lightly and stacking them on a masonry grid already cut to the size of the front of the stairs.

In the second phase, the wooden base of the staircase had to be coated with an emulsion that roughens the surface to allow the tile adhesive to adhere to the substrate. The mosaics assembled on the grid are then placed on the front of the stairs. After gluing, the spaces between the tiles are filled. The front parts have thus been completed. Custom-cut vinyl was laid on the walkway and glued to the subfloor, together with the profiles covering the edges.

 The third phase was the treatment of the side walls, which are also made of wood. The façade adhesive adhered well to the previously applied emulsion. This was followed by the wall levelling compound and the whitewashing. All the joints between the walls and the surface of the stairs were filled with sealant, and a silicone compound was applied to the spaces between the front and the walking surface to maintain flexibility between the surfaces.

Thus, the staircase is clad in an interesting mosaic of handmade tiles, the walls are treated and the underside retains its wooden base.