Tile the Hand

The €245.70 per m² price covers the cement tile itself, handcrafted for Carocim: the water- and oil-repellent pore sealer is applied after installation and purchased separately. That step remains essential to protect the Main's mauve, beige and blue motif from stains. Factor this small extra budget into your project — and yes, pairing with plain tiles trims the total.

16 mm of thickness to work into your levels: that is the main point of attention before laying this Carocim cement tile over old tiling. The technique works on a sound, flat, degreased base, with a bonding primer then a glued installation with double buttering. Check thresholds and doors, as the Main will raise the floor accordingly.

On site, the order of steps makes the result: a first coat of pore sealer often goes on before grouting to prevent cement haze, then the full water- and oil-repellent treatment follows after grouting, on clean, dry tiles. It deepens the shades only slightly. Protected this way, this Carocim cement tile with its mauve, beige and blue motif faces daily life serenely.

Yes, and it is a very elegant approach: Marta Pignol's open hand with its floating eye — pure SU.Real signature — gains strength when it punctuates a field of coordinated plain tiles. The mauve, beige and blue of this Carocim cement tile lend themselves naturally to it. Scattered at random or as a central panel, the surrealist motif becomes a statement.

Perfectly normal, and even desirable: every cement tile in the SU.Real collection is hand-pressed in the workshop, which creates inevitable shade variations between pieces. These subtle shifts of mauve, beige and blue give the finished layout its vibration. Carocim advises mixing boxes during installation to blend them — same-batch requests can be discussed with the workshop.