Credit: Original article published here.

In recent years, there has been a renewed interested in using terracotta tiles to distinctively beautify exterior façades.

Terracotta is a type of ceramic tile made from red and brown clays unique to the quarry location. The raw clay material is shaped into the desired clay tile sizes and then is allowed to dry, then fired in a kiln. Firing the clay tiles makes it hard and durable. The tile can then be glazed or left untreated in its natural state. Terracotta tiles are a lovely mixture of reds, browns and natural earth tones, which can create swooping clouds of color with subdued changes on surface of every clay tile.

For thousands of years terracotta has been used as a building material. The ancients first used terracotta tiles for roofing material and other architectural features.

In the east, terracotta was used to create ornate temples and statues. During the renaissance, terracotta was used to decorate many of Europe’s cathedrals.

In the 1850’s terracotta was introduced in the United States and became an economical substitute for granite and stone. Terracotta was prevalent in American architecture through the 1930’s, but by the mid-20th century it was almost completely replaced with other mass-produced building materials. Terracotta tiles are once again regaining popularity in the architectural design community throughout the United States.

Wells concrete is now combining architectural precast and terracotta tiles to produce distinct exterior façades. Here is how it works: The terracotta tiles arrive at our precast manufacturing facility from the tile supplier with each tile individually marked for placement into our casting beds. The tiles are set into the casting beds with corresponding tile mark numbers related to each precast wall panel. High strength concrete is poured in the casting bed over the tiles. To adhere the tiles to the precast concrete panels, the backs of the tiles have dove tailed slots that mechanically bond the tile to the precast concrete. Once the concrete achieves a prescribed strength, the panels are stripped from the casting bed. The end result is an architectural precast wall panel with a terracotta tile exterior finish that is ready for installation.

Contact a Wells Concrete sales representative to learn more about how architectural precast and terracotta tiles can create an economical, durable and unique exterior veneer on your next project.

Bob Geil
Sales