Q. Why are swimming pool tiles so small?

Answer

Small pieces of tile are adhered to a flexible base material to create a mosaic which is then packaged into sheets of 12 inches by 12 inches (or occasionally much bigger). Large-size tiles such as 4x4 or 6x6 would need infinite cutting to suit the curvature of the pool shell if they were used on the interior surfaces of the great majority of pools which are in the shape of curved planes. Mosaic sheets have the pliability that allows them to be readily sculpted by snipping off individual sections and bending them. Despite this installing mosaic tile interiors is a time-consuming process and as a result tile interiors are more likely to be seen in high-end pools or in nations with low labor costs.