Choosing Tiles for Walls and Floors

[revelation]

I was wondering if anyone could offer some guidance on tiles.  I have had issues with tiles in the past not being very flat and bowing in places leading to uneven finishes in corners.   What brands or types would people recommend in order to achieve the best finish possible? 

[nod]

Italian 1

Spanish 2

Portuguese & Turkish 3 

Chinese are rubbish

 

 

[Conor]

Avoid b&q.

[Pocster]

46 minutes ago, Conor said:

Avoid b&q.

My most favourite shit shop ( after Primark ) 

[revelation]

16 hours ago, nod said:

Italian 1

Spanish 2

Portuguese & Turkish 3 

Chinese are rubbish

 

 

 

Any particular brands or shops to go to? 

[revelation]

15 hours ago, Conor said:

Avoid b&q.

 I already do!!!

[nod]

5 hours ago, revelation said:

 I already do!!!

and Topps 😂

[James94]

Are you tiling this yourself? If not then maybe the tiler can recommend some that they prefer to work with. I don’t know much about tiling but we’re in the process of having two bathrooms done and the tiler recommended a place in Hull, I’m going for large format (rectified ) tiles.

Regards. James

[nod]

5 hours ago, revelation said:

 I already do!!!

I use 100s of m2 of Marazzi per year and they are very good 

BUT as a contractor I have very little say in the type or brand  The tile is normally in the spec 

But nearly all Italian tiles are laser cut 

Some Spanish also 

Many of the Turkish brands are made at the same factory 

 

I normally use Rocia and Al Murad 

Both are Asian run businesses and pretty typical in that they want to do a deal But showroom prices are high

Trade should be about 60% of that 

CPD have a good range But have a different style to the above and can be like dealing with Howdens 

 

Avoid the sheds as they tend to get end of lines in 

 

[Chanmenie]

@nod should that be CTD ?

I’m looking for porcelain tiles but live near Norwich, there’s a CTD store near by.

[Gow]

And another question related to tiling... No jokes please as I've been living in hell for over a year now thanks to a cowboy builder. At the 11th hour I need to find a tiler therefore my question is: How many hours would it take a competent tiler to tile 8m2 with porcelain tiles 330mm x 600mm. The walls will be freshly skimmed. Thanks

[Chanmenie]

2 minutes ago, Gow said:

And another question related to tiling... No jokes please as I've been living in hell for over a year now thanks to a cowboy builder. At the 11th hour I need to find a tiler therefore my question is: How many hours would it take a competent tiler to tile 8m2 with porcelain tiles 330mm x 600mm. The walls will be freshly skimmed. Thanks

@Gow did you mean 8m2 ? That’s a small room is it all walls and floor to ceiling ?

Edited October 24, 2022 by Chanmenie

[Gow]

4 hours ago, Chanmenie said:

@Gow did you mean 8m2 ? That’s a small room is it all walls and floor to ceiling ?

No it is just one wall and a corner

[Adsibob]

21 hours ago, revelation said:

 

Any particular brands or shops to go to? 

I recommend marazzi, porcelanosa, Domus (more of a supplier than a manufacturer), claybrook, ca’pietra.  
 

domus is extremely expensive. Marazzi list prices are high, but you can get good discounts from some suppliers, like Tower Ceramics.

 

Claybrook has a mix of prices. Porcelanosa is expensive, but sometimes has good sales.

 

The online only stores are cheaper, but I find that ordering samples from them I had a terrible hit rate with 9 out 10 samples looking nothing like what I was expecting based on the picture.

 

I’ve also got good tiles from Topps Tiles. Can be a bit hit and miss, but they always have a couple diamonds in the rough. Two of our bathrooms and the kitchen splashback are done with Topps Tiles and they look great.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Adsibob

[Adsibob]

4 hours ago, Gow said:

And another question related to tiling... No jokes please as I've been living in hell for over a year now thanks to a cowboy builder. At the 11th hour I need to find a tiler therefore my question is: How many hours would it take a competent tiler to tile 8m2 with porcelain tiles 330mm x 600mm. The walls will be freshly skimmed. Thanks

@nod will give you a precise answer, but I think that shouldn’t take longer than a day to prime and tile and half a day to grout.

[Dan F]

1 hour ago, Adsibob said:

domus is extremely expensive.

 

Domus just resell multiple different Italian and Spanish brands at crazy prices.  You can buy the same tiles elsewhere at a lot less.

 

When you buy toilets and taps you buy Geberit or Grohe etc. and you know you are getting and can easily check prices are competitive.  With porcleain, most suppliers rename and put they'e own markup!

 

 

[revelation]

So far nothing really seems conclusive, getting good tiles at a decent price.   What about brands like Villeroy Boch tiles?

[Ferdinand]

I, and my regular tiler for decades, have always used a regional supplier called Tiletown, who are based in the Midlands with an online presence.

 

But I have always valued being able to go in to the place and ask lots of questions.

 

So I would suggest look for a trade supplier you can talk too candidly.

So I suggest go for who to ask, as well as a brand. Find your tiler by local recommendation from clients for past good work, and then take their advice once you are confident in the person.

F

[Garald]

What I've learned -

 

Spanish tiles:

 

Equipe is good - tasteful, lots of variety and, according to my architect, durable. My contractor did note that the hexagonal tiles we got from them were not completely flat, but I couldn't really notice, and, at any rate, since we were using them for a wall, it didn't matter. 

 

Mainzu is also good material, but if you look very closely you'll notice it's printed. (All patterns are printed nowadays, but you can't always notice.) They really go for a great variety of colors and patterns, which can't be to everybody's taste - visiting their website is like being stunned with new wealth, but then you may regret it if you don't use wisely. Their floor tiles do seem to have good anti-slippage properties.

 

Todobarro is like Marmite. I do like it. Note the tiles are deliberately somewhat irregular - they are fired in some replica of a medieval Arab-Spanish oven. My girlfriend hates them, but to each her own. Their glazed, colorful tiles are very considerably thicker than most wall or floor tiles - that could be an issue. Their unglazed tiles come in many shapes - you can build a Penrose tiling with them. Of course then the problem is that terracotta tiles aren't really a good idea for a patio floor in any climate with frosts - they get soaked, the water inside freezes and thus expands, the terracotta breaks. The manufacturer's salesperson tried to convince me that they could resist many such cycles, but warned me that they would eventually give way. Others think this could happen much sooner.

 

Portuguese tiles:

New Terracotta is very nice but expensive. Some colors are more interesting than others. Worthwhile for a complicated project of the size of a shower, say, unless money grows spontaneously out of your ears.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Garald