Tile Quality v Price - Advice Needed

WeegyAVLover

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Hi All...

We need Tiles for Summer Room & Kitchen (one big floor space) and the utility room.

We are trying to keep the costs down as much as we can but tiles and laying tiles are a fairly big expense.

Obviously the difference in tile materials counts towards the cost - ceramics, porcelain, natural stone, etc.

We have seen these tiles in B&Q:
Colours Chocolate Cirque Floor Tile 333 × 333mm, 5052931074372

I would say they are more black than chocolate colour in real life.

They are £7 a sq. m and I know this is very cheap. However we bought more expensive tiles for our bathroom when we lived in our flat and paid twice that and had nothing but problems with them showing up marks, etc.

Is the thinking a ceramic tile is a ceramic tile? It is not going to be stunning quality but it will do the job?
 
The reviews aren't that inspiring, if you read between the lines.
 
i would go and look at those if i were you. i have used printed pattern tiles in the past and they look ok, until you realise that almost every tile is identical and when laid they look like crap. repeating patterns really look poor.

in the end you get what you pay for. its why dept stores pay between 100 and 200 a sqm! a hard floor is an investment.

remember that a hard floor (marble, porcelain etc) should last 20 years in a house. cheaper tiles will crack and break easily.

btw - i work for the company that does the flooring for HOF, debenhams, selfridges and harrods etc
 
Hi WeegieAVLover,

We recently did our house both bathrooms and Kitchen so know how expencive it can get.
before you lay the tiles in your summer room, are you having any underfloor heating? Its worth concidering now.

We had a wet system put in all downstaires and electric in the upstaires bathroom with traventine.
there is a dedicated forum for tiling if you google but here is just as good as any with many great opinions.

Tile depot, topps etc.. will give you discounts on bulk. Also its not just about taking whats in stock. they order in what you need for your job so you get same colour in the batch. return boxes you dont need.
better to buy bags of adhisve and thel will give you trade price.
B&Q not good as for the above reason.

we ended up using topps as we did spend about 5k on tiles alone... cant remeber how much more we spent on adhesive, tanking kits, trims..

try and go porcelain, dont go on the price on display. B&Q wont budge on price but others will.

we would have spent near 8-10k on what we bought.
my recipts all where like half price from display prices..
 
as liamt has said, you get what you pay for.

get all your sq ft and then go in and see what you like. speak to the managers. see what they can do..
you then know what your working with price.

At one point i didnt even have to settle my bill on collection, i just called them up and they got it for me next day. settled eveything in december and then he stil took another 10% off. you dont have to be in the trade to get the discount. B&Q and places like that just dont cut it. find the guys that do it for a living.

DIY stores are general...

there are more specialist places than what we used but they were just asking silly money. I was having my whole 5 bed refurbed including extension etc.. still not finished. but this will be our home for many years whilst my kids grow up.

actually just thinking about it know we must have spent about 7k after discounts rather than 5k as the traventine was the last min change upstairs and added a few K as we went with the best they had.
 
just seen your post on the renovation... dont go B&Q and go cheap.

your house is looking great.. stretch your budget. i know its hard when you have all the outlay but its so worth it.
its not just looks its quality and finish.

sorry for all my posts, just thought id get in there in case you looking to buy in the next few days.
 
I agree with Porcelain being great however we just simply do not have the budget for that.

With all the work we are getting done in the ktichen, utility room, summer room and garden there is no much change from £30K. So while I would love underfloor heating with Porcelain tiles it is not affordable to us.

I agree the comments about sizing are a bit of concern but B&Q say these tiles are one of their best sellers, I assume on the price alone, so there must be more satisfied customers than disgruntled ones.

Its a tough one for us. We want to save money but don't want to buy something and later regret it, but to buy better is almost double the cost, to buy Porcelain it is 3 or 4, even 5, times as much.

And with about 35m required the price becomes quite high and therefore very prohibitive.
 
Thanks Decks....

We will need to think about it as it is something we want to look good and like you said it is something that has got to last.

I always find going to places like Topps Tiles and Tile Giants (other tile store names are available) are a lot more expensive. My other issue is if my wife and I went for the tiles we liked we would probably be potless, penniless and in the gutter thinking why did we not buy the £7 tiles :rolleyes:
 
Tile Giant are great. We bought ours for the conservatory there and they were spot on.

Personally I'd go cheaper on tiles BUT pay a professional to do the tiling. Cheap tiles laid badly look like cheap tiles laid badly. Cheap tiles laid well by a pro look very expensive.

I'll never lay another tile in my life.
 
laying tiles is actually pretty easy

OP: have you considered a cheaper option in say vinyl flooring? you can do vinyl tiles that look like ceramics and they are hard wearing too, and not as cold under foot
 
laying tiles is actually pretty easy

Yes, but laying them well is pretty hard.

I've always laid them but after getting our conservatory done professionally never again.
 
haha. i have paid for tilers twice and both times its been worse than the tiling i do. maybe i was just unlucky.
 
Just to go against the tide a little bit: I tiled our downstairs shower room about 8 years ago using some cheap B&Q manager's special black slate look ceramic tiles. About 3 years ago I tiled my entire entrance hall and kitchen/dinning room floor with fairly expensive travertine tiles. Also our conservatory tiles were from B&Q and not particularly expensive though I can't remember what material (they have colour right through so I have a feeling they might have been porcelain).

The expensive travertine has worn the most (mainly where the dinning chairs are dragged across them) and the conservatory 'porcelain' are like new, bar one tile that has cracked possibly due to me not putting an even coating of adhesive under it. The cheapest black slate tiles are just like new.

Not sure quite what this says. :confused::D Other than some areas take less traffic perhaps and last longer, so perhaps that might mean you can spend less in those areas if appropriate? Otherwise maybe put some thing else down for now (vinyl or perhaps laminate flooring) and plan to tile later. Trouble is it could be like the cheap rug we bought for the living room that is still down 5 years later since we haven't seen something that we both feel is worth the extra cost...
 
ive did the tiling at my old house as done it many times before and i got better and better to the point where people did think we had it done. again they are not professionals.

This time i had it all done by pro's. the finish is perfect.
A trick which i missed was that under our kitchen cabinets i should have put a cheaper tile. two rows around the edges would have saved me hundreds.
never mind.

yeah a cheaper tile done properly can look good. but i really do advise spend one whole day and get a real quote for the lot from each place rather than pricing on approx. you will see that after discounts the difference may be only a few hundred quid! its so worth it.

actually good point that i forgot, make the call on whats best for the traffic ad KelvinS1965 said. its why we went porcelain all downstairs and trav in the bathroom upstairs.

ive used B&Q tiles before yeah they did the job, but as we have kids the amount of stuff they drop i needed it to be as hard as possible. for the floor we did nout use quick set adhisive so the guys where able to put a good amount down to level the floor. the floor is solid and as its been cold recently the underfloor heating has been a fantastic.

if you have to sit it out do the floor last just before your kitchen goes in if you are having a new kitchen.
 
I had those b&q tiles in my first house my father in law done the job for me. They look good to start off with but 3 years down the they were looking pretty worn and shabby they chip quite easily to.
 
Just realised that they look pretty similar to my shower room tiles, though 8 years later could be completely different. Of course it's not such a high traffic area (though often go in there wearing outdoor shoes so not just bare feet/slippers).

Showerroomentrance_zpsc6277e6b.jpg
 
just think long term.. if you have to wait a little bit longer then sit it out. i know that you want everything done as soon as you can to enjoy the house.

in July it will be one year for us in our new place. its at the stage where its just a few things need doing the its starting on the exterior/ gardens.

we had budgets but went over as you do, however we didnt get ripped off as i haggled and found suppliers etc.
its all a game. the big chains dont do you any deals as the others do. and trust me its worth the hassle spending one day every few weeks just going face to face getting quotes. they need the business and rather shift sock for a smaller mark up than sit on it.

pain in the A... but its really worth doing.

also just my opinion if you can tank any area that may be exposed to water even little amounts.
as we did both bathrooms rather than buy kits i bought the individual products so with the extra tanked around the kitchen sinks, back door floor. yeah its OTT but water moisture can get through. then all my tiles have been treated with sealant.

oh yeah get everthing steamed cleaned to make it all look the muts nuts!
 
in July it will be one year for us in our new place. its at the stage where its just a few things need doing the its starting on the exterior/ gardens.

Damn that's quick. :eek: It's taken me 12 years doing my place, though to be fair a couple of rooms have been done twice (quick tidy up to make them less horrible to use until I could do them properly). In my defence I did >95% myself and it was all paid for as I went. Main bedroom and some rear garden stuff this year, leaving me hopefully just the new front door/porch and landscaping the front garden next year...then I can truely say it's all finished.


(Before starting all over again no doubt, since we want to replace the conservatory with a proper extension :rolleyes: ).
 
Just to go against the tide a little bit: I tiled our downstairs shower room about 8 years ago using some cheap B&Q manager's special black slate look ceramic tiles. About 3 years ago I tiled my entire entrance hall and kitchen/dinning room floor with fairly expensive travertine tiles. Also our conservatory tiles were from B&Q and not particularly expensive though I can't remember what material (they have colour right through so I have a feeling they might have been porcelain).

The expensive travertine has worn the most (mainly where the dinning chairs are dragged across them) and the conservatory 'porcelain' are like new, bar one tile that has cracked possibly due to me not putting an even coating of adhesive under it. The cheapest black slate tiles are just like new.

Not sure quite what this says. :confused::D Other than some areas take less traffic perhaps and last longer, so perhaps that might mean you can spend less in those areas if appropriate? Otherwise maybe put some thing else down for now (vinyl or perhaps laminate flooring) and plan to tile later. Trouble is it could be like the cheap rug we bought for the living room that is still down 5 years later since we haven't seen something that we both feel is worth the extra cost...

That's nothing to do with the cost of the tiles,
Travertine is a soft material and not really suitable for use in hallways kitchens etc
 
WeegieAVLover said:
I agree with Porcelain being great however we just simply do not have the budget for that.

With all the work we are getting done in the ktichen, utility room, summer room and garden there is no much change from £30K. So while I would love underfloor heating with Porcelain tiles it is not affordable to us.

I agree the comments about sizing are a bit of concern but B&Q say these tiles are one of their best sellers, I assume on the price alone, so there must be more satisfied customers than disgruntled ones.

Its a tough one for us. We want to save money but don't want to buy something and later regret it, but to buy better is almost double the cost, to buy Porcelain it is 3 or 4, even 5, times as much.

And with about 35m required the price becomes quite high and therefore very prohibitive.

If I was spending £30k on improving my home I am damn sure I would rather wait and finish it with a good quality porcelain tile :).
Take a look here
http://www.wickes.co.uk/floor-tiles/porcelain-floor-tiles/icat/porcelainfloortiles/
 
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I think trav is out of budget. It's only suitable in certain areas.

A year is slow for us due to kids and building control delays. But what I was doing was spending every min I could sourcing the best I could get for the prices in materials. Lot of cash in hand jobs. It's been mental. We had my 2nd daughter and that afternoon we fixed the moving dates for 2 weeks later. Moved in then got plans sorted.

Was going to sit it out but just got hold of my builder and kicked off. Wife and kids at mother in laws for most of it. Been a hard year but its all about the talk as well with suppliers, they know the crack and when you go in they give you discounted quote that I arrange with all of em.

On the day of ordering I know where I want to buy from an just say that i want to put the order right here right now what can you do as the other place can do me this and that... The price drops to trade. I was getting trade prices everywhere. When you got your wallet out they all drop the quote. I could have stretched out the work but wife, 2 year old and new born I had to get my a into g.

Paid out for labour at day rates. Did homework on everything.

Wife's happy that's all that matters and kids drop everything on floors and all looks perfect.

Yeah in few years if wife says she want to change anything ill kick her..... So far so good but so far mor than 60k spent another 10k ish and all done
 
Any way just go for the best you can. The reason i only recommend tile shops as they will do a better deal on the lot. Tiles, adhesives, grout etc

Good luck. Will be good to see your progress. Tooo much coffee today so I've done a bit too much posting on avf :)

As long as your happy then go for it. At any time you feel it's a compromise that you are not happy with, just walk away. Be 100% behind every call you make.

It's easier to give walls a new look with paint compared to ripping up the floor in a few years
 
I've been installing Tiles for the last 21 years, from Porcelain and Ceramic to Natural stone and Quartz.

The tiles in your link are very cheap but this is most likely because they are very thin. All Ceramic floor tiles are pretty solid as they have to be to go on the floor but agree that Porcelain is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of durability but it all means nothing if they aren't laid well.

I have fitted cheap and nasty tiles many times and they have looked good.

Personally I wouldn't fit Tiles in a Kitchen, I would go for a Luxury Vinyl. Having lived with every floor covering imaginable, I just prefer vinyl Wood or Vinyl Tiles- Either Amtico or Karndean. No horrible Porous, concave grout joint to get mucky, not cold under foot and generally more durable.

Take a look at walls and floors website if you do decide to go for Tiles, incredibly reasonable compared to showrooms.
 
I think trav is out of budget. It's only suitable in certain areas.

Where can't you fit Travertine?

I think Travertine is an awful product, cheap mans Limestone filled with resin. I have my main bathroom in it including two Travertine worktops and a Travertine window board. I hate it.
 

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