Best and Worst Tiles You've Worked With Recently

[Dan]

What are the best and worst tiles you've worked with recently?

Do you still get the bowing with bumpy's and whatnot these days?

 

[Ian]

Porcelanosa are always a pleasure to work with, millimetre perfect and always straight. BCT are the ones that are a pain, big size variations and often bowed.

 

[demi34]

I think the worse tiles are from turkey

 

[Dan]

Are there not any turkish that suffice? They all a bit tosh or what?

 

[CJ]

I hate Padova with a passion.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

I gave my mate Waggy a lift on a job the other week, only to find we couldn't cut the glazed pocelain. We even enlisted Andy tiler and son.

I did put some pics on a while back showing Andy caroll and son, Waggy, and myself trying to cut these tiles with Andy's top of the range Sigma, it wouldn't touch them,

 

[Dan]

Nearly swore then. Those are quite big. ha

 

[DHTiling]

Best tiles ...? , there are a few , porcelenosa , I agree are good .. But the worst are the BCT ones they import.. Some are more bent than Alan Carr lol lol .

 

[John Benton]

Have to agree with Bri on Porcelanosa, but my supplier does Casalgrande and Marazzi they are beautiful tiles to work with

Casalgrande Padana spa - Floor and Wall tiles, Fine Porcelain Stoneware, Single-fired tiles - Casalgrande Padana

Marazzi Tiles and Floor Coverings - Ceramics and Porcelain | Marazzi

I'm working with some that client has supplied 60x30 rectified porc, made in Malaysia. I think that because of the size they are cutting ok but if they are any bigger may have problems like you Phil.

Worst ones were when a customer supplied and they were 2-3 mm out of square. They were from Argentina, first time I've come across tiles from there

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

Best tiles ...? , there are a few , porcelenosa , I agree are good .. But the worst are the BCT ones they import.. Some are more bent than Alan Carr lol lol .

Is Alan Carr bent Dave? I would never have guessed.:lol::lol:

 

[STEVO]

Few weeks ago i did 2 bathrooms with some villeroy & boch 450x450's. Not impressed. sizes were a little out and when on the wall the shades looked all different to my eye and even the plumbers! All batches were same. didnt look nice to me. They got me to cut down a different shade tile to insert as a border, (against my advice) and some looked bowed after i snapped them.
luckily customers didnt notice as they didnt really have an eye for design, so they were well happy with it all. But i wouldnt use them again.

 

[area tiling]

Marazzi are great to work with , Bct pile of poo just like B&Q !

 

[afright]

B&Q cheap polished porcelain.

 

[Diggy]

B&Q , no question ,had variation of 3mm in size, 40x40, shockers.

 

[On one]

Grespania Icara Blanco will be burned into my memory for ever more.........same problem as Phil Hobson

 

[mev]

B&Q Glacier Pack of 3 Ivory Polished Porcelain Tiles (L)600 x (W)600mm size variation and bowed
shockers

 

[Spud]

All plank wood effect porcelain are rubbish as far as I have seen even the porcenalosa ones are benders

 

[jonnyc]

I would say that as far as limestone is concerned I have had consistently bad supply from mandarin on last five jobs I have done and they were not not small jobs either.
3 of the floors were 250sq mats plus and other two about 80mts.

 

[jonnyc]

Interesting to hear your comments on plank effect gary. I've just been encouraging a contractor to buy these tiles but maybe I won't now.
but if you think these porcelain planks are trouble I can tell you that I was fixing the first wenge sandstone planks from Saudi Arabia @20mm,running lengths 1000 to 1800 mm 7 or 8 years ago and you could get a waggle when verticle of at least 150mm.if you tried to carry it flat it would just break.
every paris ceramics showroom in uk and USA defeated all the tilers but I am proud that we did manager to get it down looking god but at great loss to what I quoted

 

[Dougs Third Go]

some I fitted recently did surprise me, nicely, they were rectified 600 x 300's from Wickes, absolutely no complaints at all (and I was looking!!), Then back to reality with some el cheapo B & Q garbage last week, absolute horrendous for size uniformity.

 

[martin1c]

I always try to push customers the porcelanosa route. Their tiles are the best by far. The worst tiles I've ever worked with were a nasty combination of Turkish and handmade

 

[On one]

Not necessarily the the best, but surprising good value.....25m2 of 610mm x 405mm honed travertine from a national supplier with a shop in Blaydon, Newcastle. Very little filler and good size wise too. Only had the one crack on me,which was surprising considering as they were stacked flat in piles of 40 high in the garage!

 

[Mr Tiler]

off tiling for the week got a bedroom floor... hallway and small entrance room to do.... more practise

 

[Dan]

off tiling for the week got a bedroom floor... hallway and small entrance room to do.... more practise

I'm sure you were meant to post that in the "What are you tiling this week" thread ha

 

[cam_low]

Few weeks ago i did 2 bathrooms with some villeroy & boch 450x450's. Not impressed. sizes were a little out and when on the wall the shades looked all different to my eye and even the plumbers! All batches were same. didnt look nice to me. They got me to cut down a different shade tile to insert as a border, (against my advice) and some looked bowed after i snapped them.
luckily customers didnt notice as they didnt really have an eye for design, so they were well happy with it all. But i wouldnt use them again.

I fixed these a while ago. they were bowed big time. Apparently they have bought a factory in Turkey and are now producing bent bowed crap. Oh dear.