Beware of expensive immitations! B&Q Tiles........

[AliGage]

This has been covered or mentioned in many other posts. It is probably more suited to the "buying tiles" section, but due to position on the forum this board gets the most traffic hence why i'm putting it here.

Today (a day off, or rather converting the garage into an office) i took my other half and the kids round a few DIY stores to get "ideas" for the home.
I had a browse through the tiles and they have (recently) updated there selection and products massively. I saw these tiles on display and couldn't help but pull a few out to have a closer look:

Colours Cream Olimpiade Floor Tile, 600 x 600mm, 5052931059706

The pictures below speak for themselves. B&Q are charging £40.00 per square metre for these. I could beat that price elsewhere saving you (the customer) money. It also saves your tiler a whole load of heartache and gives him/her a fighting chance of producing a quality finish.



I was TOLD i had to leave my tape measure in the car when we went in. But i'd say the gap from the bow at the end must be a good 5-6mm.
First thing i do when i look at any tiles is pick a couple up and place them face to face to see how flat they are. At the end of the day every "customer" wants a "flat" floor or wall. So please, pick a flat tile!

 

[Stef]

Usual from the big sheds,
I've also seen some shockers at reputable tile shops.
If I'm doing broken bond I always hold the tiles face to face then make the decision & show the client..

 

[Rookery]

Bear in mind that by holding them face to face, you are actually exaggerating the problem. Whilst this is a great way of getting out of broken bond fixing, to get a true picture of the scale of the problem you should hold the face against a known flat surface. If you can find one, that is.

 

[Stef]

I also use my bead (spirit level) on the front & the back of the tile & some of them tiles are just as bad.

It's not a cop out for doing broken bond it's me covering my behind for when you end up with lipped tiles!!!

 

[DHTiling]

What was the " Need a tiler " sticker.. ? all about..

 

[judge]

What was the " Need a tiler " sticker.. ? all about..

I was going to say to stick your own number over the other number.............. then again,if all theyre tiles are like that ,maybee not!!!

 

[AliGage]

Dave it goes on to read "if you want help with a tiling project we can quote you" then a number to call.
B&Q now have tilers?!

 

[DHTiling]

God help us all :lol:

 

[White Room]

Dave it goes on to read "if you want help with a tiling project we can quote you" then a number to call.
B&Q now have tilers?!

I've seen that...I was going to ring them up and tell em I don't need one..

 

[Stef]

These were johnson tiles I used today on site.
Sandstone Biege 300x200.
I'm exaggerating the bow in these tiles buy squeezing the ends but this is the quality that we are getting now & these came from CTD.
Oh & they were fixed brick bond!!

The last two photos are back to back, I put my 600 bead on the back & front but it wouldn't show up very well on the photos.

 

[DGJ]

Johnson tiles are the ones we have to use on quite a few of our contracts these days, think we get them from nicobond locally and they really are pants:mad2:

One of the main problems is they have a sort of shade of black on the corners of the tiles which when you are fixing them are very noticeable?!?

 

[Stef]

Johnson tiles are the ones we have to use on quite a few of our contracts these days, think we get them from nicobond locally and they really are pants:mad2:

One of the main problems is they have a sort of shade of black on the corners of the tiles which when you are fixing them are very noticeable?!?

I give them a quick run with a cloth.
If you forget about them though & you start grouting!! Grrrrr.

I'm trying to tell them to pull the full range of johnsons off their display boards in the show homes & sales centre as I'm demented fitting them.

 

[John Benton]

What was the " Need a tiler " sticker.. ? all about..

It should have read "Need a Ticker" ......

We could then pass it on the the bloke who was after a job as a ticker!!! :lol:

 

[DHTiling]

More like need a window licker by the numpties that will be doing their tiling work

 

[judge]

I seen a quote with a customer to install the suite and tiles he had purchased from b n q!!!!!! What a ripoff. It was way over double what me and the plumber had quoted

 

[AliGage]

I seen a quote with a customer to install the suite and tiles he had purchased from b n q!!!!!! What a ripoff. It was way over double what me and the plumber had quoted

I've seen a few of there inflated quotes before. Bog standard hear supplied and fitted. Double what i did it for, i supplied much better gear and made a pretty good wage too.

 

[John Benton]

I got recommended by my tile supplier to one of their customers. He had B&Q fit a kitchen and tile walls and floors. To be fair the kitchen was fitted to a good standard.

Anyway, tiler turns up provided by B&Q the first day, and off the customer goes to work. Tiles are from my supplier 60x30 rectified porcelain, £55m. He comes home from work to find a right mess. Tiler is chuffed to bits with job he's done, customer goes ape. Tiles have varying degrees of joint width ranging from 4mm to touching. The sill in the window is out of level by 15mm from front left to back right over a 1.5m width.

Upshot was that B&Q agree tiling was not good enough and paid for new tiles. Customer asked for a recommended tiler at the supplier and I got the job. Did the floor also and then 6 months later did his house bathroom for him with a £150 tip.

The sheds all use subbys so it's pot luck as to who you will get. You pays your money.........

 

[AliGage]

I've seen the same shoddy jobs turned out by homebase and Wickes. Been approached by both to fit there kitchens turned them away as the retail price of a bag of dry roasted was more than there wage. So it's really not surprising they're thrown in.

 

[DHTiling]

Bing...... Bang..... BOSH!!!!! . there you go missus all done the B&Q way.. :lol:..

 

[High Peak Tiling]

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These were johnson tiles I used today on site.
Sandstone Biege 300x200.
I'm exaggerating the bow in these tiles buy squeezing the ends but this is the quality that we are getting now & these came from CTD.
Oh & they were fixed brick bond!!

The last two photos are back to back, I put my 600 bead on the back & front but it wouldn't show up very well on the photos.

Robson, I have just completed a installation on a bathroom with 330x250 Ceramics, they were fixed brick bond... This was not a problem UNTIL I did the normal box checks (batch no. , breakages & room standing time) the tiles had the same bow in the middle!!
B&Q!!

This wasn't the only problem that came a cropper! the tile size varied from 328-332 & 249-253 which as we all know causes havoc for the upright grout joints to meet!

 

[Dan s]

B&Q down here usually just sub contract the bathroom fitting tilling etc to local firms
i know cause I worked for a firm that did it a few years back. the prices customers pay to B&Q were shocking £49psqm plus grout and £18 to fit a door threshold are a few I can recal , but £299 for a suite what a bargain! :yikes:

 

[AliGage]

B&Q down here usually just sub contract the bathroom fitting tilling etc to local firms
i know cause I worked for a firm that did it a few years back. the prices customers pay to B&Q were shocking £49psqm plus grout and £18 to fit a door threshold are a few I can recal , but £299 for a suite what a bargain! :yikes:

I believe if i recall the last B&Q Quote i saw was for a kitchen and to move/extend a water feed was for £250 for the first metre or part of and a ton for each there after.

 

[ian158]

I've just fitted red 200x100mm bevel edge tiles from B&Q...and they were in the same packaging but, one batch were made in turkey..the others were made by pilkington.. darker red and 1mm taller..luckily only one box..and the customers said.."you expect them to be the same colour and the same size...good job they were cheap!"

 

[ian158]

actually B&Q get a bad wrap..its the manufacturers that should get the bad rap !

 

[Dan s]

They stock the shelves though, surely it's a down to a rep somewhere in the chain not caring