bowed quartz floor tiles

[monkeyhanger]

Scary stuff! I almost bought quartz from those people, is it a coincidence that they're in Crook?:lol:

I'm losing confidence in Quartz altogether - i'm about to buy some from tiles HQ, the sample tile I got sent looks great, and i'm not doing any heating to mine (they're going on Aquaboard walls), so i'm hoping i'll be ok.

T....P........ state that they're 95% quartz, supposedly higher than most and that's supposed to be a sign of quality (according to them). I suppose that means they've got 5% resin binders. Most other tile places state 93% quartz content, maybe these T....P........ ones dont have enough binder.

I'm not an experienced tiler, but I am a chemist/materials scientist - These tiles should be considered water proof/impervious, so I think the problem has to lie with their susceptibility to heat. The weak point seems to be the resin in the tiles as quartz is dimensionally stable at high temperatures. The melting point of the resin binder may be low, leading to heat shrinkage, causing the ends to curl up (have you ever seen something plastic in the oven shrink?).

I do wonder how hot the underside of the heated tile gets from the underfloor heating in order to provide a modest heat at the surface, i'd imagine 50C at the base of the tiles would be at the high end of operation (unless an experienced fitter will correct me).

If you have a spare tile, it may be useful to put one in the oven at 50C (if you have a plate warming function, or the oven can go that low) for an hour and remove the tile. If it's warped or flexible (if you can bend it) then it's definitely not suitable for underfloor heating.

I would hope that these tiles can withstand being in a 50C environment.

Can anyone reassure me that they're still fine for wall tiles???

 

[stone tiler]

According to T...P.....

-The tiles have a 0.2% water absorbtion rate making them classified as non-porous so I dont think its that.
-They require no sealing
-95% quartz as opposed to industry standard 92%.
-Scratch and stain proof. Mine had scratches after 2 weeks!
-The only company in the U.k offering quartz that is suited to under floor heating.
-Manufactured by them for the U.K market.
-Fit on flexible adhesive. (made by ultra)

So if the tiles they sell are that good how can mine be so wrong? It doesn't add up to me.

 

[nybor62]

i noticed in your last post , according to tp, fix on flexi addy made by ultra.
did they recommend that you use ultra adhesive. because you hav,nt and they might use that against you as a reason for failure

 

[monkeyhanger]

Monkey; I'm about to do some black quartz of my own, but on the walls. I got a lot of advice from this forum about what to use to fix it, how to cut etc, and a number of high ranking posters in the forum do not rate tiles from T....P........ and i've been steered towards Tiles HQ. Their whole tile sample looks great.

I got a few samples from T....P........ and the quartz offcuts I got were smashed in the post, they seemed very brittle to me.

If they say that they're the only company making quartz suitable for underfloor heating, then that kind of implies that quartz tiles on underfloor heating should be avoided (I have no opinion on that, just interpreting their words).

I'd like to know at what temperature these tiles are formed, how heat resistant the resin binder is etc. The quartz might be heat resistant to hundreds of degrees, but I doubt the resins are, i'm sure they'll soften up with the application of heat, which will probably make them more likely to scratch.

There might be a good reason why other companies generally have a 93% quartz content. There must be a balance with quartz content for wear properties vs resin content for ensuring the tile holds itself together and isn't too brittle, so that the tiles are hard and tough.

Your best bet might be to get an independent report on the suitability of these tiles with underfloor heating, along with any proof that they deemed them suitable for underfloor heating (like an email from them stating that) and go to them in the first instance, or try your credit card company (if you paid that way) if they don't give you anything (credit card is jointly liable with the supplier).

 

[stone tiler]

They didn't mention the ultra brand of adhesive at all when I ordered the tiles. If they had I would of bought it from them and saved my tiler from getting the adhesive. It would have made no difference to me at all. I think this is a new excuse they have come up with.
I'm more inclined to think that the tiles are not suited to underfloor heating due to how they've been made. They must have a weak mix or something and have since corrected it.
I will speak to my credit card and see if I'm covered that way but it was over 6 months ago I purchased the tiles and had them laid.

 

[nybor62]

ok no probs

 

[monkeyhanger]

6 months is a while, but if it would take 6 months for a defect like this to develop then it's worth a try with the card company. Don't let your card company fob you off, it's the organisation that you chase, not the issuing bank e.g. talk to Visa, not Barclays if you have a Visa Barclaycard etc. May have more of a case with the card company if you haven't paid off the transaction yet.

No harm in making a few calls - shy bairns get nowt!

 

[Scott]

This two monkey is confusing me, thought you were talking to yourself for a bit there!

Did the specify which Ultra flexible?

 

[Celiab]

It was interesting to read the report of your bowed quartz tiles! I have exactly the same problem, we have underfloor heating as well. I think our tiles orignated from the same manufacturer but everyone is denying that there is any problem! I have got nowhere with the supplier and am at a loss now to know what to do.

 

[DHTiling]

It was interesting to read the report of your bowed quartz tiles! I have exactly the same problem, we have underfloor heating as well. I think our tiles orignated from the same manufacturer but everyone is denying that there is any problem! I have got nowhere with the supplier and am at a loss now to know what to do.

Don't forget it is just not the UFH it is also the adhesive used.

A water mixed adhesive should not be used with a lot of th ese resin based tiles.. a 2 component S2 polyurethane type adhesive should be used to stop them warping/dishing.

 

[jay]

It was interesting to read the report of your bowed quartz tiles! I have exactly the same problem, we have underfloor heating as well. I think our tiles orignated from the same manufacturer but everyone is denying that there is any problem! I have got nowhere with the supplier and am at a loss now to know what to do.

as Dave says any pics of your tiles :8:

 

[Celiab]

If the adhesive is such an important factor when fixing these tiles, why don't the manufacturers make sure that they include this information on the box? Also we were assured that they were suitable for ufh. No pictures have had to take up most of the tiles becuase otherwise we couldn't use the room!

 

[DHTiling]

Because it is the duty of the installer to know what to use on certain products.. and if in doubt at all then they should contact the adhesive tech line to confirm.

 

[Celiab]

I don't think my builder had any doubts, he has laid thousands of tiles over many years without any problems and when we bought them the supplier did not say that they needed anything special.

 

[DHTiling]

Then both are at fault..

Also just because your builder has laid 1000's of tiles doesn't mean he has done it right..?

The retailer should have at least said what to use and seal them with..