bowed quartz floor tiles

[christine56]

Oh my Goodess just about to order this type of tiles from Tiles HQ ( 20M2) ... Are they reputable I wonder? Any feedback would be :welcome:... I have No underfloor heating in my kitchen though. Any advice on correct adehesive / grout to use would be much appreciated if I go ahead with them. Floor is concreted. Thanks

 

[faithhealer]

Oh my Goodess just about to order this type of tiles from Tiles HQ ( 20M2) ... Are they reputable I wonder? Any feedback would be :welcome:... I have No underfloor heating in my kitchen though. Any advice on correct adehesive / grout to use would be much appreciated if I go ahead with them. Floor is concreted. Thanks

welcome to the forum Christine, say hi http://www.tilersforums.com/new-members-say-hi-here/

 

[DHTiling]

Tiles HQ are a good comp..

Mapei Grani-rapid adhesive and ultra colour grout and LTP MPG sealer.

 

[christine56]

Thanx for that Dave ... They were very helpful when I spoke to them to order the sample tile ... So looking forward to the sparkle in my kitchen. :hurray:

 

[monkeyhanger]

I ordered from Tiles HQ for the black quartz tiles to go in my ensuite, on the walls. They're looking good. As long as you don't have under floor heating then these shouldn't be a problem. These types of tile are on the floor at my local Debenhams and look great as a floor tile with downlighting to catch the mirror pieces. Tiles HQ were very helpful throughout the ordering process and i'm about to order some more of these tiles for my main bathroom.

As a materials scientist and not a pro tiler (DIY'er), I would say any resin based tile is going to be sensitive to strong heat sources. The resins that hold these tiles together have a low melting/softening point compared to a ceramic/porcelain/stone tile that should be dimensionally stable to hundreds of degrees (although the adhesive won't be).

 

[stone tiler]

I know my tiler spoke to the granfix tech guys and they said there should be no problem using their products with quartz tiles. They think its the quartz and the heat.
The tile company I bought the tiles from did ask me if the adhesive contained calcium sulphate (gypsum) which granfix say it doesn't. When I replied that it doesn't I didnt get a reply from them and it is proving very,VERY hard to get hold of them now!
I assume this might cause a chemical reaction or something and this was going to be their get out.
I can see how you think its partially down to the tiler but if he looks at the spec of the glue,speaks to the tech guys and has used it before with no problems how can I blame him? On top of that I wasnt told by the tile supplier to use a specific glue,it isnt mentioned in any of my emails/invoices from them,it wasn't on the tile boxes or on their website and i didn't mention it to the tiler.
What more could we have done?

 

[christine56]

Debenhams was the first place I seen these tiles ... and they do look stunning!!!

 

[monkeyhanger]

Monkey,

As I said before - try the oven on a leftover tile to prove these tiles unsuitable for underfloor heating (UFH). I suggested 50C but you should check with the supplier of your underfloor heating system and ask how hot could the lower surface of your tile (as the bottom is closer to the heat source) become when it is heated with your UFH. it could be as high as 70C or 80C, with it only being 25C on the upper surface.

When you have that info from the UFH supplier, put one of those tiles in your oven for an hour at that temp and see if it's flexible. If the resins are affected, you will find that your tile is no longer brittle, and may bend or dent when hit lightly with a hammer.

If you see anything like this happening at the temperatures the UFC will put out then those tiles are conclusively not suitable for under floor heating.


Typical resins do have a softening point of anywhere from 40C to 120C, which may be in the heating range of the elements supplying the heat for UFH.

 

[Richard Edwards]

How much are these Quartz Tiles - approx ?

 

[christine56]

I've just ordered from Tile HQ (dealt with a really helpful chap called Colin) Tiles cost £1219.00 for 20 m2... delivered free ... we had a sample and it is very quality from what I can see ... :hurray:

 

[monkeyhanger]

They've gone up 50p a tile from when I bought them 2 months ago. I need to get some more to do the main bathroom.

 

[christine56]

Chop Chop Monkeyhanger ... before i buy them all :lol:

 

[Locton]

Hi. We have the very same problem with white quartz 600x600 from the same company. We don't have underfloor heating though so I think the heat theory isn't the problem. We had our tiles laid last year and have had to have the tiler back twice now. We still have the tiles and also have a spare pack. Our tiler is mystified by it and has never seen it in his 15 years of tiling. We have contacted the very same tile company but the sales people can't comment so we are now waiting for their customer service team to get back to us. We bought 17 mtrs and it cost us a grand, now we are considering buying new tiles. We thought the price with that company was excellent at circa £40 sq mtr compared to £100 sq mtr at other more reputable suppliers local to us. I am now considering buying the more expensive ones but nervous if it is a problem with the quartz tiles in general....any advice would be great?

 

[Colin James]

As far as I am aware 'Lightburst' tile is the only product of its kind in the UK suitable for underfloor heating. The biggest problem with these tiles is that people see cheaper versions online etc but to be honest they just have more resin in the mix which is probably part of the cause of your problem. Pictures would be very useful here especially showing the back of the tile, I suspect that the tiler may have not installed them as per the manufacturers guide and has probably just fitted them as he usually would (which is not always the best approach), I may be wrong here but tiles definitely need buttering on the back and should be worked into a thick bed of S2 adhesive.

 

[cam_low]

Hi. We have the very same problem with white quartz 600x600 from the same company. We don't have underfloor heating though so I think the heat theory isn't the problem. We had our tiles laid last year and have had to have the tiler back twice now. We still have the tiles and also have a spare pack. Our tiler is mystified by it and has never seen it in his 15 years of tiling. We have contacted the very same tile company but the sales people can't comment so we are now waiting for their customer service team to get back to us. We bought 17 mtrs and it cost us a grand, now we are considering buying new tiles. We thought the price with that company was excellent at circa £40 sq mtr compared to £100 sq mtr at other more reputable suppliers local to us. I am now considering buying the more expensive ones but nervous if it is a problem with the quartz tiles in general....any advice would be great?

Does anywhere affected receive sunlight ?