Help! Ceramic tiles fading and the company won't replace them

[Tile Shop]

Sorry for the delay, been a busy morning.

I'm about to email our contact with the images. However, having looked at the pictures again, I notice the white part of the octagons have darkened from the original look.

The test you did, if the tile was naturally faulty or the glaze was fading/bleeding, either the acid in the vinegar or the bleach, from past experience, would have had some kind of affect.

Now please please please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not saying you are dirty people and I also have a dog that likes to get mucky in the garden and bring it in and staying on top of the cleaning can be a nightmare. But my only other thought is if there is dirt showing, obviously more visible white tiles, this would also pose as a risk for surface abrasion. You may have clean indoor footwear (or no footwear) but this dirt will contain grit and it can still be dragged across the surface by any foot traffic creating like a fine, almost sand-paper like effect. This will abrade the glaze over time and the more surface dirt there is, the quicker it will happen.

The surface of glazed tiles is hard wearing, but not indestructible. So this could happen on any tile to varying extents.

However, I would be questioning the wearing grade, as grade 4 (according to the only reference to this tile I could find on a foreign website) "should" be able to withstand this type of abrasion/scratching dirt if that is indeed the cause of the problem and especially if this dirt is minimal:

"BS EN 14411:2012 EN 14411:2012 (E) - Annex M (informative)
- Class 3:
Floor coverings in areas that, with normal footwear, are walked on more often with small amounts of scratching dirt (e.g. residential kitchens, halls, corridors, balconies, loggias and terraces). This does not apply to abnormal footwear (i.e. hobnailed boots).

Class 4:
Floor coverings that are walked on by regular traffic with some scratching dirt so that the conditions are more severe than Class 3 (e.g. entrances, commercial kitchens, hotel, exhibition and sale rooms)."

Wear isn't visible on the white parts of the tile, only the black but based on how yours have worn, the same test (ISO10545/7) conducted on the black parts of the tile, I would have thought have shown the abrasion significantly quicker, thus reducing the wear grade possibly to as little as grade 2 and therefore unsuitable for kitchen use.

I will send your images to the factory and ask for a datasheet to confirm the abrasion resistance and we can at least look to see if the tile has been mis-sold for your situation.

 

[Tile Shop]

Just getting some facts straight before emailing them:

The excuses that they have given us are that our dogs could be bringing something acidic in on their feet (how this would harm the tile and not the dogs I have no idea).

They have said that when they removed the previous floor there was a 'pungent' odour coming from under the tiles and that therefore we must be using strong cleaning products on the tiles (If we were using strong cleaning products, which we are not, how this would cause the underneath of the tile to smell is beyond me), we did ask them if that could be the adhesive used to affix the previous tiles but they have ignored our query.

Doubtful that it would be cleaning products.... I think it is a very polite way of implying the dogs have pee'd on the floor even if it has been a couple of "accidents" that have been aloud to sit for a while. If they have, the grout being water resistant, will have allowed the "liquid" to pass through to the underside of the tile and become stagnant. Also being acidic, it may have a chemical reaction on the cement based adhesive which will cause a very strong ammonia like smell. Tiles also being ceramic, the underside is absorbent so it would soak up the moisture and could possibly cause a yellow/brown discoloration to the front face of the tile.

What cleaning products have you been using on the floor just out of interest?

 

[Tile Shop]

I'm about to email our contact with the images.

Turns out its the same agent that visited you.

 

[Erin Whiley]

Ah I see, well at least she knows I'm still looking into it now. Thank you so much for contacting her and for your help in general. As you can understand it's quite stressful trying to sort this out.
Answering your previous comments; the dogs are house trained so no accidents and we have no yellow or brown patches of discolouration. As for cleaning products on the first floor we had we used a dilution of Flash floor cleaner and then because I was worried about that on the new floor I use Tesco floor wipes.
I'm aware the tiles will show signs of wear and tear because we have dogs even though we try to prevent dirty paws were possible, but surely they shouldn't fade that badly in under six months should they? I've attached photos of a report about the tiles we were sent in the last lot of communication we had with the suppliers but it doesn't state if the tiles that were tested where new tiles or our faded tiles that they removed. I've also added a photo of the packaging from the tiles which has information that may be relevant to the hardness. Sorry I would have sent this earlier but I've had appointments all day.

Again thank you ever so much for your input. It's much appreciated.

 

[jimthetiler]

question,is there a roof light or window by that part of the floor.Also were the tiles stored at yours for any period of time before they were laid.

 

[Erin Whiley]

question,is there a roof light or window by that part of the floor.Also were the tiles stored at yours for any period of time before they were laid.

Hi, we have no skylight and there’s no direct sunlight onto the tiles and the tiles were stored in my garage for a couple of days before being laid both times.