How to tell if you're buying decent tiles online?

[Porcelainwood]

Some appear cheap...but then you add on postage and the bargain ain't a bargain anymore (Victorian; many others).

There is no thing as Free Delivery as the delivery price is added to the price of the tiles
Postage and packing is expensive as tiles are heavy and generally not insured by courier parcel companies
So if the tiles arrived damaged the sender cannot claim compensation
The companies who offer Tiles at price and then postage on top are selling 2 services
1. For the tiles which they make a profit
2. For the post and packing which they pass the cost to the customer with no profit

 

[Rosco100]

As I'm a tiler to trade and opened my own showroom 20 years ago as I was sick of fixing inferior tiles from the sheds,We only sell 1st quality tiles and the tilers near and far send all their customers to us as they know they will get decent tiles to do the job and can stand back and be proud of the finish.In my experience buying tiles from one of the above online tile shops (My supplier let me down) I ordered the same tile but when it arrived it was of 2nd quality,I skipped them as couldn't supply them to my customer as our reputation could have been ruined.......

 

[Julian 'Farmer' Bonsall]

I mentioned on another thread that I found it interesting that Johnson Tiles do not have any ceramic floor tiles in their current range - I was looking at some of their old ceramic stock rated 4 on W&F for a bathroom floor, but they couldn't tell me the absorption rate and it could be getting pretty damp.

You had me thinking and chatting about this today as our wet clots are ceramic. So the ceramic tile absorbs the / less water depending on it absorption rate? Why does it matter if a floor tile absorbs water (I cant see much expansion likely or them altering in strength) -.Do they degrade over time somehow?
If it's adhesive related isn't that what cement based water proof at for?
So should we not have used ceramics (they are on concrete) and if so why not?
I see posts saying to is a harder tile but didn't understand why. On a wall is the concern extra weight ?

 

[dottigirl]

You had me thinking and chatting about this today as our wet clots are ceramic. So the ceramic tile absorbs the / less water depending on it absorption rate? Why does it matter if a floor tile absorbs water (I cant see much expansion likely or them altering in strength) -.Do they degrade over time somehow?
If it's adhesive related isn't that what cement based water proof at for?
So should we not have used ceramics (they are on concrete) and if so why not?
I see posts saying to is a harder tile but didn't understand why. On a wall is the concern extra weight ?

I'm hoping someone lurking will answer this question. I assumed it would encourage damp in the surrounding area?


There's a fascinating thread here where @Plan Tec Tiling did an experiment with different types of tiles to see which absorbs more water.
Ceramic - Tile water absorbtion experiment - https://www.tilersforums.com/threads/tile-water-absorbtion-experiment.83567

EDIT: further thread here which covers why it could be a problem
Ceramic - Is water absorbtion into a tile a problem? - https://www.tilersforums.com/threads/is-water-absorbtion-into-a-tile-a-problem.85486/

Not sure where the original thread was that it refers to though?

 

[Julian 'Farmer' Bonsall]

I'm hoping someone lurking will answer this question. I assumed it would encourage damp in the surrounding area?

There's a fascinating thread here where @Plan Tec Tiling did an experiment with different types of tiles to see which absorbs more water.
Ceramic - Tile water absorbtion experiment - https://www.tilersforums.com/threads/tile-water-absorbtion-experiment.83567
Not sure where the original thread was that it refers to though?

Yes have read that but didn't quite understand why more moisture absorption was bad - I thought i had missed something. So maybe making the structure walls wet as a route out of the tile? I was thinking something broke down,tile or adhesive over time but maybe just the adhesive strength when wet. Our floors seem fine but maybe different on concrete. CTD for example just say " We would only recommend using porcelain on a wetroom floor. Any tile would be suitable for the walls. " but not why. House of tiles recommend ceramics ?

 

[Bill]

Yes have read that but didn't quite understand why more moisture absorption was bad - I thought i had missed something. So maybe making the structure walls wet as a route out of the tile? I was thinking something broke down,tile or adhesive over time but maybe just the adhesive strength when wet. Our floors seem fine but maybe different on concrete. CTD for example just say " We would only recommend using porcelain on a wetroom floor. Any tile would be suitable for the walls. " but not why. House of tiles recommend ceramics ?

What happens to water trapped in a tile, after time?

Would you want dirty water lurking in your house?

 

[Julian 'Farmer' Bonsall]

So the concern is related to stagnant water not any failures ?ĺ

I assume the water that is in the tile (in the case of my concrete floors) joins up with the water thats in that and the tile adhesive? Where does the water in the adhesive go? What does happen to it ?

Our house (very old) has no modern type foundations (key stones under corners and load bearing walls), no DPC layer and because of the location and the bricks were made on site lots of salt in the walls (animals love the brick walls).

 

[dottigirl]

There is no thing as Free Delivery as the delivery price is added to the price of the tiles
Postage and packing is expensive as tiles are heavy and generally not insured by courier parcel companies
So if the tiles arrived damaged the sender cannot claim compensation
The companies who offer Tiles at price and then postage on top are selling 2 services
1. For the tiles which they make a profit
2. For the post and packing which they pass the cost to the customer with no profit

True. It took a while for me to realise that brick-and-mortar shopping for tiles could be preferable to online. It's the opposite of what I'm used to when buying cycling gear - the LBS (Local Bike Shop) rarely has anything I need and if they do, it works out twice as expensive. (I taught myself to build and service my bikes as I couldn't afford £50-£150 every time one needed attention).

Back to tiles, there's a massive variation between postage for sites - some start at £10, some at £45.
Whereas my LTS doesn't charge for delivery, so they may initially be more expensive, but it works out cheaper.

 

[Julian 'Farmer' Bonsall]

My online deliveries have been £20. Tracked and insured. They were delivered using an electric pallet truck into the property which saved quite a lot of time and effort ( and a free pallet).

Don't have a negative from my online attempts except the delay between choosing,samples, getting the tiles. For my do it yourself that was fine however.

I didn't by adhesive or grout from them but the prices were impressive.

Getting to stores isn't practical for a lot people (location, time responsibilities) so that market had an opening.

 

[dottigirl]

Anyone have a view on the Core Effect range at Walls and Floors please?