Quartz tile cutting

[Matt]

Matt: thanks for the info. I think £100/m2 is beyond my means, so I couldn't go for the Rolls Royce stuff, but as long as the Tiles HQ stuff is considered AUDI instead of LADA then it should be ok. I just want to be sure that in normal service I pick something that's well calibrated for ease of fitment and won't have a dulled shine in the next few years. The tiles HQ sample should be with me tomorrow. Do you know how the DOMOSTONE stuff compares? The black is on special at the moment, but I think i'd have to ring them to get a sample as theres no provision to order a sample on their website.

Is it easy to tell a bad quartz tile from a good one, or will deterioration over time be the main giveaway (presumably down to softer composition resins that scratch easily)?

I'm pleasantly surprised that it won't be too hard to cut, although I bet the resin smells a bit when being cut (will have to cut outside).

I'd personally prefer granite, as the main black background of the tile is shinier (the black samples i've seen seem more satin sheen than glossy), but the missus is taken on the mirror pieces shine

I was a bit sceptical about the Tiles Porcelain stuff when I got the samples, the grey one seemed to have large clear glass-like chunks running through it, giving the appearance of broken ice over a muddy puddle, and did seem very brittle, the crystalline structure seemed larger than I expected it to be (rather than small and tight granular). It seemed that once in place it would be ok, but I anticipated it would be very fragile to handle while tiling.

The person I spoke to when I ordered the sample reckoned that they do all the disney stores floors with their stuff in the blue version.

Used to use "de Trevor Percy" (as my old Polish colleague used to call TP) a lot for other building stuff when I was in teh building trade.

They do smell a little when cutting, like burning rubber.

No, it isn't easy to tell a good quartz tile from a bad one. Only time will tell. The quartz from Tile HQ is Starlight and usually retails for about £100 sqm and is very good quality.

Tile HQ have the Galaxy Black granite at £52 SQM. The Galaxy has the bronze flecs as apposed to the silver flecs of the Quartz. Granite Black Floor Tile - Granite Bathroom Tiles - Bathroom Tiles - Tile HQ

I'll email Colin and ask him to add a Galaxy Black sample to your order.

 

[monkeyhanger]

Matt: Thanks, but no need for the Galaxy Granite sample - the missus has spoken, she wants the quartz, in black, and the Tile HQ stuff seems to fit the bill for the price we've allocated to doing out the bathroom. I'm relieved it's mid to high end product for a low to mid price.

I wouldn't be able to pursuade "wor lass" to go with the Galaxy Granite, she saw it when we did the kitchen out - we ended up with an absolute black granite worktop instead of the galaxy one.

Cracking advice from everyone who's contributed to this thread though, i've learnt quite a bit - like Quartz tiles are easier to cut than I imagined - that'll save me a bit on the price of the behemoth tile cutter I thought I would have to buy/hire to do the job!

 

[monkeyhanger]

Just realised that although the Tiles HQ order will be £120 more than I would've paid for Tiles Porcelain sourced quartz (15m2 @ 300mmx300mm), the delivery is free, offsetting half of the £120 price difference, not bad at all.

 

[Rav daniels]

The reason your kitchen splash back tiles came off easily is because they prob used tubbed adhesive, depending what material and size of tile, they might of used bagged stuff, which will take alot better hold and be alot harder to take off, either way u will be very lucky not to damage the plaster board mate,

 

[monkeyhanger]

Rav, thanks to posters advice on this thread, i've now decided to replace the board which will be tiled onto for the quartz tiles, partly to save time on scrape-down, and partly because it's borderline whether plasterboard can take the weight of quartz tiles, so the plasterboard will be replaced by aquapanel/hardibacker boards.

 

[Rav daniels]

Good stuff pal, sure it will look good, goodluck

 

[monkeyhanger]

Matt: Got my samples yesterday. Wasn't sure whether the granite one would be in there, but it was - a single Galaxy black tile in 400mm x 400mm format.

Both tiles looked great, I preferred the granite - the depth is so good, the granular detail looked 3D up close, compared to the flatter looking composition of the quartz, but it was sparklier. The missus still preferred the quartz, detail like the grain is lost on women (they don't get surround sound either). So quartz it is then.

I was impressed by the packaging - it took me about 20 mins to unravel the 20m length of bubblewrap (in 2 pieces) fully overwrapped with about another 20 linear metres industrial thickness clingfilm. It was like trying to unravel the gordian knot. The package could have been dropped 10ft without breaking the tiles!

I got my quote for everything i'll need, but for some reason I was quoted on 3 x 5kg bags of grout. When you look at the coverage tables or formulas for 300mm x 300mm x 10mm tiles set at 3mm gaps, general concensus is 0.35kg of grout per m2. One bag might just do it, 2 is cautious, but 3 seems a little over the top. I'll order one and buy another locally if it doesn't quite do the job.

Our house rabbit is a big fan of the granite tile - he used to lie on our black granite hearth in the old house, and now we have one of those modern glass fronted electric fires that look like an LCD telly stuck to the wall, we don't have a hearth. He's now lying all over the granite tile.

I'll be placing my order as soon as that 12 months 0% credit card lands on the door.

 

[Matt]

Matt: Got my samples yesterday. Wasn't sure whether the granite one would be in there, but it was - a single Galaxy black tile in 400mm x 400mm format.

Both tiles looked great, I preferred the granite - the depth is so good, the granular detail looked 3D up close, compared to the flatter looking composition of the quartz, but it was sparklier. The missus still preferred the quartz, detail like the grain is lost on women (they don't get surround sound either). So quartz it is then.

I was impressed by the packaging - it took me about 20 mins to unravel the 20m length of bubblewrap (in 2 pieces) fully overwrapped with about another 20 linear metres industrial thickness clingfilm. It was like trying to unravel the gordian knot. The package could have been dropped 10ft without breaking the tiles!


I got my quote for everything i'll need, but for some reason I was quoted on 3 x 5kg bags of grout. When you look at the coverage tables or formulas for 300mm x 300mm x 10mm tiles set at 3mm gaps, general concensus is 0.35kg of grout per m2. One bag might just do it, 2 is cautious, but 3 seems a little over the top. I'll order one and buy another locally if it doesn't quite do the job.

Our house rabbit is a big fan of the granite tile - he used to lie on our black granite hearth in the old house, and now we have one of those modern glass fronted electric fires that look like an LCD telly stuck to the wall, we don't have a hearth. He's now lying all over the granite tile.

I'll be placing my order as soon as that 12 months 0% credit card lands on the door.

Glad it got there ok

I got Colin to include the granite just incase

 

[Dan]

Just bumping some of the tiling tools related threads. This thread might not be current discussion, if it isn't, just ignore this, and it'll soon drop off the list. Don't worry if you bring it back into current discussion yourself though, the content within it could be useful for somebody. So feel free to add to it if you have something valuable to add.