Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Mar 25, 2012 11:14 am Hi ALL I want to lay porcelain tiles to my house. I do not know nothing and I need it done in a fortnight time(I had two months but we got rental notice and moving in a new house earlier than we planned) I am looking at 100 Sqm. I want to know two things. 1) Where to get tiles? How to know whether it is good quality tiles or not? I went to HN and liked tiles which will cost me $50 SQM. But i did not get the right colour. When I went to CTM on Hume Highway.. they had a Porcelain tiles from $17.90. I was truely confused with the price gap. Even if CTM tiles are deteriorated in a quality and HN is brand..How come the difference is two big? Is it safe to buy CTM tiles? 2) I would appreciate if anybody share their contact of tiler they used. And give me some idea of costing. We have carpet layed right now with subfloor of concrete slab. Any other info regarding cost or anything would be appreciated. Thank Trupti Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 2Mar 25, 2012 9:47 pm Tiles are often from China or Italy, china being cheaper. Some have the colour all the way through, whereas others are just surface colour (cheaper). Also some have cut edges, which can give a better look (if laid well, and usually more even in size), whereas others tend to have the edges tapering off (cheaper). So there are many factors regarding price of tiles. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 3Mar 26, 2012 11:43 am Hi PHL, Thanks for reply.. HOw about something like this here? It is from TFO. I want something which leaves very fine space between tiles once done. http://tiles-online.tfo.com.au/# 600x600mm Travertine Look NanoPolished Porcelain #NHH65001 NTRAV6060 Available Qty: 113.40 $ 24.00 : Per SQM (1.44 SQM Per Box) Please Note: Please clean surface and look at it in your proposed location (especially if you have glancing light, and light reflection). To make sure you are happy with the natural properties of porcelain as no claims will be considered after laying. I would appreciate ur comment. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 4Mar 26, 2012 10:22 pm From the photo, it looks fine, but be aware the smaller the gap, the closer to perfect the tiles and the screed needs to be. I noticed that for our tiles, the expensive stuff could be laid with small gaps, but the plain white which were cheaper we're laid with a 3mm gap to hide irregularities. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 5Mar 27, 2012 11:05 am Because a tile only has a colour on the surface does not mean it's cheaper....it's a different type of tile. One is glazed, the other been a full bodied tile. Not a reflection of quality at all. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 6Mar 27, 2012 2:46 pm Hi, Could you tell any questions I should be asking when i go and look for tiles? (or for the one i liked) It is from China. What does mean whether it glazed or not? And term rectified and vitrified? Do you have to seal the floor once laid? Thanks Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 8Mar 27, 2012 3:31 pm Hi yes, there is a carpet there at the moment. ok..optical hazing... there is too much to understand.. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 9Mar 27, 2012 3:46 pm When you have the tiles please check whether they are a 1st quality product. The Tile Council have told me that the packaging should have: a manufacturer's name or trade mark, a work size, the country of origin, whether they are glazed or unglazed, rectified or whether they are modular or non modular, the mark of 1st quality, or the type of tile and reference to the conforming Standard. The problem is "optical haze". We’ve been told that the problem is a manufacturing defect where defected tiles have been culled out of the general production stream and packed together into cartons and pallets and sold off at a lower cost than 1st quality products. This is virtually the only way that cartons (and pallets) have every tile that has the same or very similar concerns. That's also why the carton marking does not comply with the requirements for 1st quality whereas the production stream will go through selection and be packed into cartons adequately marked with all requirements. Our packaging has none of the above and we have optical hazing. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 10Mar 27, 2012 6:12 pm Thanks, That gives me an idea. I guess It will depend on luck Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 11Mar 27, 2012 7:09 pm Yes, like Mclaren mentioned be careful with the type of porcelain you buy Do a google search on "porcelain tiles optical haze consumer perspective" and read the article by Colin Cass. Colin Cass is an expert witness with regards to optical haze. A consumer has every right to take the tile supplier to Department of Fair Trading if the supplier DID NOT WARN the consumer of the potential for optical haze PRIOR to the purchase. In the context of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), this issue is considered a failure to guarantee supply of goods, namely the goods are not of acceptable quality and are not fit for purpose. There is a legal precedent (McGuffie vs Wodonga Carpets) that supports this position. Basically this case says aesthetics is part of "fit for purpose" . If you take this precedent and apply it to optical haze, a reasonable person would expect a polished porcelain tile to be shiny and free from "haze" and for it not to look dirty. Tile companies are saying it is not a defect, but it is a defect/ major failure if you look at the precedent set. I have spoken to a few industry experts on this issue who have acknowledge it is a big issue with porcelain tiles. It is expensive to get fixed, and as another member Lorna pointed out there is only one company in Australia (sydney) who can fix this issue. I have also spoken to 2 people that have successful wins when taking tile companies to the dept. of Fair Trading regarding this issue I think alot of the time people think their tiles are hard to clean, but the "dirt, haze is actually in the tile. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be cautious when buying porcelain tiles......Italian porcelain tiles apparently do not have this issue.... PS, I am not a lawyer, just a consumer .... Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 12Mar 27, 2012 7:11 pm Zedman Because a tile only has a colour on the surface does not mean it's cheaper....it's a different type of tile. One is glazed, the other been a full bodied tile. Not a reflection of quality at all. True to a certain extent, but the glazed tile, unless it's a flat colour, has its pattern printed on the surface, whereas it's much more realistic if the colour is developed over many layers (especial if you are trying to reproduce stone). You can also recreate textures. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 13Mar 28, 2012 3:30 pm Sorry for being totally naive here and asking these questions.. ... but the one I liked was whole one color. The sales person said if chips there is the same color underneath.. I thought it is good.. Which one is better tile? glazed or unglazed? glazed is different to being polished? Would i have to seal the floor if it is porcelain tile? Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 14Mar 28, 2012 3:34 pm I have a few telephone quotations now for laying $80 SQM. Lowest being $4500 with screeding and highest being $6000 with screeding. (we do not know yet whether or not we need screeding) They will be doing inspection around weekend. I am thinking of getting three obligation free quotes. How does tile skirting look? Anybody does it? Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 15Mar 28, 2012 3:42 pm Porcelain tiles, if it's a flat colour, and the colour all the way through, does not need to be glazed, as the whole tile is (generally) water resistant. Ceramic tiles usually have a surface glaze with the colour/pattern, and usually a less dense body, that may not be water resistant, hence the glaze. Glazing is usually done by firing a slurry on the surface that then becomes glass (hence glazing) in the case of ceramic tiles, but with some porcelain tiles, firing at a higher temperature (usually much higher than ceramic), will form a glaze. Polishing is usually finishing the surface such that the scratches/unevenness is minimised or hidden. Usually glazing would be better assuming a good quality tile and that's the finish (glossy) you want. We have some travertine look tiles that are not glazed (so it's a matt finish) as the real travertine isn't glossy (these were also built up over many layers, with random patterning so the adjacent tiles don't look the same); real travertine would have been nice but we didn't want the hassle of re-sealing every few years. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 17Mar 29, 2012 10:09 am Hmm..but how about living room and diningroom? there is not much available on skirting on internet. I am really confuse about skirting. Where i come from it is alway tile skirt. Here i see more wooden ones... My taste I do not know what i m choosing from really.. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 18Mar 29, 2012 10:13 am Thanks everybody.. It is giving me fair idea about what to look for. I am reading more.. I have to place order over the weekend. Hopefully i will work out by then. Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 19Mar 29, 2012 10:20 am live2dream Hmm..but how about living room and diningroom? there is not much available on skirting on internet. I am really confuse about skirting. Where i come from it is alway tile skirt. Here i see more wooden ones... My taste I do not know what i m choosing from really.. Hi, we don't have any skirtings where the tiles are in "wet areas". This picture shows you wood skirting on the left hand side of the door which is the hallway and none on the right which is the laundry. FYI - the silicone was really badly done and has since been replaced. Hope that helps ... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Porcelain tiles - Urgent need 20Mar 29, 2012 4:43 pm It is beautiful floor Mclaren! The wood skirt looks nice. I have go and see some over weekends. Do you remember how much it cost you? actual product and installation? Thank you @. Tried to play with the facade models but the exact colour is not matching up. 2 3793 thanks Chippy, i hope they have applied sealer but i am doubt to be honest, so i am gonna do this job after handover. 8 17183 I am building in claymore NSW and this is shown in the building envelope plan. … 0 10810 |