granite floor tiles, whats the minimum thickness that you would have.

stolt

Hi quick question rearding granite tiles, if anyone has them or works with them i'm looking at a 600mm x 600mm tile but only 10mm thick. some shops are saying 10mm is fine whitht he tile being that big others are saying that the tile will be a poor made tile and needs to be thicker.

thanks for looking.

ormus

10mm seems to be a very common thickness. so you have to assume its ok to use.

stolt

thanks, yes there seems to be more 10mm than there are say 20mm but there are others around 18mm and are obviously dearer. One of them mentioned that a 10mm wuld bend (its granite!!!) surely thats not going to bend.

Alan_M_2

It has more to do with production ability and wastage then specifically anything "poor".

10mm is normal for anything 305mm x 305mm or 610mm x 305mm mainly becasue there are machines specifcally produced to make tiles of this dimension, they are standard worldwide (mainly for the USA market hence the imperial sizes).

Anything produced above these dimensions has to be produced from slab material, slab only exists at 20mm thick, hence you're being quoted 600mm x 600mm x 20mm.

Slab material is generally higher quality (less imperfections) than smaller blocks quarried for tiles, so not only does the price of the raw material increase but the production price increases also.

The result of this, is say you want a popular colour like Star Galaxy, I can supply that in a 305mm x 305mm or 305mm x 610mm x 10mm for mid £40's sq/m + vat.

The same stone at 600mm x 600mm x 20mm you'll get no change from £80 sq/m + vat for good quality. Then remember each tile will weigh in the region of 22 kg.

The UK has an obsession with large format tiles, the producers all over the world think we're bonkers. It's expensive to produce, expensive to fit and generates disproportionate amounts of wastage. That's fine as long as you're pockets are deep.

stolt

Alan_M wrote: »

It has more to do with production ability and wastage then specifically anything "poor".

10mm is normal for anything 305mm x 305mm or 610mm x 305mm mainly becasue there are machines specifcally produced to make tiles of this dimension, they are standard worldwide (mainly for the USA market hence the imperial sizes).

Anything produced above these dimensions has to be produced from slab material, slab only exists at 20mm thick, hence you're being quoted 600mm x 600mm x 20mm.

Slab material is generally higher quality (less imperfections) than smaller blocks quarried for tiles, so not only does the price of the raw material increase but the production price increases also.

The result of this, is say you want a popular colour like Star Galaxy, I can supply that in a 305mm x 305mm or 305mm x 610mm x 10mm for mid £40's sq/m + vat.

The same stone at 600mm x 600mm x 20mm you'll get no change from £80 sq/m + vat for good quality. Then remember each tile will weigh in the region of 22 kg.

The UK has an obsession with large format tiles, the producers all over the world think we're bonkers. It's expensive to produce, expensive to fit and generates disproportionate amounts of wastage. That's fine as long as you're pockets are deep.

thanks for the explanation. Ive seen 600 mm x 600mm x 12mm thick for £31.00 m2 + vat and we want the absolute black granite. (should get a sample of this tomorrow.) the room is quite large 22ft by 18ft so want little grout lines as possible.

Alan_M_2

At that price they won't be calibrated, which with tiles of this nature is incredibly important.

Also absolute Black granite will show every mark, hair, footprint....everything.

Not a great choice for anything that will be walked on.

stolt

Alan_M wrote: »

At that price they won't be calibrated, which with tiles of this nature is incredibly important.

Also absolute Black granite will show every mark, hair, footprint....everything.

Not a great choice for anything that will be walked on.

oh, will have to google calibrated as i dont know what that means.;) I did warn the missus about the black absolutegranite, especially since its the kitchen/family room. she wont listen to me :cool:

Alan_M_2

Calibrated means they are machine cut to very accurate sizes ( +/- 1mm ) in all directions.

If they aren't calibrated they will be a nightmare to fit (slightly out of square, not the same thickness etc).

stolt

Alan_M wrote: »

Calibrated means they are machine cut to very accurate sizes ( +/- 1mm ) in all directions.

If they aren't calibrated they will be a nightmare to fit (slightly out of square, not the same thickness etc).

great, thats a question i will be asking then. Also noticed that the company are adding 3.5% for credit card transactions which puts me off using them, although i will no longer deal with companies that will accept credit cards after the building firm went bust and i have no chance of ever getting my money back at least with a credit card i have a chance if anythign goes wrong.

thanks for you your help by the way.

pelirocco

Alan_M wrote: »

At that price they won't be calibrated, which with tiles of this nature is incredibly important.

Also absolute Black granite will show every mark, hair, footprint....everything.

Not a great choice for anything that will be walked on.

I second that , speaking as someone who has them ! i hate them

taker920

Used http://www.thegranitehouse.co.uk/ after they were recommended via someone on here and i'm very pleased with them. The tiles were 310x310x10