Floor Tile Question

mechy

Hi, am thinking of buying some floor tiles & laying them myself in a kitchen of approx 5 * 3M. I have seen some floor tiles on offer in, at the cheaper end of the market, they are 60 * 60cms. Can someone with a little more knowledge on the floor tile market than me, please explain the the pitfalls to be looking for with tiles this size. Also am I makeing a mistake to go for these cheaper tile. They look great and are in a sale?? More about the tile than actually fitting them please.:cool:
Thanks

Alan_M_2

The larger the tile, the flatter the surface needs to be on which to fit them. Also the wastage will increase.

Nothing wrong per se with a large tile, but consider how you are going to cut them.

For a beginner I'd suggest 300mm x 300mm is a better size to start with.

missile

Tiling is not rocket science, but bodged tiles look awful. There are many free videos on how to, search YouTube . http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+tile+a+floor&search_type=&aq=0&oq=how+to+tile

If you feel the need to ask those basic questions, I would suggest you get someone to lay them for you.

MX5huggy

Large tiles can have a slight bow in them, which makes laying them trickier.

Cheep floor tiles can have thin surface finishes so they ware out in high traffic areas.

phill99

In terms of cheap tiles. DON'T. I made the mistake of buying cheap tiles for my kitchen years ago. the ceramic glaze on cheap tiles is very thin. Within a year I had to redo them as the glaze had chipped on about half of them. Much better going for a more expensive tile. You only get what you pay for.

lowbrim

Not sure about you get what you pay for there are some very good offers out there.

As for fitting always use spacers and when you buy the tiles make sure they are not only all the same shade but also the same sized batch. Just a minor difference in size can make a lot of difference but if you check the batch numbers and make sure they are matched you will be fine. I think it is easier laying floor tiles than wall tiles providing the floor is level.

mechy

phill99 wrote: »

In terms of cheap tiles. DON'T. I made the mistake of buying cheap tiles for my kitchen years ago. the ceramic glaze on cheap tiles is very thin. Within a year I had to redo them as the glaze had chipped on about half of them. Much better going for a more expensive tile. You only get what you pay for.

Interesting phill, does anyone know if there is any way of checking how thick the glaze maybe??

mike32_2

mechy wrote: »

Hi, am thinking of buying some floor tiles & laying them myself in a kitchen of approx 5 * 3M. I have seen some floor tiles on offer in, at the cheaper end of the market, they are 60 * 60cms. Can someone with a little more knowledge on the floor tile market than me, please explain the the pitfalls to be looking for with tiles this size. Also am I makeing a mistake to go for these cheaper tile. They look great and are in a sale?? More about the tile than actually fitting them please.:cool:
Thanks

Just some advice for you would to also to take into consideration what substrate the floor tiles are being layed on, ie floorboards, concrete. There are different types of adhesives and grouts to be used on different substrates. Floorboards need to be overboarded with ply or a backerboard before tiling on.

ManxAvenger

We bought cheap tiles from B&Q - £2 per box and we are happy with them. The biggest expense was the adhesive and grout, more than twice the price of the tiles. We also used a diamond tile cutter with a water feature:) which DH was a great help on the cutting, just use it outdoors!