Hand-made tiles

point3

Hi,

Anyone got any tips on how to fix hand-made tiles properly? I've bought a limited edition panel from Fired Earth, but didn't realise that (i) the tiles would be quite so thick and that (ii) they'd be quite so irregular .

Regular tile spacers aren't likely to work, as the tiles vary so much in size and how much cement should I apply, as these tiles are of varying thickness?

Wishing I hadn't chosen these now .

Please help.

handyman.

http://www.trustedtradesmen.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6230&PN=5&TPN=1

take your time and 'stand back and look at them' all the time. With that BAL adhesive it give you plenty of time to fix any odd angles

point3

Thanks for that thread, handyman :T

Doesn't seem so daunting now...but still tempted to exchange them for some straight ones from B&Q :think: .

kittiwoz

I wouldn't be happy if they were very iregular. My dad is a ceramicist and I have seen tiles he has made before. They were a lot thicker than mass-produced tiles but quite even and regular in shape. It sounds like when you see crudely thrown mugs with loads of thumb prints in them sold for extortionate prices in gift shops and they charge extra for the bad workmanship because it proves they are hand made.

handyman.

kitt, i agree they are very overpriced for what they are (badly made tiles)

But, i have to admit the ones i fitted in above link, looked great. The 'look' fitted in very well with a ye olde (new) kitchen in a victorian house. The 'crackled' effect on the glazed surface, i really liked as well.

They must be chosen carefully , as they would have looked very stupid next to a modern looking kitchen.

Alan_M_2

Plus if they were sold in Fired Earth, the compulsory "Fired Earth" label mark up will have been included. So you can tell the neighbours of course:-)

kittiwoz

That whole thing anoys me because it promulgates the idea that hand made means crudely made which I think does a great disservice to crafts and craftspeople.

ocemeer

We have just put up hand made tiles in our kitchen, and they were not all the same size, but you only notice it if you are trying to tile them, thickness wise they are uniform its just not quite 100mm x 100mm each tile. They look great and we used normal tile spacers. Now just got to put the remaining ones up as the backsplash to the rayburn.

BobProperty

kittiwoz wrote:

That whole thing anoys me because it promulgates the idea that hand made means crudely made which I think does a great disservice to crafts and craftspeople.

The problem is how do you tell "craftsperson hand made" from "badly made third grade rejects" ? (And don't rely on the suppliers name, please). Then tell me how much they are worth.

kittiwoz

Well, if something has been made by a skilled craftsperson it shouldn't look anything like a badly made third grade reject. That's my point. In my opinion if something looks like a badly made third gade reject then it isn't worth much regardless of the process that produced it and I don't see why authentic thumb prints should help. Things that are hand made well don't look like that and of course thay cost more than mass produced stuff because of the time and skill that goes into them.

Alan_M_2

I'm a tile importer, I know where many of the hand made tiles sold in Fired Earth come from, largely France (provencale range etc), and I also know how much these tiles cost and the fact that you are free to drive down their and buy them yourself if you want them that much. The mark up on these products is eye watering, the quality isn't all that good, but by cleaver marketing they've (Fired Earth) manouvered themselves into a position where they can charge between £300 and £600 a sq/m for some of these tiles.

If you want high quality hand made tiles, from a british maker, then you won't go far wrong buying from the Jackfield Tile Museum (also know as Ironbridge), you'll pay £80 - £100 sq/m and get a better product.

http://www.cravendunnill-jackfield.co.uk/