B&Q Tiles

[kev208]

Starting to tile our bathroom next week and don't know a great deal about tiles. Our thoughts are to tile the majority with an inexpensive

6x6 white tile and get a more expensive border to add a bit of interest.

Looking at the various standard 6x6 white tiles prices seem to vary wildly. Box off 44 from B&Q =A33.48, same tile from Focus =A39.99 for 18!

What's going on here? Are the B&Q tiles that bad or the Focus tiles so much better? I'd rather pay out for the Focus ones if the B&Q ones are all going to shatter as soon as I get them out of the box or be covered in imperfections. =20

Any guidance gratefully received.

[Gully Foyle]

I suggest you try your local tile shop first

or be boring and use yellow pages). When we tiled our bathroom we went to their bargain basement and bought a job lot of (very nice) Italian end of range tiles and did the whole bathroom (floor to ceiling) for less than £50. We got two colours of the same tile (to distinguish the shower area), one colour (a mid blue) was about 30% of the original price and the other, main, colour (very pale blue)just 10% of the original price! The tiles we chose are approx 10"x8" - the bigger the tile the less grout to discolour...

To be fair, we did need to allow around 10% extra tiles to allow for the odd chipped one that we couldn't cut down for a fiddly bit but we ended up with quite a few spare.

If you can avoid it - don't use plain white shed tiles or you will make your bathrooom look like a public lavatory.

It makes a real difference to get nice, quality tiles. Most big tile shops are desperate to clear out old stock to bring in the new stuff. Find a tile you like and haggle :)

[Guy King]

The message from " [e-mail]" contains these words:

I tiled most of our bathroom five years ago with B&Q value tiles - they're no trouble at all.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

As stated,visit a local tile warehouse,you'll be suprised how much can be saved.

I done my bathroom at a cost of 45GBP from *tops tiles* the same tiles in the sheds would have cost double that.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Tiles may be cheap, but watch what you pay for anything else, such as adhesive, cement, grout, add-mix, borders, etc, which is often where they claim back what you thought you'd saved.

[John Stumbles]

Most outlets do plain white 150mm square tiles around the same price - I don't know how you found any as expensive as the Focus ones! Beware that different makes differ slightly in colour, thickness and size so don't try to mix'n'match - they won't. You'll also find larger tiles e.g. 20cm square (or similar size oblong) white tiles in plain or bumpy finish at quite reasonable prices too. Mixing any of these cheaper tiles with a few fancy border or inset tiles can give a special look at not too much extra £££

[steeler]

i>nterest.

Poundland were doing these @ £1 (natch) for 40 a while back. Although why you would want to decorate your bathroom like a public lavatory is anyone's guess. At least pay the 50p a box extra and get cream ;-)

[Guy King]

The message from "steeler" contains these words:

I rather like plain white. Particularly in small space - it doesn't look twee and "too clever" like coloureds can.

[Christian McArdle]

I'm with the public lavatory opinion on this one. What with the other expenses, it is surely worth paying a bit more. I've just done our new en-suite with natural limestone tiles at 12 GBP/m2, which is about the same as a high quality ceramic and looks so much better. Even mid-range ceramics often only have 1 or 2 patterns, and it is really obvious.

Christian.

[John]

6x6 white tile and get a more expensive border to add a bit of interest.

Looking at the various standard 6x6 white tiles prices seem to vary wildly. Box off 44 from B&Q £3.48, same tile from Focus £9.99 for 18!

What's going on here? Are the B&Q tiles that bad or the Focus tiles so much better? I'd rather pay out for the Focus ones if the B&Q ones are all going to shatter as soon as I get them out of the box or be covered in imperfections.

Any guidance gratefully received.

______________________________________________________________

If you happen to be anywhere near Preston, Bolton or Wigan you won't do better than these people

[Guy King]

The message from "Christian McArdle" contains these words:

I can't think when I last saw a public lavatory done in all white tiles.

Thinking about it, it's fairly rare to see a public lavatory to start with.

[Tony Bryer]

You did better than me then - I bought my black marble effect ceramic tiles at Topps and later saw them at B&Q for much less. And to my shame I fell for the "while you're here do you want the adhesive and grout" line and paid through the nose for these.

[HLAH]

I have no problem with a bathroom looking like a public toilet, though I think it would be pretty hard to make one look so. I would have a problem if it smelt like one, was full of junkies or as is so often the case nowadays the door was locked more often than not.

H

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

These where end of the line tiles. The adhesive was got elsewhere because I've heard that sales jargon at least twice whilst in topps tiles,but then again it pays to keep an eye on materials whilst browsing in other places. ;-)

[John Stumbles]

You'd want the blue strip lights too ... :-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That used to be said about bathroom suites. And avocado became the most popular colour...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

What was my nearest one is now an estate agent.

[Andy Hall]

So I guess that they didn't need to apply for planning permission for change of use, then...

[Tony Bryer]

Ours is a restaurant (Arthur's, Twickenham Green)

[Andy Hall]

Does Environmental Health know?