laminate ceramic-look tiles

[andyv]

I've just moved to a place which has what I originally took to be ceramic tiles on the kitchen floor. I now find that they are made of the same sort of material as laminate wood flooring.

They come in 394 x 1180 mm strips which have three tiles printed on, and they click together. I'm not wildly keen on them but I don't want to replace them yet, but need to extend them by another row.

I'm told they are not a Quickstep product, but I can't find anything else this size. Does anybody know who else makes laminate tiles this size?

On another track, why does anybody want these when you can get real tiles for less (even with the expense of adhesive)?

[Mary Fisher]

...

If you drop a cup or glass or plate on a ceramic tile you'll find out.

Mary

[Slider]

Probably due to the ease of installation. It's alot easier / cheaper to install laminte flooring than tiling. *Most* people would have a go at fitting a laminate, probably less would consider tiling themselves and hire a professional tiler. Tiling a floor may not be as simple as it sounds if the sub floor is not truely level, could end up with cracked grout and/or even tiles.

[Man at B&Q]

Or when SWMBO decides she wants a change.

MBQ

[sm_jamieson]

I used them on a house I was about to move out of ! Came from one of the discount laminate flooring places. Can't remember which, all their signs were in bright orange (brighter than at B&Q). Simon.

[John]

I will (almost) guarantee that it is B&Q's TileLoc flooring. Go onto

and search Tileloc. There are certain ranges in that size

HTH

John

[Andy Hall]

Goodness only knows....

[The Medway Handyman]

But you can't get 'real' tiles for less when you add in adhesive, grout, floor prep & labour.

Far superior to 'real' tiles on a wooden sub floor.

IME it doesn't matter how thick the plywood, how close the screws are, how flexible the adhesive is, ceramic tiles on a wooden sub floor is a bad idea. Eventually the grout will crack or worse.

[Andy Hall]

From what perspective? It looks 'orrible.

Not if you use the recommended preparation and sets of materials recommended by Ardex.

[Arfa Daily]

Sounds like it to me as well. I used the stuff in my very large conservatory, and it has been absolutely fine. Looks as good as when I put it down two or three years ago. I've got the white limestone looking one, but they do a couple of off-whites and slate coloured ones as well. I've used it a lot around my house, and I've discovered over the years that the trick to keeping it looking good, is to use a good quality underlay, not the thin polystyrene stuff that's very cheap. Also, to use the B&Q edge-sealing gloop (in the laminate flooring accessories section) where it's going to be used in a bathroom.

Arfa

[Arfa Daily]

If it's done right, you can't tell the difference without getting on your hands and knees. I can't think of a single visitor to my house, who hasn't thought that the conservatory is floored with real limestone tiles. It even has a textured surface, and the 'grout lines' are slightly recessed, as they would be on genuine stone tiles. Laminate flooring has come a long way in the last few years, and is far removed from the old stuff that had to be glued together. My conservatory is 9m long by 2m wide, with an octagon out to 3m at one end. I laid all of that in just over a day. I dread to think what the prep time alone of that would have been with real tiles, to say nothing of the cost, and the demands of cutting all those angles in the octagon ...

Arfa

[Man at B&Q]

.diy.comand search Tileloc. There are certain ranges in that size

I will (almost) guarantee that the B&Q stuff has four tiles per section so is not what the OP is looking for.

MBQ

[Andy Hall]

To me it's not about the time involved, but getting the right result. Do these people have stone tiles?

I have seen this material and can easily tell it from the real thing. It simply doesn't look or feel right if you are familiar with real stone in the house.

I've had similar issues with wall tiles. There are some fairly reasonable ceramic products that attempt to imitate limestone etc. They don't look right to my eye because they are too perfect and I can always see the screen printing. That alone means that I would never buy them.

[dmc]

Getting the right results would IMHO include "getting the right result for an affordable price". We have the slate look one in our kitchen and I admit to being impressed. It's a lot better than I expected tbh.

Yeah, it's obviously not the real stuff when you look closely - but it's good enough and was a hell of a lot affordable and quick to lay on our wooden floor.

True. It's a hell of a lot warmer for a start :)

Each to their own. If money/time was no problem then I'd probably do the same (with underfloor heating and an endless supply of wine glasses to replace the ones that SWMBO regularly bounces off of the laminate).

Darren

[Andy Hall]

Of course. It should always be affordable.

Actually not, IME. As long as the stone is laid on a surface that is insulated - i.e. concrete with insulating material or wood, then there is not an issue.

That's also a fallacy.

Glassware doesn't automatically break when dropped on a stone floor any more than it automatically survives when dropped onto a plastic one. You might get less breakage if you fitted carpet, but would you do that?

If one takes reasonable care, as one should, then the rate of events with time is very small indeed and any differences become insignificant.

[John]

I will (almost) guarantee that the B&Q stuff has four tiles per section so is not what the OP is looking for.

Well.... I CAN guarantee that the stuff in my kitchen has 3 tiles per strip. I have the Blue/Grey Slate effect (search EAN: 5027086117663). Each plank is 1179 x 393mm, the tiles are square. Do the math 1179 divided by 393 = 3. The planks with 4 tiles are 1176 x 294mm, (1176 divided by 294 = 4). I believe the OP wants the size of planks I have!

HTH

John

[Huge]

Maybe not. But Le Creuset saucepans do. :o)

[Andy Hall]

Blimey....

[Arfa Daily]

I will (almost) guarantee that the B&Q stuff has four tiles per section so is not what the OP is looking for.

MBQ

Considering your nic is "man at B&Q" are we to assume that you work there ? If so, your knowledge of the stock does not seem to be as extensive as I would have expected ...

The TileLoc that I have in my conservatory, has three oblong 'tiles' per strip. The similar-looking one that I have in my shower room, also from the TileLoc range has four square 'tiles' per strip. The smaller tiles look better in the smaller area.

Arfa

[andyv]

messagenews: [e-mail]...

Thanks for the lively response on this. My researches so far have only found Quickstep with the right sized tiles, but not the right pattern. B&Q do something similar but with smaller tiles. I looked in Floors2Go yesterday and they think it may be Quickstep but if so it's fairly old and discontinued. I'm not entirely convinced as mine says made in Germany on it and their Quickstep is made in Belgium.

I much prefer to fit authentic materials, especially since this is a Victorian house, but the kitchen floor is low down on the Iist.