Opinions on this travertine - Tile Advice

[pjohn]

I'm staying outta this

Wish I could

 

[Time's Ran Out]

@pjohn £25 isn't premium!
Usually the end rubbish lying around that they batch up and sell to the UK market because price is all that matters.
I bought Travertine from Alistar Mckintosh in Birmingham 20+ years ago for £90 / metre and it still looks fabulous.
Could have got Quality Silver Travertine from a shop in Reigate for £40/metre just after Xmas but customer insisted on the internet and got samples galore. As advised when they came they matched the corner 100mm of one tile - they were really disappointing. When you find the customer convincing themselves they like them to save face - that's when this just becomes a job!
IMHO.

 

[Tilerdurden]

@pjohn £25 isn't premium!
Usually the end rubbish lying around that they batch up and sell to the UK market because price is all that matters.
I bought Travertine from Alistar Mckintosh in Birmingham 20+ years ago for £90 / metre and it still looks fabulous.
Could have got Quality Silver Travertine from a shop in Reigate for £40/metre just after Xmas but customer insisted on the internet and got samples galore. As advised when they came they matched the corner 100mm of one tile - they were really disappointing. When you find the customer convincing themselves they like them to save face - that's when this just becomes a job!
IMHO.

Majority of the time that's what it comes down to. Cost. Sad but true. False economy though.

 

[Tile Shop]

The curse of internet tile shopping. I'm having a bad day but hope this doesn't come across as a rant but bear with me. All this talk of quality is ******** and the price means jack all! Just depends on what deal the supplier can get from the factory and how much markup they want to put on it. It is not a true reflection.

Regarding Travertine, regardless of grade or quality, its gonna have holes in it. End of. Its that simple. If it didn't have holes, it would just be Limestone and if you don't want holes, buy a porcelain lookalike or a solid stone.

I work for an independent online retailer, but my advise is DO NOT BUY ANY NATURAL STONE ONLINE (if my boss sees this I'm up for yet another written warning for speaking my mind, but who cares. Job sucks! can't help bring honest). Trav, Limestone, Marble, Slate, Quartz, Terracotta..... Whether you get a sample or not. The images on the website are rarely representative as they are not updated when a new delivery comes in, and natural variations can alter the appearance. A sample is useless as it only shows a tiny variation of a massive batch, and with stock turn around, you can't guarantee your order will even come from that batch.

"Little to no filler", relates to how much is present on the face. Whats visible. That's not to say there are zero holes on the back. Its misleading. Anyone who say "travertine with no holes" is a complete and utter lying bull...... spreader. Premium just means there are less of 'em than others that were cut from the slab, but what was the quality of the slab? whats the quality of the next slab? When they are cut they are normally graded for colour (dark, light or medium). Then "holiness" sorted/catagorised into maybe 4 grades. Premium, standard, commercial and "skip-the-bugger".

If you want a better quality of Travertine don't buy online. Do you homework and not from behind a keyboard and monitor. Get out your chair, get in your car and shop around. Go to several tile or stone shops and physically look at what you are getting. Ask to see a crate of it so you can look through and see the variation and quality. Ask questions until you know everything about it, like what to expect, how to install it, how to seal it, how to repair it when the day comes that it caves in. If you like it, reserve it. Negotiate the price because trust me, there is wiggle room. Do your research before you hand over the cash. Don't buy first and complain about your disappointment of it not being what you expected. Send it back and start a fresh.

 

[Tilerdurden]

The curse of internet tile shopping. I'm having a bad day but hope this doesn't come across as a rant but bear with me. All this talk of quality is ******** and the price means jack all! Just depends on what deal the supplier can get from the factory and how much markup they want to put on it. It is not a true reflection.

Regarding Travertine, regardless of grade or quality, its gonna have holes in it. End of. Its that simple. If it didn't have holes, it would just be Limestone and if you don't want holes, buy a porcelain lookalike or a solid stone.

I work for an independent online retailer, but my advise is DO NOT BUY ANY NATURAL STONE ONLINE (if my boss sees this I'm up for yet another written warning for speaking my mind, but who cares. Job sucks! can't help bring honest). Trav, Limestone, Marble, Slate, Quartz, Terracotta..... Whether you get a sample or not. The images on the website are rarely representative as they are not updated when a new delivery comes in, and natural variations can alter the appearance. A sample is useless as it only shows a tiny variation of a massive batch, and with stock turn around, you can't guarantee your order will even come from that batch.

"Little to no filler", relates to how much is present on the face. Whats visible. That's not to say there are zero holes on the back. Its misleading. Anyone who say "travertine with no holes" is a complete and utter lying bull...... spreader. Premium just means there are less of 'em than others that were cut from the slab, but what was the quality of the slab? whats the quality of the next slab? When they are cut they are normally graded for colour (dark, light or medium). Then "holiness" sorted/catagorised into maybe 4 grades. Premium, standard, commercial and "skip-the-bugger".

If you want a better quality of Travertine don't buy online. Do you homework and not from behind a keyboard and monitor. Get out your chair, get in your car and shop around. Go to several tile or stone shops and physically look at what you are getting. Ask to see a crate of it so you can look through and see the variation and quality. Ask questions until you know everything about it, like what to expect, how to install it, how to seal it, how to repair it when the day comes that it caves in. If you like it, reserve it. Negotiate the price because trust me, there is wiggle room. Do your research before you hand over the cash. Don't buy first and complain about your disappointment of it not being what you expected. Send it back and start a fresh.

Well said that man..

 

[LauraCTW]

The curse of internet tile shopping. I'm having a bad day but hope this doesn't come across as a rant but bear with me. All this talk of quality is ******** and the price means jack all! Just depends on what deal the supplier can get from the factory and how much markup they want to put on it. It is not a true reflection.

Regarding Travertine, regardless of grade or quality, its gonna have holes in it. End of. Its that simple. If it didn't have holes, it would just be Limestone and if you don't want holes, buy a porcelain lookalike or a solid stone.

I work for an independent online retailer, but my advise is DO NOT BUY ANY NATURAL STONE ONLINE (if my boss sees this I'm up for yet another written warning for speaking my mind, but who cares. Job sucks! can't help bring honest). Trav, Limestone, Marble, Slate, Quartz, Terracotta..... Whether you get a sample or not. The images on the website are rarely representative as they are not updated when a new delivery comes in, and natural variations can alter the appearance. A sample is useless as it only shows a tiny variation of a massive batch, and with stock turn around, you can't guarantee your order will even come from that batch.

"Little to no filler", relates to how much is present on the face. Whats visible. That's not to say there are zero holes on the back. Its misleading. Anyone who say "travertine with no holes" is a complete and utter lying bull...... spreader. Premium just means there are less of 'em than others that were cut from the slab, but what was the quality of the slab? whats the quality of the next slab? When they are cut they are normally graded for colour (dark, light or medium). Then "holiness" sorted/catagorised into maybe 4 grades. Premium, standard, commercial and "skip-the-bugger".

If you want a better quality of Travertine don't buy online. Do you homework and not from behind a keyboard and monitor. Get out your chair, get in your car and shop around. Go to several tile or stone shops and physically look at what you are getting. Ask to see a crate of it so you can look through and see the variation and quality. Ask questions until you know everything about it, like what to expect, how to install it, how to seal it, how to repair it when the day comes that it caves in. If you like it, reserve it. Negotiate the price because trust me, there is wiggle room. Do your research before you hand over the cash. Don't buy first and complain about your disappointment of it not being what you expected. Send it back and start a fresh.

Very well said!

Regardless of the stone it is down to the customer as to if it is what they like the look of or not! We have had customers say the "premium" quality is too boring and they love the variation of the commercial (in which case brilliant and easy sale!), to the customers that want "perfect" travertine, it has been known for our showroom staff to tell them it does not exist and to buy the porcelain or ceramic equivalent instead.

@pjohn when it comes to the stone you have there at £25.00/m2 its not the worst I have ever seen for that money! I would be looking to get the ones which are honed incorrectly replaced by the online company and use the ones with chipped edges as cuts if possible as there is bound to be a disclaimer somewhere on the site stating that it is a natural product so expect a certain amount of fault/cracks/chips.

 

[Tilerdurden]

Very well said!

Regardless of the stone it is down to the customer as to if it is what they like the look of or not! We have had customers say the "premium" quality is too boring and they love the variation of the commercial (in which case brilliant and easy sale!), to the customers that want "perfect" travertine, it has been known for our showroom staff to tell them it does not exist and to buy the porcelain or ceramic equivalent instead.

@pjohn when it comes to the stone you have there at £25.00/m2 its not the worst I have ever seen for that money! I would be looking to get the ones which are honed incorrectly replaced by the online company and use the ones with chipped edges as cuts if possible as there is bound to be a disclaimer somewhere on the site stating that it is a natural product so expect a certain amount of fault/cracks/chips.

Right in what you say although surely distance selling regulations apply? Especially in terms of sample sent and reflective of online images. If they don't want to play ball you have retail dispute protection for debit card purchase or section 75 if credit card was used.

 

[pjohn]

@pjohn when it comes to the stone you have there at £25.00/m2 its not the worst I have ever seen for that money! I would be looking to get the ones which are honed incorrectly replaced by the online company and use the ones with chipped edges as cuts if possible as there is bound to be a disclaimer somewhere on the site stating that it is a natural product so expect a certain amount of fault/cracks/chips.

Yep, that's what I'm planning to do - I've unpacked most of the rest of the crate now and the rest of the tiles are more like the ones I posted later in the thread, heavier, fewer (but not no holes, this is trav after all, but crucially no big voids), edges are not chipped and very little filler on the front - plus my wife loves the look of these. They do have a disclaimer, but say if more than 10% are problematic they'll replace them.

Thanks everyone for your input, especially your rant Paul, some great points in there, and we'll definitely heed that next time around. All in all, it's not a disaster now that I've unpacked the rest, it seems all the problem tiles were at one end thankfully

 

[pjohn]

Right in what you say although surely distance selling regulations apply? Especially in terms of sample sent and reflective of online images. If they don't want to play ball you have retail dispute protection for debit card purchase or section 75 if credit card was used.

You actually have more protection under consumer protection act, especially if you already have a sample ... 30 days to reject or partially reject.

 

[Tilerdurden]

You actually have more protection under consumer protection act, especially if you already have a sample ... 30 days to reject or partially reject.

Short and curlies springs to mind