Hi all

Just wanted to ask what/who makes a good basic white ceramic tile.

Is it ones with good quality glazing .?
Is it ones that are white(yellowish) on the back, i have been told that some cheap ones with terraccota red backs bleed into the grout when grouting.? i have installed lots of wickes finest 250x200 whites and dont seem to have that problem , can anyone shed any light on it.

Looking for a largish format white tile 200x300 or maybe slightly larger any ideas where i can get some decent ones from. down south so got topps
The Tile source, good old wickes etc to choose from, or maybe just any pointers as to what to look out for.

bit garbled but im sure you guys/gals understand it....

Cheers
Gary

ROCERSA....do a lovely quality white tile,but thats in my local store but they are a big Spanish manufacturer and it should be easy to source them.Yes the quality of the tile can generally be told by looking at the glaze...if it looks nice and thick on the side then it s a sign that its a good tile and if there isnt much glaze at the side then generally its a snider.

most tiles from genuine tile retailers don't usually encounter any problems like that,generally when customers ask for pointers in where to get there tiles i send them to topps,c.t.d,porcelonosa etc.
never had the problem that you mention but do notice the difference when cutting tiles from places i have never heard of,it after cleaning the tile of and sticking it you still sometimes get the red water marks running down the tile!usually just need another wipe before grouting though and everything seems ok!

I hate wickes tiles! I fitted some in a bathroom recently 250x400, the difference in colour from one batch to another was huge (some were light pink and others were dark grey) seeing as wickes don't sort there stock much trying to get all the same batch number took nearly the same time as doing the job

I found with some of the wickes tiles the glaze pops off

Originally Posted by whitebeam

I found with some of the wickes tiles the glaze pops off

Never had this problem, i was only using wickes tiles as an example of white tiles with teracota backing and i never had a problem with the grout changing colour due to bleeding when grouting,

Yes you are right about the batch numbers colour republic(being based in Brighton where do you get your tiles from) but i have beed lucky i guess and got my tiles when they have put a new pallet in the store.

Cheers for your help peeps.

Originally Posted by Gazebo

Yes you are right about the batch numbers colour republic(being based in Brighton where do you get your tiles from) but i have beed lucky i guess and got my tiles when they have put a new pallet in the store.

Cheers for your help peeps.

I normally send my customers to 'Barton Tiling' to pick something out, it's called 'Hove Tile Centre' above the door and it's about 200 yards down the road from Hove Railway Station in that parade of shops. Blink and you'd miss it, but they have more tiles in that little shop then any of the big boys as they deal with most distributors and whilst it can be a little duanting as first becuase of the choice, you only have ask Julian what you'll looking for and he'll dig 4 or 5 choices out as he knows his products and he'll have them ready for you in 1-3 days depending on distributor.

As for addys and grouts they stock Granfix and Nicobond but will get anything you want, but TBH it's easier if you use someone else for that if you have a favorite.

other than that, if I want something that day, i use

Sussex Wall & Floor Tiling - Portland Road Ind Est - Although word of warning, there are two women who work in there, one is lovely the other is a B***h !!

Master Tiles - Portland Road & New England Hill,
HTW - I know you use these too
and sometimes Tiles, Tiles, Tiles - Portslade seafront

I would try out CTD after joining this forum but the nearest is Chichester... too far sadly

Agree that Rocersa do good large white glaze 25x40. Nepal Blanco.
Generally most white tiles are OK. The only difference is the real quality of glaze. The better ones have a greater thickness and clarity. The B&Q's and Wickes of this world do 'budget' tiles - they are OK but are single fired, made in third world countries ie Bulgaria / Turkey/ far east and are just thinner in glaze and tile width ; inferior.
I tend to find Spanish & Italian tiles have that 'look/feel' that are superior.
Ceramicalcora, for example do a great 20x25 double - fired bumpy white, but it will cost a fiver a metre more !!

we use alot of nicobond plain gloss white 300x200 and bumpy white200x200.they are a cheaper tile but have had no problems with them on our jobs.i used a similar tile in my bathroom and spent the cash on a good glass mosaic to use as a feature stripe on the walls(cost more for the glass than the full bathroom tiles). they've been up for a few years now and no problems with discolouring or shading. i also got a cheap white from TILE-IT imported from hong kong 330x600 and did a similar style in my w.c. .