Topps Tiles Porcelanoto Colisea Arena tiles

[Marcp]

Hi,

Been looking at floor tiles (well, lots of them actuall ) for a large area downstairs (hall, toilet, utility, kitchen/diner) - 64 sq meters.

Having heard loads of sales pitches about the relative merits, the one we like is a Topps Tiles Porcelanoto Colisea Arena. I think it's a porcelain.

We want something hardwaring (kids, dog etc) - wondered if anybody had a view of whether this is good, bad or great tile? Seem pretty cheap compared to what we cudda paid (straight in and out of Porcelainosa).

Thanks.

[Jo Kelly]

Hi Marc

The fact that the tile name is Porcelanoto would suggest it is porcelain which is a harder material than ceramic but worth checking on this as different adhesive is used for porcelain and ceramic.

The hardness and wearability will depend on the floor grade. Some porcelains are unglazed and don't have a floor grade - basically they don't need to - they are designed to take everything you can throw at it! The rest are glazed porcelains and the higher the floor grade, the harder the glaze. A grade II would only be suitable for bathroom areas where slippers and bare feet are normally used whereas a grade IV or V would be ideal for high traffic areas such as hallways.

I don't know about the actual tile but you will tend to find the price of porcelain will also vary depending on origin. We stock porcelain ranges from Turkey and Thailand that are under £20 sqm that are Grade IV but some of the Italian or Spanish porcelain we have can be over £60 sqm.

Hope that points you in the right direction!
Jo

[CTD inverness]

hi marc, this tile is fine for what you are doing though do keep an eye on the corners they tend to get misfired and the glaze can look faulty (it wont effect the tile but will not look as good as it could) a powdered adhesive is a must and it must have porcelbond or similar, all bal adhesives are up to standard. also ensure all tiles are of the same batch as these had a massive difference in some cases.

hope this helps
martin (ex-topps man)

[sWe]

No idea what Porcelanoto is. Porcellanato however, is a type of tile which is extremely hard and wear resistant.

[Scotty76]

porcelanato is a tile from Topps, i have tiled with it, they come from Argentina if I remember right but arnt as hard to cut as normal porcelain ones

[Marcp]

hi marc, this tile is fine for what you are doing though do keep an eye on the corners they tend to get misfired and the glaze can look faulty (it wont effect the tile but will not look as good as it could) a powdered adhesive is a must and it must have porcelbond or similar, all bal adhesives are up to standard. also ensure all tiles are of the same batch as these had a massive difference in some cases.

hope this helps
martin (ex-topps man)

Thanks to all that commented.

Martin - thanks. It would seem to me sensible in getting more than the 64m we require to make sure we've got a good set from the same batch. Say we got 70m (perhaps on sale or return) and then returned any faulty ones? Perhaps it's worth keep a few for any future problems?

Thanks,

Marc.

[CTD inverness]

very good idea, they will take individual tiles back as long as you return within 45days with origonal reciept, and yes always keep a couple of boxes just incase

Thanks to all that commented.

Martin - thanks. It would seem to me sensible in getting more than the 64m we require to make sure we've got a good set from the same batch. Say we got 70m (perhaps on sale or return) and then returned any faulty ones? Perhaps it's worth keep a few for any future problems?

Thanks,

Marc.

[malcolml]

good choice of thier range try to collect as close to start date as thats when your 45 day period starts
(ex-topps)

[Marcp]

Hi,

Just thought I'd update you on my tile situation.

I got the tiles from TTs - after being assured they were the same batch, my tiler pointed out that they came from 3 different batches. Worse, they seemed to be a slightly diffent size. He wasn't that impressed with the quality of them either. So, they had to all go back.

I was cheesed off with TT (as was my tiler), but to be fair to them they did try to make amends, but it was too late for me.

So, I found some other tiles (from Euxton Tiles, Chorley) - Imola Navona ones. They cost another 250 quid, but are a much better tile and look fantastic down (also thanks to fantastic job by the tiler).