Porcelain from China

[barclay]

Hi,
New competent DIYer to the forums. I'm just about to lay 60cm by 60cm polished porceliain from an online retailer. I've got 50sqm to do and the tiles have rectified edges.
Anyone have experience of porcelain from China? What grout width should I go for?
Thx.
BH.

[wetdec]

Hi

3-5mm should be ok, Search BandQ porcelain its also Chinese.............

[barclay]

Cheers. Will do.

They don't appear to be Regal
Just don't want to run into problems with wax coatings etc.

Thx

BH.

[devonmark]

Just don't want to run into problems with wax coatings etc.



BH.

just done a porcelain job, coating was a pain in the rear to get off...

[barclay]

just done a porcelain job, coating was a pain in the rear to get off...

Did you order from here or elsewhere.
Is this the general consensus with porcn tiles from China??

Cheers.

BH.

[garythetiler]

i have fitted a lot of chinese porcelain and it really depends on which factory its from,

[doug boardley]

just because they're rectified doesn't mean the dimensions will be uniform, as Wetdec suggests joints between 3-5mm, don't be tempted to go for smaller joints imo

[Dave]

And keep an eye out for a transit wax on them...needs removing before sealing.....if the tiles have a d ull finish instead of nice and shiny then they will have a temp wax on them...

[garythetiler]

chinese porcelain 2mm joints from a good factory, jia jun, as good as any european polished porcelain i have used

[pizzaguru]

Hi,
I've just done a job with these tiles in black. I heard they may have transit wax on them, although if they have, it's not obvious as they look shiny out the box. They're from B&Q.
I decided not to do anything about the alleged wax until I fitted them as I heard grouts can scratch them!?
Now the plan is to use a wax removal chemical before sealant.

Anyone any advice re which remover and sealant to use?
Do they need sealed?

I tested both HG stain protector and HG impregnator sealer on spare tiles. The stain protector went streaky, the impregnator sealer went chalky!

PS I used 5mm joints due to the size of tile and alleged dodgy dimensions!

[garythetiler]

5mm joint is too big in my opinion here are the b&q with a 2mm joint, go to 3mm but this tile with a 5mm joint looks pants

[barclay]

chinese porcelain 2mm joints from a good factory, jia jun, as good as any european polished porcelain i have used

Nice work Gary.
Where did you source your tiles? They look very similar to mine which have 'C20' stamped on the back.
Is that white grout? Won't it be a nightmare to look after??
Still debating on 2 or 3mm

[barclay]

TileHQ have been very helpful.
The Chinese manufacturers info ( Porcelain - QPC Ceramics ) states that the don't use wax coatings.

[Researcher]

Just come back from my third trip to China, sourcing tiles amongst other things. Have to say the quality of porcelain tiles and availability are far superior to what we have in Europe.
Virtually all residential and a large majority of commercial properties (these usually favour local granites and marbles) use polished porcelain tiles and almost exclusively large format tiles. 800mm x 800mm as standard! although I have inspected some older properties with 600mm x 600m. What amazes me is that the joints are usually 1mm-2mm thick!
I guess with their climate (very humid and hot) hard/tiled surfaces are the norm. so it stands to reason they would be far more adept in handling porcelain.

[avago]

I just bought 600x600 Milk Chocolate porcelain tiles from B&Q at a bargain price £8 for x3. Read all sorts since about wax coatings easy staining etc. I took a random tile out of the box lovely and shiny, can't see any wax. Last I night give it wipe with vinegar (as i didn't have any proper wax remover, then I dolloped butter, cooking oil, and various shampoos and left them to sit on the tile over night expecting staining to occur. Gave it a quick wipe this morning it came up mint, not the slightest mark? why do they need sealing?

[Dave]

They might be pre-sealed....if they are shiny then NO wax coat is on them...

polished porcelain needs an impregnator to seal open pores that are exposed in the polishing of the tiles...but some tiles are pre-sealed..check on the box..sometimes it say's product is factory finished/sealed..summit like that.

[avago]

Cheers Dave - I'm sure it says on the box that they need a sealer, however that could be them covering their rears. I'll oil and butter another random tile tonight and whack a bit of grout on - see how it goes. When you apply a proper sealer can you see it being absorbed? I can imagine it running straight off the surface.

I'm only a DIYer but have tiled a wet room in natural limestone and laid a couple of floors - 1 in slate and 1 in porcelain (The latter not being as highly polished) Limestone was a nightmare but happy enough in the end) The slate's over electric underfloor heating well pleased. The porcelain floor was a mate's kitchen - he's V.happy.

[Dave]

If it say's on the box to seal then use an impregnator suitablr for porcelain....leave it to dwell on the surface for about 15 to 20 mins then buff of any excess...you will be fine after that....the impregnator helps with the cleaning of the tiles in every day use...as dirt cannot grab into the open pores...totally different to working with stone...

[biffa]

I've laid some chinese porcelain before and could'nt even wipe off my felt tip marks. they were pants. also had black grout stain a porcelain tile too, so i'd definately seal them mate.

[hillhead]

I fitted polished porcelain last week,600x300 brick bonded,then done glazed porcelain 600x300 herringbone in next job where i still am fitting 600x600 glazed porcelain of the same sort(american is the name,spanish made),top notch when cleaned up,my customer had a shine on by monday morning like nothing normal so i think ill let him finish the 50m2 of 60x60,the grouting took most of the wax off,i heard that dry grout rubbed about on the face works for removing wax?? anyone else heard this?

[avago]

Did the same again to a randomly selected B&Q Chinese 600x600 milk chocolate porcelain to make sure (Whacked butter, cooking oil and shampoo on making sure it was on the edges and let it sit overnight) Wiped straight off no marks. Maybe I have a good batch. Move on to the next step I think - will let you know how it goes.