Lappato Finished Tiles

[D1zzy]

Hi - finally decided on my kitchen floor tiles - Calalgrande basaltina -natural finish only to find that the factory is about to shut for August and can't get them 'til mid sept. However they had the same ones in a Lappato finish in stock and we could have them in a couple of weeks - so kinda got talked into them. Anyway am having a few second thoughts so just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this finish (light colour). The tiles are 60 x 30 and as far as I can see from the sample the "polishing" does not extend right to the tile edges - so am now wondering if I'll end up with a striped effect polish/not polish. Floor is 20 sqm.
Thanks

[Dave]

I heard about some stone last week that the polishing didn't go right into the corners, not sure on the stones name though...???

And my supplier isn't a happy bunny as he has about 3 or 4 crates of it...

IMO polished is just that and not patchy bits on edges and corners.

[Dave]

wasn't sure on your tile name , so i just looked it up...Is it porcelain..?

[D1zzy]

I heard about some stone last week that the polishing didn't go right into the corners, not sure on the stones name though...???

And my supplier isn't a happy bunny as he has about 3 or 4 crates of it...

IMO polished is just that and not patchy bits on edges and corners.

Don't know if it makes a difference but the tiles are porceain not stone and from the sample it looks as if along the length of the "long" edges a couple of cm are left unpolished so not patchy more design.

[Dave]

Yep i agree, more than likely a design to them....if you not happy then send then back..

[D1zzy]

Yep i agree, more than likely a design to them....if you not happy then send then back..

Don't think I can do that as they ship em in to order - and to be honest we won't know the effect until they are down, which is why I was wondering if anyone had seen anything like this in situ. The sample we have is dark grey so I'm assiming that any light/shade effects will be minimised with a paler tile

[Dave]

I haven't no....if you are unsure then i wouldn't place the order...re-choose..

[D1zzy]

I haven't no....if you are unsure then i wouldn't place the order...re-choose..

Toooooooo late - had to place it Saturday to get it on this weeks (last before shut down) pickup.
If we had been unable to get them the kitchen would have had to go back to Sept; which would have meant the CH replacement which follows the kitchen going back to the cold months and that's pre-supposing Electrician; plumber; tiler, kitchen fitter; plasterer and painter could all reschedule.

Anyway they are the colour, type; & size that we wanted - just they now have a "sheen" which we hadn't planned - so chances are we are twittering about not much, and who knows we may have hated the natural look once it was down.

Thanks for your input

[Dave]

No probs...will you let us know how it go's..i know it's a while of yet but like to know if you are happy with the product once it is down..and maybe a few pics as well please would be good..

[D1zzy]

No probs...will you let us know how it go's..i know it's a while of yet but like to know if you are happy with the product once it is down..and maybe a few pics as well please would be good..

Will do - they are due down week commencing 24th August - feel free to chase me if I forget the pics.

Just need to decide now about underfloor heating, which we'd decided not to do & then started to think - better to say "we put it in and didn't need it", than "I wish we'd done it" after the floor is down - so I guess we'll do it.

(see how decisive we are....... aren't you glad you don't have to deal with us)

[Dave]

...cheers, will do.

[Alpha Omega]

Will do - they are due down week commencing 24th August - feel free to chase me if I forget the pics.

Just need to decide now about underfloor heating, which we'd decided not to do & then started to think - better to say "we put it in and didn't need it", than "I wish we'd done it" after the floor is down - so I guess we'll do it.

(see how decisive we are....... aren't you glad you don't have to deal with us)

deffo agree,
Better to have it unused than not have it at all, but you will love it, my wife sleeps on the conservatory floor cause it's so warm !!

[davy_G]

deffo agree,
Better to have it unused than not have it at all, but you will love it, my wife sleeps on the conservatory floor cause it's so warm !!

And whats the electric bills like?? Just turn the electric blanket on!

[D1zzy]

Will do - they are due down week commencing 24th August - feel free to chase me if I forget the pics.

Just need to decide now about underfloor heating, which we'd decided not to do & then started to think - better to say "we put it in and didn't need it", than "I wish we'd done it" after the floor is down - so I guess we'll do it.

(see how decisive we are....... aren't you glad you don't have to deal with us)

Well we now have a floor and we love it. In fact we are thinking of cancelling the kitchen units and just picnicing on the floor. I don't know if the pics do it justice but if I can figure out how I will upload some.

Next decision - silver grey grout - do I seal it and if so with what - seal guard?

[D1zzy]

Well - since the trades are back in tomorrow - I decided best to seal the grout today with Seal Guard. Looks fine time will tell

[D1zzy]

Well we now have a floor and we love it. In fact we are thinking of cancelling the kitchen units and just picnicing on the floor. I don't know if the pics do it justice but if I can figure out how I will upload some.

Here goes for some pics - the last 2 b4 the grouting was done. The slight "scaley" effect in the reflections is the lappatto effect which I was twittering about - but its fine.

[lbonne]

Nice tiles (nice cat too). Are they Appaviso Lappato microcement? Can I ask how much I should expect to pay - just been quoted £60 sq m +VAT. Way out of my budget unfortunately but I think they look great. Was planning to have them in my bathroom.

[D1zzy]

Thanks (cat= Henri after Thiery). They were casalgrande basaltina - about £45 a sq metre (but discounts were available). We ended up buying locally 'cos of time constraints

[timeless john]

It always better with stone to see what you are buying.
As you bought locally Dizzy, I assume you were able to confirm the quality before you had them delivered and paid for.
Even a sample sent in the post is only going to be a representative of what it looked like so many months ago from a part of the quarry that may be exhausted by now.
So ask the question is it a sample of what is in stock now? And as a natural product it will vary considerably from piece to piece.

[D1zzy]

There was a sample in the shop but not the lapatto finish, and because of time constraints/factory shutdowns etc we had not seen the actual tiles until they arrived (hence my original question). We could have got a sample though if there had been time

They are porcelain - manufactured to a specification - so I assume all would be as per the sample.

[cafceramics]

Lappato just means semi-polished...thats all