4.8mm porcelain, up to 600x1200. Anyone used these??

[aflemi]

Porcel-thin Tiles


Saw these the other day, fantastic range of colours and finishes, very reasonably priced. China manufactured, apparently premier quality. I have to say i compared a small selection for calibration etc and they all seemed perfect. Obviously 1/2 the weight makes a massive difference re substrate prep. On the face of it, it opens up massive design and install opportunities.
I also saw similar at my usual supplier from the Spanish manufacturer Inalco. Range called slimm-ker same depth but over twice the price and much smaller range of colours etc.
Has anyone any experience of these slim extra-large format tiles. How they cut, adhesive, do they stay completely flat etc etc??

[macten]

First heard about these coming into the trade a couple of years ago. Then I heard that most manufacturers binned them as
too many tales of breaking tiles. Not used them myself but always thought they were a good idea.

[Mike]

i did some that thickness a while back, 600 by 300. chinese tiles, they were bending as i was pressing them in to the adhesive, i had to check the 'middle' of the tile for lippage not just the 4 corners. customer had them from b&q. it said on the box they were floor and wall tiles

[ROBSON MCGREGOR]

We have used 5mm porcelain floor tiles, 330x330mm? cant remember the name of them but they are supplied through CTD.

Done 2 jobs with them, both kitchen floors & no call backs as of yet, jobs were 6 months ago so we will wait & see.

I was quite dubious about them but they were good to work with.

[kilty55]

same as mike,used the 60 by 30s ,found they flexed slightly as well

no call backs but not sure i liked them

[Dan]

600 x 1200 is a big size to have a 4.8mm tile even if it is porcelain!

Perhaps they'd flex less than the 600 x 300 though? (might flex more I'm trying to get my head around it. If they're bigger perhaps there's more to stop it bending when you're pushing with two hands?)

[John Benton]

Only seen them in one of the showrooms I use and they look impressive

[Mike]

600 x 1200 is a big size to have a 4.8mm tile even if it is porcelain!

Perhaps they'd flex less than the 600 x 300 though? (might flex more I'm trying to get my head around it. If they're bigger perhaps there's more to stop it bending when you're pushing with two hands?)

i reckon they'd be bending like dot and dab plasterboard i think you'd need to tap it in with a 4 by 2

[aflemi]

i did some that thickness a while back, 600 by 300. chinese tiles, they were bending as i was pressing them in to the adhesive, i had to check the 'middle' of the tile for lippage not just the 4 corners. customer had them from b&q. it said on the box they were floor and wall tiles

Supplier claims they are 1st quality, he visits manufacturer regularly and they have up to 5 quality levels. I don't use b + Q but can imagine they don't insist on best quality, although that may be harsh. I'm not sure i would use them on floor but if so would definitely ensure 100% coverage.....Would help with height issues I suppose. Was wondering how people cut them and if they had any problems? I was told best way was to score and then snap manually rather than with breaker.
Do they cut well with wet cutter? do they drill through ok? Apparently they somehow add aluminium in the manufacturing process, he demonstrated some rough treatment, eg standing 600/900 on its edge then tipping it onto concrete floor and it seemed very robust....

[Mike]

the ones i used cut fine with the sigma, wet cut okay too. i don't remember drilling them though

[kilty55]

they cut very easily on a ts60

didnt drill either but im sure they will be ok

[garythetiler]

Supplier claims they are 1st quality, he visits manufacturer regularly and they have up to 5 quality levels. I don't use b + Q but can imagine they don't insist on best quality, although that may be harsh. I'm not sure i would use them on floor but if so would definitely ensure 100% coverage.....Would help with height issues I suppose. Was wondering how people cut them and if they had any problems? I was told best way was to score and then snap manually rather than with breaker.
Do they cut well with wet cutter? do they drill through ok? Apparently they somehow add aluminium in the manufacturing process, he demonstrated some rough treatment, eg standing 600/900 on its edge then tipping it onto concrete floor and it seemed very robust....

The supplier is a good friend of mine and its all I have used in the past 6 months,
They are excellent tiles and lovely to work with ,FEET will be at the KBB show with a huge display stasnd showing off the full range of porcel-thin and they are also going to be at the Ideal home exhibiton in March ,I am going to be doing an installation video clip with Ray which he is going to post online and give to customers when they buy the tiles from him

[aflemi]

The supplier is a good friend of mine and its all I have used in the past 6 months,
They are excellent tiles and lovely to work with ,FEET will be at the KBB show with a huge display stasnd showing off the full range of porcel-thin and they are also going to be at the Ideal home exhibiton in March ,I am going to be doing an installation video clip with Ray which he is going to post online and give to customers when they buy the tiles from him

Excellent, his assistant gave me a DVD which she said had installation tips but must have been an older version as it was only stills of the range... All sounds good, I can't wait to show them to clients...

[garythetiler]

I wll post some pictures of some stuff I have done with them when I get a chance

[Dan]

Video you say? Get it on the forum!

[garythetiler]

Video you say? Get it on the forum!

will do Dan going to do it in the next couple of weeks

[ray t t]

the new porcel-thin tiles are made in a very simlar way to glass fussed with alluminium witch adds to there lightness as well as strenght 1200 600 8kg easy to fix light to handle no more back akes with in 3 years you will only be allowed to fix these tiles on newbuild 60% less matirial 50% less enregy 74% less shipping very eco the sooner you start using these you wont want to use any think else

[Dan]

How does one get around the bending of them?

(Never fitted them myself obviously I'm just asking the guy who might know)

[jay]

How does one get around the bending of them?

(Never fitted them myself obviously I'm just asking the guy who might know)

easier to lay using straight edge for final adjustment as hands tend to leave waves or dips

[sticky bob]

i used these thin tiles on a new build extension over ten months ago, got a call last week saying two of the "L" cuts around the window had cracked. went and looked at it and there were two tiles cracked from outside corner to inside of L cut. I think this is because they are just to thin. To be honest the only reason these tile manufacturers are trying to introduce these tiles is to massively reduce their transport costs

[bobbynz]

i used these thin tiles on a new build extension over ten months ago, got a call last week saying two of the "L" cuts around the window had cracked. went and looked at it and there were two tiles cracked from outside corner to inside of L cut. I think this is because they are just to thin. To be honest the only reason these tile manufacturers are trying to introduce these tiles is to massively reduce their transport costs

Did you have a soft joint around the perimeter of the L cut, thats a classic problem of too tight joints and/or grouted giving no room for movement.
We have 1mx 1m 3mm porcs over here and so far no sign of failures yet. I think you would have to make sure of 100 percent coverage with these.
One of the main reasons to reduce matarial is that many countries have introduced carbon taxes so the attraction for these is obvious, only pay 50% carbon tax.

[bobbynz]

I must add though, we use dry hand grinders to cut so wearing a dust mask is imperative as the back of these thin porcs have a layer of fiberglass and you dont want that stuff in your lungs. just a little safety message for what its worth

[garythetiler]

These 4.8mm porcel-thin dont have fibre glass on the back of them ,some of the 3mm thick tiles being manufactured by other factories but not these ones , I thought I would post some pictures of some of the work I have been doing with these tiles ,to answer some of the questions with these tiles 100% coverage is essential especially on floors ,the tiles do flex when fitting them so you can either use lash clips or if you an experienced tiler you will find these no more difficult to fit than any tile you have used and to be honest I actually find them much easier to work with than 10mm thick porcelain , a few tips ,
when knocking up you floor adhesive mix it up wetter than normal this helps get the coverage needed as there is less resistance with the looser sticky and it spreads behind the tile better ,these tiles are stronger than you might imagine and it is possible to lift a tile to check for full coverage but with a golf ball trowel and spreding the back of the tile full coverage is easliy achievable ,
for wall tiling i have been using tile master light weight adhesive and use a raimondi slant notch to spread the walls and also to spread the back of the tile ,with light weight adhesives again you use more water and it gives 95-100% coverage without any problems
most importantly using when these tiles , I stress to the developers/builders that the walls and floors must be spot on prior to fitting the tiles as they cant be packed out and dubbed out in the way traditional tiles can be so number 1 tip get the prep right and these tiles are a pleasure to work with

[jay]

Very nice Gary

[Phil Hobson]

Cracking work Gary.

[Phil Hobson]

Video you say? Get it on the forum!

Is this the one Dan?

[jay]

[ray t t]

nice one gary allways the first to enbrace new tecnology stay one step a head

[Discount Tile Supplies]

I can wait to sell some to a customer. 6'x6' 1940 bathrooms will love this size tile! Good on new builds not so good on mum and dads bathroom.

[ray t t]

great tiles to use will post some pictures tonight sizes 1200 600 600 900 great for tilling over old tiles