Is there a big difference in quality between tiles bought at hardware stores or at places where they "only" sell such things?
How significant is the difference really between more expensive tiles and cheaper ones?
Are there any brands to avoid?
Are there tiles that are manufactured in the same place but then sold by different retailers with different branding and a large price difference? (This has happened with garden furniture, they came from the same manufacturer but the retailers put different brands on them and the price difference was several thousand).
How significant is the difference really between more expensive tiles and cheaper ones?
Are there any brands to avoid?
Are there tiles that are manufactured in the same place but then sold by different retailers with different branding and a large price difference? (This has happened with garden furniture, they came from the same manufacturer but the retailers put different brands on them and the price difference was several thousand).
I don't think the difference is particularly large. Exclusive/more expensive tiles aren't that much more expensive to manufacture than cheap tiles, hence there shouldn't be much of a difference in quality either. On several occasions, I have been able to buy tiles at cost price from a customer of my previous employer. When I saw their purchase prices, I was surprised that the purchase price of the exclusive tiles was basically at the same level as that of similar simpler/cheaper tiles. The purchasing manager explained that there isn't fundamentally much difference between the cheap and expensive tiles, but the cheap standard tiles are so competitive that tile companies hardly have any margins on those products.
I asked the company that renovated our bathroom about the difference and the answer was that as long as it is 1st class sorting, the differences are very small.
Now our question was about regular white matte tiles, so I can't answer if there are bigger differences with glossy/other colors.
Now our question was about regular white matte tiles, so I can't answer if there are bigger differences with glossy/other colors.
It tends to be a pretty common problem that the tiles are of different sizes, but it's not always the case that well-known manufacturers have better precision.Fredrik Å said:
I discussed this with the tile dealers when I was building my bathroom and according to them, there was no direct quality difference between, for example, white tiles for 125 SEK/sqm and 375 SEK/sqm. The difference was that the more expensive tiles came in more variants (size of tiles and similar) and were produced in smaller quantities. However, they advised against some really cheap tiles (like those from Biltema), I don’t remember exactly why, but they could look strange in certain light, I think. But they might have been speaking in their own interest.
Okay, thanks for all the insightful answers! I'll go with white tiles on the wall and darker ones on the floor, either black or something in the brown range. I'll also do the classic move of using the same tiles in the shower corner as on the floor.
What we noticed was that the comparable tiles from Hornbach we looked at were consistently thinner (6 mm) than the tiles from Höganäs we ultimately bought (7 mm). They felt more robust, but whether this has any real significance, I don't know. Otherwise, I agree with the above that more expensive brands come in more sizes and designs. We wanted 10x10 in the shower for easier slope building and 20x20 in the rest, and HB didn't have that in the same series, so we went with Höganäs for everything in the end.
That sounds very cheap and good 
But I've read somewhere that the larger the tiles are, the harder it is to get a good result. But maybe the craftsmen know better, they are educated so they should probably be able to handle whatever.
But I've read somewhere that the larger the tiles are, the harder it is to get a good result. But maybe the craftsmen know better, they are educated so they should probably be able to handle whatever.
A bit OT, but if the purchase concerns a smaller bathroom, I think you should first choose the tiles you want and secondly look at the price. A ceramic bathroom costs roughly 100 len, and 3-10% of those fish are normally about tiles. The interior can always be changed without major problems, but the ceramic is something you live with for maybe 25-30 years.
It's perfectly possible to create a fresh bathroom with a wet room mat and painted waterproofing system on the walls for a significantly lower cost than a ceramic bathroom. If the investment cost is an issue, that's probably a better choice.
It's perfectly possible to create a fresh bathroom with a wet room mat and painted waterproofing system on the walls for a significantly lower cost than a ceramic bathroom. If the investment cost is an issue, that's probably a better choice.
Now I have only laid clinker on floors, but I think it's easier to lay large tiles. For a skilled tiler, it definitely makes no difference.toker78 said:That sounds very cheap and good
But I have read somewhere that the larger the tiles, the more difficult it should be to get it right. But maybe the craftsmen know better, they are trained so they should be able to handle any kind.
I think that sometimes one might experience that cheaper tiles more often crack badly when cutting them. It tends to be most noticeable when you need to cut diagonally, cut thin strips, and similar tasks. It's probably due to a less homogeneous clay mixture. However, there are cheap materials that work excellently as well.
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· Stockholms
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I would probably say that you get tired of exclusive special tiles faster than of white glossy 15x15, so from that perspective, it's not worth paying 500 SEK/sqm instead of 50 SEK/sqm.
Think of all the apricot pink mottled bathrooms from the 90s with insanely expensive borders that have a technical lifespan of 20 more years, but are replaced as soon as possible anyway.
Think of all the apricot pink mottled bathrooms from the 90s with insanely expensive borders that have a technical lifespan of 20 more years, but are replaced as soon as possible anyway.