What distinguishes expensive from cheap tiles (besides the price)?
I've found tiles for about 300 SEK per square meter at one place and similar ones for about 100 SEK per square meter at another.
It doesn't seem justifiable to buy the more expensive ones if the cheaper ones are just as good.
The tiles will be for dry indoor areas like the kitchen, hallway, etc.
In what scenario should one invest in more expensive tiles? Why in that case? Maybe in wet areas? Or can one always buy the cheapest that they like aesthetically? Does anyone know?
I've found tiles for about 300 SEK per square meter at one place and similar ones for about 100 SEK per square meter at another.
It doesn't seem justifiable to buy the more expensive ones if the cheaper ones are just as good.
The tiles will be for dry indoor areas like the kitchen, hallway, etc.
In what scenario should one invest in more expensive tiles? Why in that case? Maybe in wet areas? Or can one always buy the cheapest that they like aesthetically? Does anyone know?
If you buy the cheapest, it might be from some residual stock. Then buy a few extra square meters and store them away. In case you need to repair later, you probably won't find the same on the market.
At least klinker can have different levels of wear resistance.
Try scratching your intended klinker with a key and see what happens.
Also, try breaking a klinker tile to see how thick the wear layer is.
If gravel comes onto the tiles, like at an entrance, it can wear them quite a bit and it's unfortunate if the underlying color starts to show through.
This is naturally a much smaller problem on walls, as the wall covering is rarely worn very much.
/ Fredrik
Try scratching your intended klinker with a key and see what happens.
Also, try breaking a klinker tile to see how thick the wear layer is.
If gravel comes onto the tiles, like at an entrance, it can wear them quite a bit and it's unfortunate if the underlying color starts to show through.
This is naturally a much smaller problem on walls, as the wall covering is rarely worn very much.
/ Fredrik
It's like with most things, the price is related to quality! If a product doesn't meet tolerance requirements during manufacturing, it's not always discarded. It can also be sold as a second-class product, cheaper. That's why you can find two similar tiles with a very large price difference. Then, of course, there are tiles that are cheap from the start, and with them, you get what you pay for...variations in dimensions, angles, warping, poor glazing, color discrepancies, and surface texture differences, etc.
The price also has to do with how much overhead a company has and how much it has managed to streamline its operations. The price furthermore relates to how much of the income is spent on the marketing/advertising budget vs product development or on taking market shares, for example by having a lower price than competitors for equivalent products. The price, especially in Sweden, is about how much the players have managed to divide the market among themselves in the construction material sector.Ardexsmitten said:
As a buyer, it is relevant to look at the price/performance aspect.
One thing I've noticed is that if you buy cheap tiles, it's often in size 30*30, which can be a bit tricky to install in a bathroom with a slope.
Then it depends on what type of space it will be. I built a laundry room with regular 15*15 white tiles that I stacked straight up to the homemade border (cut from floor tiles), and then I did the rest diagonally.
40 sqm wall for 39:- per sqm. Such a space doesn't need designer tiles for 3-400 kr per sqm.
At least that's what I think.
Then it depends on what type of space it will be. I built a laundry room with regular 15*15 white tiles that I stacked straight up to the homemade border (cut from floor tiles), and then I did the rest diagonally.
40 sqm wall for 39:- per sqm. Such a space doesn't need designer tiles for 3-400 kr per sqm.
At least that's what I think.
Variations in dimensions and cosmetic differences I can tolerate, but what's interesting (for me) is if the quality is worse in terms of wear surface and such, so you don't have to pay double in the end because the floor broke or something like that. I'm looking for flooring in dry areas, and I think it's not as critical as for a bathroom...?Ardexsmitten said:
I would actually say the opposite, the tiles wear more in dry areas, especially in the hallway. In bathrooms, you're usually barefoot or in socks, and there's rarely gravel and that type of abrasive dirt.jakim said:
Edit: But I wouldn't worry too much about it. Cheap tiles at DIY stores usually, if not always, have sufficient durability to work in private homes. Buy a tile that you think looks good.
Bought some cheap tiles for the kitchen. What was noticeable was that the tiles were of varying hardness. Some were easy to cut, while others just cracked in the wrong place. You could immediately feel when scoring the tile whether it would go well or not.
But then you have a poor tile cutter. With a good one, you can break all tiles exactly where you want, hard or porous.
Then I don't think it was the hardness of the tiles that made the difference; rather, the machine sometimes didn't score well, and that's what you felt and what affected the result. I've never encountered any significant differences in hardness between tiles of the same type. And as I said, it shouldn't matter in any case.
Then I don't think it was the hardness of the tiles that made the difference; rather, the machine sometimes didn't score well, and that's what you felt and what affected the result. I've never encountered any significant differences in hardness between tiles of the same type. And as I said, it shouldn't matter in any case.
Isn't it a bit like demand determines the price.
I would like to claim that what's in the highest fashion commands a higher price than if you choose more classic styles. But maybe you should follow the trend and then change after a few years because the colors are atrocious
I'm thinking a bit about the renovation in my house that was done in the late '70s.
I would like to claim that what's in the highest fashion commands a higher price than if you choose more classic styles. But maybe you should follow the trend and then change after a few years because the colors are atrocious
I'm thinking a bit about the renovation in my house that was done in the late '70s.For our bathroom, we bought cheap tiles at K-Rauta. The guy who did the tiling cursed a bit because the tiles weren't exactly the same size in different boxes. He had to do some puzzling. Afterwards, I've heard that imported tiles often vary slightly in size because the machines aren't so precise.