Tiles Buying Guide
Our range of tiles will help you transform your kitchen or refresh your bathroom. Our range of ceramic and porcelain wall and floor tiles includes striking patterns, modern marble finishes and classic shades of white, teal and grey. Our handy how to guides will help you get it right first time.
Our wide range of tiles offer a selection of colours and materials to suit your style and space. We understand choosing tiles can be a difficult decision as it has to be stylish yet a practical solution for your home. This guide will help you choose the right tile material for you.
Types of tiles
Ceramic tiles
Ceramic tiles are made from clay and topped with a decorative glaze that’s then hardened by heat (suitable for light traffic areas including bathrooms).
Advantages
- Easy to cut and fix
- Protecting top layer resistant to water and stains
- Resistant to high humidity conditions
- Durable and easy to maintain
- Affordable and less expensive than natural stone or porcelain
Porcelain tiles
Porcelain tiles are fired at much higher temperatures than ceramic tiles, making them denser, very hard-wearing and more waterproof (Suitable for high traffic areas including living areas, kitchens & bathrooms).
Advantages
- Hard-wearing and durable due to denser material than ceramic
- Scratch resistant and hygienic
- Strong imitation of all natural materials
- Lower maintenance than real stone
- Available glazed, unglazed or polished
Natural stone tiles
Our timeless marble and granite natural stone tiles are quarried from the ground, meaning each tile has its own unique markings, patterns and textures (suitable for light traffic areas including bathrooms and kitchens).
Advantages
- Extremely strong and hard-wearing
- Last lifetime with the right care
- Conductor dispenses heat evenly when it’s used with underfloor heating
- Each stone has unique characteristics
Disadvantages
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Kitchen Wall & Floor Tiles
From a show-stopping centrepiece to a cosy family hub, choosing the right floor and wall tiles is the key to creating your dream kitchen. With a wide range of colours, sizes and designs on offer, it’s easy to achieve the striking or subtle effect that you’re aiming for.
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Bathroom Wall & Floor Tiles
Our bathroom is your own private space to relax, unwind and wash away the stresses of everyday life. Choose from our wide range of traditional, contemporary and modern bathroom tiles to create an effect that suits your personal style.
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Complete your tiling project
Tile adhesive
Adhesive is usually one of the first steps to tiling floors and walls. Essential to ensure tiles stay firmly fixed in place. There are two types - ready mixed and powdered.
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Tile grout
Grout covers the gap between the two floors and walls and creates continuity between the floors and skirting-boards. The grout be have can be colour matched to our range of laminate flooring.
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Tiling tools
We have cutters, spacers, smoothers, trowels and many more Tiling Tools to help you complete your tiling project with a professional finish.
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Tile trims
Our Tile Trims & Strips will give your tiled walls a neat and professional finish, and will also protect your tiles from day-to-day wear
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Floor levelling
Our Floor Levelling Compound is a self-levelling product designed for raising or smoothing out uneven concrete, cement screed or plywood internal floors
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Underfloor heating
Underfloor heating systems are an efficient way to heat your home. Choose between an electric or a water underfloor heating system to create warmth in your home economically. An electric system is easier to install, but a water system will have lower running costs and would require your home to have a gas supply
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Measure before buying
Measure the area you’re tiling so you know how many packs of tiles you need. Most tiles come in packs that cover one square metre. If you are looking to tile a floor, measure the width and length, multiply them together to give you the square metre area. Alternatively, if you are tiling a wall, measure the width and the height, multiply this together to give you the square metre area. If your wall has doors, windows or fixed cupboards, work out their areas and subtract them from the total area you'll be tiling. Buy 5 – 10% more tiles than you need – This allows for breakages and any discrepancies in shade. You can always return unused boxes of tiles if you have the receipt and it’s within 30 days of purchase.
Check the tiles are suitable
If you’re tiling a floor, make sure the tiles have the right floor tile wear rating (PEI rating). Make sure you don’t use wall tiles on floors, and check the floor surface can take the combined weight of the tiles.
Are you prepared to maintain tiles? Natural stone tiles need sealing when they’re laid as well as resealing around every six months. Is this something you’re prepared to do? Before buying tiles, take the time to understand any care and maintenance needed.
Buy the right grout
The grout you need depends on the tiles you’re using, the surface you’re tiling and the room you’re tiling in. So always check the packaging. Grout also comes in different colours, so make sure you’re buying the shade you want.
Choose the right adhesive
Just like grouting, adhesive needs to be chosen carefully, so always read the label to check it’s suitability for the tiles and the surface. Rapid dry adhesives are great for experienced tilers, but can dry out too quickly for first-timers.
Check the surface before tiling
Is the surface suitable for tiling? Make sure you know before starting your project, because tiling an unsuitable surface can cause big problems. For example, surfaces in bathrooms need to be waterproofed before being tiled.
Safety is paramount
Tile shards can be as sharp as glass, and adhesives and grouting can irritate the skin, so you must always wear goggles, a dust mask and gloves. If you’re tiling a floor, wear knee pads.
Tiling corners? Don’t forget trim
Get a clean finish around corners with tile trim. The depth of the trim you need depends on the thickness of your tiles. It comes in different colours, so you can match it to your tile and grout colours
