Cheaper bathroom/kitchen tiles

[Feltwell]

I've been looking around for tiles with Mrs F for our bathroom, finally found some in Topps Tiles that we both liked. However - before ordering them, I googled their name, and found that rather than renaming them Topps had used the manufacturer's name - which led me to find that I could order them direct from the manufacturer, via what is effectively a broker.

A lot of ceramic tiles are made in Spain and Portugal, and they are vastly cheaper when bought direct. Of course the carriage then plays a large part on top of this - 300kg of tiles on a pallet from Spain to the UK in this case, means the carriage costs nearly as much as the tiles. You've also got to pay the VAT to the shipping agent, but even after all this I've got my tiles for a £500 saving over what it would have cost me to buy them in the UK.

This was the website, they show all the tiles they do:-

https://tile.expert/en-gb

They get good reviews online. Their samples service worked fine for me, and I got an instant response to a couple of "live chat" queries through their website. Obviously, you've got to be a little bit organised with timelines, but I've been quoted 3 weeks for delivery, which is not too bad.

 

[Cubist]

This kind of tale always puts me in mind of 'Package Holidays'. I have always found that if I shop around and do my own bookings for the components I inevitably get a much better deal

 

[Feltwell]

Indeed!

With the tiles, ours is only a small bathroom, but still gives a decent saving. The more you buy the better it works - for small quantities like tiling a splashback you'd be better off buying here. Topps have just dropped the price of the tiles we like by 25%, the £500 saved is below that sale price - at full price, which they had been for a long time, buying direct would have meant getting them for under half price.

 

[Feltwell]

Tiles arrived 1 day later than the estimate, *extremely* well packed - almost too well packed, I filled 2 wheelie bins with the packaging! All present, correct and undamaged.

I'd recommend this site, gave me a great saving and their comms were excellent. Don't forget that due to Brexit (let's not start on that one...) you have to pay VAT on top of the website price to the import agent, plus a small admin fee (£14 in my case). However you're not paying any Spanish sales tax, which is close to our VAT anyway, and there are no import duties.

 

[Cubist]

I'll keep em in mind. Cheers.

 

[Zebra]

Looking forward to seeing pictures of tiles on the walls (but no rush, I know we like to take our time round here with this sort of thing).

 

[Lacan07]

I've been looking around for tiles with Mrs F for our bathroom, finally found some in Topps Tiles that we both liked. However - before ordering them, I googled their name, and found that rather than renaming them Topps had used the manufacturer's name - which led me to find that I could order them direct from the manufacturer, via what is effectively a broker.

A lot of ceramic tiles are made in Spain and Portugal, and they are vastly cheaper when bought direct. Of course the carriage then plays a large part on top of this - 300kg of tiles on a pallet from Spain to the UK in this case, means the carriage costs nearly as much as the tiles. You've also got to pay the VAT to the shipping agent, but even after all this I've got my tiles for a £500 saving over what it would have cost me to buy them in the UK.

This was the website, they show all the tiles they do:-

https://tile.expert/en-gb

They get good reviews online. Their samples service worked fine for me, and I got an instant response to a couple of "live chat" queries through their website. Obviously, you've got to be a little bit organised with timelines, but I've been quoted 3 weeks for delivery, which is not too bad.

Whilst I decided against Tiles for my bathroom I'm certainly going to save that link

 

[Feltwell]

Looking forward to seeing pictures of tiles on the walls (but no rush, I know we like to take our time round here with this sort of thing).

I'm doing a great job of avoiding getting on with the bathroom so far!

For example, on Friday an old outbuilding door was being given away on Freecycle - turned out to be a big, heavy old Victorian ledged & braced door with no rot! Weighed a ton, but then it was 8' tall and 4' across. Perfect to use as a gate on the passageway at the side of my garage - so that was the weekend gone, by the time it was cut, fitted and painted. Looks spot on though, like it's been there for 100 years already.

Always something wants doing. I have to admire Mrs F's patience really!

 

[Cassie]

Always something wants doing! A bit of guttering fell off the outbuilding in a rainstorm a couple of days ago. I thought about putting it back up. But then looked at the roof that needs totally redoing and the rotten door frame that no longer holds the doors. And the lath and plaster ceiling that’s coming off and the dodgy looped electrics that aren’t safe. So I left the gutter on the ground and went back to the more urgent job in hand. It’s never going to end!

 

[Cubist]

Always something wants doing! A bit of guttering fell off the outbuilding in a rainstorm a couple of days ago. I thought about putting it back up. But then looked at the roof that needs totally redoing and the rotten door frame that no longer holds the doors. And the lath and plaster ceiling that’s coming off and the dodgy looped electrics that aren’t safe. So I left the gutter on the ground and went back to the more urgent job in hand. It’s never going to end!

Sometimes, and its because they are so easy to spot, elephants will use other critters to distract the committed pachyderm hunters among us. As a consequence many of our fellows are diverted to 'Whack-a-mole' hunts while Dumbo hides in plain sight.

Stay focused Cassie, you're doing the right thing.

 

[Cassie]

Thanks cubist, I’ll try! If the outbuilding falls down, it would be a bit sad but not a big deal. If the house falls down, it’s a bit more serious!

 

[LadyArowana]

because they are so easy to spot, elephants will use other critters to distract the committed pachyderm hunters among us. As a consequence many of our fellows are diverted to 'Whack-a-mole' hunts while Dumbo hides in plain sight.

Did someone say "elephants"? It's pretty easy to spot them in our house.

 

[Cassie]

Did someone say "elephants"? It's pretty easy to spot them in our house.

That’s how my house feels

 

[Cubist]

Thats more than I can cope with - need more

 

[Feltwell]

Looking forward to seeing pictures of tiles on the walls (but no rush, I know we like to take our time round here with this sort of thing).

Tiles in the other bathroom are on the "Projects" section now my stripey friend!