In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Another large manufacturer is [url]www.emilceramca.it[/url], where you can search for all sorts of tiles. Pavimenti are floor tiles, and rivestimenti are wall tiles. Both emilceramica and cotto d'este are widely held by builders merchants.
For any detailed bathroom tiling, certainly if you intend to do it yourself, it is very much easier if you chose a tile which is meant to be a wall tile. These are very much easier to cut and drill - some of the fake polished marble tiles are a nightmare. Again, if you are doing it yourself (or expecting the muratore to do the work, rather than a professional pavimentista), remember that you need a tile cutter which is big enough to cope with the format of the tile you have chosen. Anything bigger than 40cm by 40cm needs a cutter larger than most builders possess.
Don't get carried away with a fancy greca (line of pretty little inserts to break up mass tiling), or any shaped listelli - sort of ceramic dado rails - unless you are willing to dig very deep into your pockets. These details cost about the same per linear metre as the tiles do for a square metre, and if you want to take shaped 'dado rails' around external corners you will have to buy the 'specials' for that purpose. If you order your tiles from a good merchant he will have someone to work it all out for you, at no extra cost.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
try [url=http://www.NPZ.it]NPZ Idrotermosanitari[/url] They have tiles for all over the house and are priced for all pockets also plenty of bathrooms . I belive they do offers where they give you a bathroom and so many sq met, of floor tiles .
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reference to the issue of drilling tiles as mentioned by Charles above, this would be caused by the tiles being Porcelain and not Ceramic.
Porcelain tiles are superior in quality and require a special drill bit to carry out the job of drilling, ceramic tiles will drill with a standard masonary drill bit.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Wall tiles are for walls and floor tiles are for floors (not vice versa) for a reason, wall tiles are softer and break more readily when exposed to dropping bottles of cologne et cetera.. Floor tiles are normally more slip resistant especially with water under foot in a bathroom!
Prices vary but for quantities over 200 m2 expect to pay 10-12 /m2 for 30 x 30 cm floor tiles of a good quality from a reputable tile manufacturer. Porcelain, glass & mosaics are slightly more expensive.
Don’t let a muratore do the work unless you can see some examples of his work. A reputable tiler (again look at the workmanship) will charge you about €14/m2 excluding materials for a bathroom of about 30m2. Anything over this you could get a price as good as €10/m2 including adhesive and grout. But I’d expect more like €11/12/m2 - materials you can discuss.
Try and do a deal directly with the manufacturer not a shop they’re going to be always more expensive.
Good luck!!
:smile:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Lotan, I have to disagree that wall tiles are softer than floor tiles, Ceramic tiles are baked like bricks in an oven , they don't leave floor tiles in a bit longer to make them harder, porcelain tiles are a whole different ball game.
I have seen many hotels in Italy use the same tiles on the floor as the walls.
I have been a pavimentista for 18 years, specialising in Graniglia.:SLEEP:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=gazzager;81777]Lotan, I have to disagree that wall tiles are softer than floor tiles, Ceramic tiles are baked like bricks in an oven , they don't leave floor tiles in a bit longer to make them harder, porcelain tiles are a whole different ball game.
I have seen many hotels in Italy use the same tiles on the floor as the walls.
I have been a pavimentista for 18 years, specialising in Graniglia.:SLEEP:[/quote]
I bow to your superior knowledge. The pricing was ok then??
Tiles
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 02/02/2008 - 18:28In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
It is never a case of leaving tiles in longer to make them harder the difference will be in the way the clay is fired, which is normally in two stages, either a low temperature first, followed by a higher temperature or a high temperature first, followed by a lower temperature.
A great deal will depend upon the type of clay, the decoration - to be either under glaze or on glaze.
Then we have bone china...............zzzzzzzz!!!!!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
gazzager is perfectly correct (well, he should be shouldn't he, this is his job!). Porcelain (and here I think he is referring to 'gres porcenallato' (? spelling) in Italian) is a nightmare to drill. The trouble is, that when the bathroom has been tiled to perfection, the plumber has to fix the shower rail, and the plumber has only got a masonry drill.
The distinction (and no doubt gazzager will put me right!) is between monocottura (usually hard floor tiles) or bi cottura (soft base, with a glaze). These soft terracotta base glazed tiles will cut with a butter knife: the 'gres porcelain' tiles need a much more expert treatment (or an angle grinder, if you are willing to put up with imperfection).
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
My apologies to everyone my zzzzz,s were because I was boring myself to sleep!!!
you could try [url=http://www.cottodeste.it]:: Cotto d'Este Nuove Superfici ::[/url] - the website is quite swish - if a bit irritating to navigate - and it can be viewed in English. Their products are good, though not cheap. Probably not the place to go if you're renovating an old ruin, but good for contemporary style.
theres also this thread [url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/building-renovation/8139-cotto-tiles.html[/url] that contains some useful info on costs for traditional cotto tiles if that's of interest.