Tile Shopping Tips

One of the most common questions that I get asked by my clients is, “Where is a good place to go shopping for tile?”

That depends on a few factors…

• Budget and Price Point
• Quantity
• Type Of Tile
• Quality

The following is a list of just a few important tips to keep in mind the next time you go shopping for tile.

Budget and Price Point

If you’re on a tight budget and the tile project isn’t that big, then I suggest going to a tile outlet store. They usually have pretty good deals at rock bottom discount prices.

However, the low prices may come with a slight risk. Although all tile is never absolutely perfect, the discounted tile may not be of great quality at all. Just be sure to look through a few of them to make sure that you’re happy with what you’re purchasing.

If price isn’t much of a factor when selecting your tile, then continue reading…

Quantity

If you need quite a bit of tile for your project, most likely it might have to be ordered in advance directly from the manufacturer. This is something that should be considered when planning your renovation project, especially if there are deadlines to meet.

If you really don’t need much tile, then a discount outlet tile supply store could be a good place to start shopping.

If you just need a few pieces, then your closest home improvement store would be just fine. Just keep in mind that they are kind of like the middle man, so their prices will most likely be a little higher than normal. Unless you have an account with them and can get a discount, or even shop through their clearance items.

The thing is, nearly every type of tile eventually is discontinued in production. But the bargain tile outlets usually only carry a limited supply of most of their tile. Often times, what they currently have in stock is all that they have. Sometimes the sales reps don’t know what they’ll be receiving in their next shipment.So you might want to buy everything they have already in stock if you are considering using it at some point for a larger project.

Be sure to ask the sales representative how much they have. If you’re lucky, they might even be able to order more for you.

Types Of Tile

You can find just about any and every type of tile at just about any supply store. The most common tiles for the do-it-yourself handyman can be found down at your local home improvement store, at places like Home Depot and Lowes.

But the best places to shop for new production arrivals and high end quality brands would be at the well known popular supply stores, such as Bedrosians Tile & Stone or Arizona Tile just to name a couple of favorites.

Here’s a list of the types of tile that we can install for you.

Quality Tile Shopping Tips

We all want high quality products, right? It definitely helps to have quality tile to acquire a great looking and functional tile installation for your beautiful home.

You can only do so much with crappy tile. Trust me. A bad batch of tile can be slightly different in size, making it very difficult to line up straight. We’ve also been forced to work with tiles warped so bad that they couldn’t be installed flat no matter what.

You get what you pay for!

Important Tile Shopping Tip

ALWAYS get more tile than you think that you might need. The bigger the job, the more you’ll want to get. A general rule of thumb is to buy 5%-10% square feet extra on top of the square footage area to be tiled.

This helps to account for any manufacturing flaws, broken tiles during shipping and transportation, and waste accrued from cutting down tiles to fit around the perimeter of any objects during the installation process.

It’s a good idea to keep a few extra tiles on hand well after the installation has been completed. You just never know if you’ll ever need to replace any tiles that might have been flawed, chipped, broken, set too high, low, out of alignment, poorly bonded, or whatever else.

What To Do With Left Over Tile

If you bought way too much, no need to worry. You should be able to return it for your money back as long as you’ve kept the receipt.

No receipt, you still should be able to return it for store credit. I know that doesn’t always sound as good as getting your money back, but it’s definitely better than being stuck with a bunch of extra left over tiles that you have no intentions on using.

I have found that most stores prefer all returned products to be in their original boxes and packaging. Just keep that in mind before you decide to jump the gun and unbox every piece of tile during your next tile installation project.

If returning the extra products isn’t possible, you can consider selling them at a yard sale or on an online auction shopping site.