# Cheap Lowes Ceramic Floor Tile



## n74tg (Sep 17, 2005)

Anybody got anything good or bad to say about the cheap tile Lowes has on sale right now for .79 per sq ft. The only color my store carries is Texas Beige and it doesn't look half bad.


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## Big Dave (Feb 23, 2006)

I've installed alot of it and not proud of it but you put in what the homeowner or builder wants. Buy a couple of extra boxes because I've found alot of bad tiles. Other than that no problem.

Dave.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

You get what you pay for. Your T& other M will be the same, why not install something better?


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

What exactly do you mean by "better"? It is ceramic, is is square and it lays on the floor. If Lowes wants to give it away instead of charging 50% markup, why does that make it "worse"?


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## DecksEtc (Oct 27, 2004)

Tscarborough said:


> What exactly do you mean by "better"? It is ceramic, is is square and it lays on the floor. If Lowes wants to give it away instead of charging 50% markup, why does that make it "worse"?


Keep in mind, like all building materials, it's cheaper for a reason. We don't have Lowes here in Canada but I see the same thing, especially in the spring, at HD. I'm no tile expert but there's a reason that some ceramic tiles cost more than others.


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## 747 (Jan 21, 2005)

Hey hot springs this if off topic but i just wanted to say that McClards Barbeque restaurant in hotsprings is overrated in my oppion. I would only give it somewhere between two and three stars.


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## DecksEtc (Oct 27, 2004)

Way, way fftopic:


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

I do know how tile are manufactured and I can tell you that so long as it reaches a sufficient temperature to vitrify the tile, there is no difference in the final product. Any difference in price is due to markup and overhead, not quality.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Another drunk pilot. :laughing: 

Ts, you don't know all that much. The glazing process can be single, double or triple. Then we can step up to porceline tile.


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

I will freely admit that I don't know much, but I will also submit that it is a floor tile, and that other than bragging rights, a cheap ass ceramic tile will perform as well as an expensive one for 99% of all applications.


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## Jess (Jan 26, 2006)

He couldn't set tile for me - but I could use another good mason. Teet, lets just keep him outta tha keechen. Is that the same as all those CMU that come from a "manufacturing" process ??????????????


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

Yes, CMU are the same. So long as the sizing is maintained, then there is no difference between product. Service, on the other hand is a different issue.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Same old saw, you get what you pay for.

Cheap tile looks cheap and wears cheap.


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

A vitrified tile is not going to wear in it's lifetime. Cheap looking is in the eye of the beholder, and some of the most expensive tile I have seen looked like crap to me.


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

Ugh, I hate cheap tile, and cheap to me is anything less than $3.00 a square foot wholesale pricing.

.79 cent tile even with 50% mark-up is still $1.18 tile, I would shudder at the thought of having to work with that stuff and even worse having to right the whole job off as a waste of time because of how generic and bland it is going to turn out.

Why do I hate cheap tile - _let me count the ways..._

Looks cheap, ugly screen printed patterns that look like the dot pattern of a newspaper, or bland washed out generic nothingness...

Having to do cuts over and over again because as always in the last 10 seconds of a complicated cut of 5 minutes the crap is going to chip, split or crack on you.

Bad consistancy of colors from box to box even in the same die lot.

Bad consistancy of sizes.

All those dam edge chips that you miss untill the next day when you are grouting it.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is as stated, you always get what you pay for.


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## DecksEtc (Oct 27, 2004)

Mike Finley said:


> Ugh, I hate cheap tile, and cheap to me is anything less than $3.00 a square foot wholesale pricing.
> 
> .79 cent tile even with 50% mark-up is still $1.18 tile, I would shudder at the thought of having to work with that stuff and even worse having to right the whole job off as a waste of time because of how generic and bland it is going to turn out.
> 
> ...


Just to add to Mike's post...

Do you really think those $.79 tiles are going to be close to consistant in their thickness? And, I am aware that not even the more expensive tiles are all the same thickness but they're a he!! of a lot closer than cheap tiles.

How many referrals do you think you're going to get when people walk in and see the crappy tiles. Trust me, they're not going to see the quality of the work you did. They'll only see the sh!tty tiles.

Cheap Tiles = Cheap Results


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## Gordo (Feb 21, 2006)

Tscarborough said:


> I will freely admit that I don't know much, but I will also submit that it is a floor tile, and that other than bragging rights, a cheap ass ceramic tile will perform as well as an expensive one for 99% of all applications.


WOw. Are you really sure about that?


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## copusbuilder (Nov 8, 2005)

For a guy that doesn't know much you sure seem to know a lot 

Lowes and Home Depots tile is notorious for being random sized. Like mentioned the edges chip, they crak in the box, Thickness varies and that's all that comes to mind now.

I do remember my old German tile setter having a conversation with a customer about Lowes tile. 
The customer wanted it and he refused to install it. 
Finally he cracked the Lowes tile and the Master Tile products and said " tile is like meat it needs to be cooled" 
The Lowes tile was rare in appearance compared to the other.

It made the customer speechless and gave me butterflies watching it......ahhh priceless.

Now I know when I hire illegals to do my gardening there is no difference between them and a landscaper because a damned marigold in soil is a marigold in soil:jester:


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## snapper21 (Mar 13, 2006)

If you get that tile be sure you don't drop anything solid on it, and choose a random pattern or your grout lines will differ in width if you take the time to keep them in line. Don't think about using spacers if you have a larger area than a closet.
My brother didn't listen to me and went cheapo. His kid dropped something on it, cracked off a corner and the next day he was at the doggie emergency room because his dalmation slit it's paw wide open on it.


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

snapper21 said:


> If you get that tile be sure you don't drop anything solid on it, and choose a random pattern or your grout lines will differ in width if you take the time to keep them in line. Don't think about using spacers if you have a larger area than a closet.
> My brother didn't listen to me and went cheapo. His kid dropped something on it, cracked off a corner and the next day he was at the doggie emergency room because his dalmation slit it's paw wide open on it.


That's another good point about that cheap fired ceramic tile.

How much fun is it to drill into a piece of it after you have it layed, grouted sealed and are onto the final steps of your job only to have it chip and crack! 

Ohhhh, I get all tinggly just dreaming about having to chip it out, reset and regrout, reseal all because I am working with cheap tile! There goes at least 1-2 hours of your day ~:clap: 


I say leave that stuff for what it is for - homeowners that want a bargain and won't lay it worth a damn anyways and won't know the difference anyways. If you are a professional you need professional grade materials in order to achieve professional grade results- what's next using craftsmen tools on the job...


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

We have done large and small jobs with both cheap tile and high dollar stuff...I asked my guy who does tile (very talented) what he thought, and as a setter, his opinion wasn't so much about the cheap vs. expensive as the flatness of the tile. We have yet to see many problems with the cheaper tile, but we have had hell with high dollar 18 X 18 tile that had a slight cup to it. 

Since I am building 2 spec homes now that we will cut the floor with a concrete saw for grout lines and stain the concrete, I hope to avoid tile for awhile.


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## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

Ahh yeah....acid stain is an awesome way to finish flooring. I say why bother with tile when you can do this. I just don't care for cutting lines. Try taping them off with 1/4" tape, then staining. Makes for a cool effect, saves on the mess. You can do almost any design you want this way.


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

This is another learning experience for me. I went into the stamp store awhile back to get a stencil for a concrete tile look for a customer, and they really wanted me to sign up for there in store training courses...ok, fine...but they wanted big bucks, so I elected to glean all the information I could get without paying for it, and backed into decorative concrete and countertops. I have never done a stained floor, and I have seen several different ways to do it. The reason i think I will cut the floor is to get the actual grout lines..since I don't like the taped look that I have seen, but it may not be the best examply either. One of the sellers in Concrete Concepts Magazine lists a saw blade that chamfers the cut, and I think this would give great definition......so we will see.


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

joasis said:


> We have done large and small jobs with both cheap tile and high dollar stuff...I asked my guy who does tile (very talented) what he thought, and as a setter, his opinion wasn't so much about the cheap vs. expensive as the flatness of the tile. We have yet to see many problems with the cheaper tile, but we have had hell with high dollar 18 X 18 tile that had a slight cup to it.
> 
> Since I am building 2 spec homes now that we will cut the floor with a concrete saw for grout lines and stain the concrete, I hope to avoid tile for awhile.


What you are seeing is the amplification of the problems with cheap tile. The larger the tile the more pronounced the problems become. What might be a minor or un-noticible issue with a 4x4 tile now becomes very blatant with an 18x18 version of it. 

Long ago I had a customer who for some reason picked out 3 out of her 4 different tiles she needed from my normal supplier and 1 of the 4 from some discount place. Before the job started I explained to her about who no warranty would be given on her supplied materials and she would be responsible for any issues if they developed as a result of her tile. The tile she supplied was 18x18 and turned out to be not very consistant in size. She was also responsible for picking up her discount tile and delivering it to the job site. She got so nervous about the possiblility of being responsible for it that she ordered 25% extra just because she was unable to determine if she had enough of not. (There went some of her savings) She also must have about killed herself stacking those boxes. 18x18s are extremely heavy.

Anyways long story short - her tile sucked, the job suffered and she was upset over the imperfections that resulted. To make it even worse her friend (an engineer of course) told her that it was standard procedure for us to pick through her tile boxes and avoid any imperfect tile. YEAH RIGHT! 

Anyways - it becomes a losing proposition quickly, we can't satisfy a customer because of her inferior product. The difference she saved on her tile on a $6500 job was less than $90.00. So $90 ruined the entire experience for her. 99% of the rest of the job was perfect but she just couldn't stop dwelling on the crap tile and what it looked like.

That's why now we refuse installing anything but tile from our suppliers. I don't want to take the chance of $90 ruining a perfectly good customer relationship.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Down here in the land of sand, cheap tile shows its head quickly.


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

Well, I will bow to more experienced hands. I have only done 5 tile jobs for a total of about 4000 SqFt, 2 of which were Saltillo (2500 SqFt), one which was vitrified non-ceramic (1000 Sft) and 2 smaller ones with cheap ass ceramic tile and no issues. In fact, on one of the ceramic jobs, I found an identical tile at the HD that my wife had picked at an upscale tile store. Tile store price: 2.49$ SqFt, HD price: 1.29$ SqFt (hence my markup statement, and I meant to type 150% markup).

All of my tile work has been for myself or family, since that isn't what I do for a living.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

Your honesty is appreciated. The Salito tile seems cheap upfront but require a lot of work to set properly.


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## Blackhawk (Nov 12, 2005)

people in these parts like to get there own tile from lowes and HD. sometimes i get hairline cracks in one that u cant see till you are grouting talk about ruin yourday.and last job i notice some slight differences in tile size but still it goes on and on so i figure for it.. all i can say is get in the sunlight and check each tile closely and there is usally a lotta broken tiles in the boxes..maybe someday ill get to work with some really nice stuff..


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## wackman (Nov 14, 2005)

joasis said:


> Since I am building 2 spec homes now that we will cut the floor with a concrete saw for grout lines and stain the concrete, I hope to avoid tile for awhile.


This is a new idea to me. What kind of price difference is there compared to some higher end tile? Is it mainly for floors, countertops or both? When you're using it for the floors, what's the difference for floor prep/framing? Or is it only for slab work? If you can use it over framed wood floors does it go so far as to change your floor engineering? How thick is this concrete floor? 

I'm picking the specifications for one of my specs right now and I might want to try this in the master bath, which is on the second floor.

Any info or links would be appreciated, thanks guys.:notworthy 

Wack


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Don't kow how that would work for you, but my spec homes are slab, single story, and we are doing these two with acid stained concrete throughout....The cost in T&M is about $600 for 1250 sq/ft. I would not do it for a customer for anything close to that number, that is my cost for getting this done....When we stamp concrete, we can do it on our spec homes way cheaper then a customer's home also...but everytime someone sees it, we get a job or two.


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## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

Tscarborough said:


> Well, I will bow to more experienced hands. I have only done 5 tile jobs for a total of about 4000 SqFt, 2 of which were Saltillo (2500 SqFt), one which was vitrified non-ceramic (1000 Sft) and 2 smaller ones with cheap ass ceramic tile and no issues. In fact, on one of the ceramic jobs, I found an identical tile at the HD that my wife had picked at an upscale tile store. Tile store price: 2.49$ SqFt, HD price: 1.29$ SqFt (hence my markup statement, and I meant to type 150% markup).
> 
> All of my tile work has been for myself or family, since that isn't what I do for a living.


An easy solution for you would be to get a relationship with a tile wholesaler, then you can buy higher quality tile for the price you are paying for that cheap tile on sale.


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## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

*stained concrete*

i worked on a house in cherokee oklahoma and they had the stained fllor in the living room and kitchen area.the floor was cut in 24x24 digaonal.along with a border.it looked very good,and i think the cut joints added to the floor.with out it,you would have a colored concrete floor.which is what you have anyway,but it doesnt look like it.also in the entry to the house a roping horse and rider was stained into the concrete.looked really awesome.on another house in the same town,the same concrete man used a plank stamp on the back patio and then stained it to look like a wood deck.i was not impressed with this application.
on cheap lowes tile,i have laid quit a bit of it for customers,and it seems to me to lay alright and when grouted it looks as good as higher dollar tile.the difference i have found is that it seems to be a thinner tile,and also more fragile.i have opened boxes of it with close to half the tile broken,and the lowes in enid wont replace it so unless you can use those broken pieces for cuts,your out that money.and all of a sudden your cheap tile isnt so cheap.


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Off all the stamps we can get, the plank look doesn't appeal to me either. I just bought a set of ashler slate stamps...looking forwad to breaking them in. The job on the pool deck we did with the paper stencil placed on the concrete before the color was sprinkled on, then bullfloated...was neat. We lifted the stencils, and the grout lines were 3/8 deep or so, and you cannot tell it from mexican tile, unless you really look close. The problem with paper stencils is you nearly have to be clear on both sides of the form to pull the stencil and lay it...it is nearly impossible to work to a blind wall...we had to plank over window ledges, ect. to get it down..a real pita job. 

I want to learn more about the design process for acid staining....kinda like ICF homes, I think it is the future of custom work and is getting to be very acceptable.


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