anglophilia,

I'm looking for some tile for my jack and Jill bath shower at around 2.00 a square foot. I want to get this gorgeous extremely expensive tile for my kitchen backsplash so I'm trying to stretch my dollar from the Tile bar.

I purchased this tile right here from Houzz, for my laundry room and Butler Pantry, it too was a bit over budget, but I couldn't resist! So now I need to make up those extra dollars as well.

Chispa,

i'm building a new home and already way way over budget, when building you reach a point where the well is dry, no more money no more pennies to pinch. So now I must do some leg work, get creative ask questions!

If I could just save a couple more pennies then I wouldn't be asking, right!

Just remember its harder to remove, than to install.....................................

Based on that, divide the cost by the potential length of stay in your home , in YEARS.

mommyniki,

Thank you for that information, I just google and I have a store 2.5 hours away but might be worth the trip!

I have bought tile at local tile stores, big box stores, Habitat for Humanity Restore, Floor & Decor, and even the occasional building supply auction. Just a word of caution, some of the stuff at Floor & Decor is great; some of it is dicey with a lot of imperfections.

Floor & Decor buys in bulk and a lot of their products aren't as good as they claim. They do have neat decos but buyer beware.

People may hate this suggestion on this board, but Home Depot has a really good selection on their website with great prices. And free delivery to the store near you.

They of course have cheap brands but they also have most major brands.

I'm in the same situation, major cost overruns have made me get creative to save a few grand on tiling, which can be easily get insanely expensive.

Home depot sells both Marazzi and Dal Tile products but these are not the same quality products you would purchase from a store front as myself who work direct with Marazzi and Dal Tile. The products purchased through home depot are a much lesser quality, hence the sales they have all the time.

Cinar, you are saying that the exact same dal tile with the same model number and specs is a cheaper made version when bought at home Depot vs a flooring store?

I don't think I buy that...

You will not find the same tile at home depot and at dal tile. The product made for home depot is only sold to home depot and is a lesser quality than the products a showroom as myself hold from dal tile.

Sorry but that just is not accurate.

Same goes for marazzi products sold through home depot. Home depot holds the lesser quality product.

I've only been in this business for 30+ yrs, sure, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

The only reason why home depot and lowes have both marazzi and dal tile products is because mohawk bought them out. Mohawk sells to any and every one. The products made for these companies are not made at the same plants that stock marazzi and dal tile.

Another point to keep in mind. When you purchase tile at a box store you have narrowed your availability of quality installers. Many including myself will never use box store tile. Which ones are lesser quality? Who knows. I know for fact many are.

Creative: that is interesting. For example, if I bought the same box of Dal Tile Rittenhouse 3x6 Arctic white tile for a subway wall tile installation in a bathroom from HD and a box via my local flooring shop and asked you to install both, you would refuse because you wouldn't know which box was resold by HD?

This photo taken at the box store a week ago. Notice the huge 3/8" gap at the opposite end of the tile as I squeeze one end together. There would not be a gap if they were flat. I'll bet you won't find this low quality at Cinar Interiors.

Karl that is correct. You may move on to the next installer. Qualified installers are backed up with work. Why waste time with any questionable project/material.

Any cheap box outlet IF MATCHING LOTS DON'T MATTER.

For a Jack and Jill bathroom, I would go with white subway tile. It can be bought at any Big Box store and is cheap. It's classic and it will go with anything. It will allow any owner to paint/paper the walls to his own taste. Easy, peesy...

The difference is the Daltile that is sold to smaller stores is first quality with a low cull rate. Those sold to the big box stores have a higher cull rate. So while maybe 5 in 100 tiles are bad or slightly off from the better retailer, the cull rate for a big box store like HD can be as high as 30 out of 100. Hence the reason quality tile installers like Creative don't want to work with tile from the big box stores.

Cheap tile costs way more in labor to install. Seconds retailers like Floor and Decor make their living off of cheepchinesecrapola and small discontinued lots from second quality runs from major retailers.

The most important part of this equation hasn’t even been talked about. And that is your fully licensed and insured tile contractor and what methodology of waterproofing he will use.

Penny wise and pound foolish to worry about lipstick when there’s a pig underneath it.

Tina, Sophie brings up a good point. Food for thought. To purchase cheap tile and then expect to find a qualified tile setter that has the knowledge to properly waterproof the shower may be more difficult as I mentioned above. What's behind the tile is much more important than the tile surface you see. Perhaps consider doing the kitchen splash now. Research and wait until the appropriate funds are available for a professional shower installation.

I bought some of my tile from South Cypress, online. I highly recommend their professionalism and the quality of their tile. And their customer support was top notch. They carry a good price range, and I found for a given price, their quality beat most things I found locally.

One serious caveat: NOTHING BUT NOTHING looks the same on a computer monitor as in person. You will likely go through a LOT of samples. Which is why I only ended up purchasing my kitchen floor tile and my master bath floor tile from them - but I will note both of those tiles are hands above in quality than any of the rest of my tile. Despite all my tile being in the same price ballpark.

creative-tile-eastern- and Sophie,

Who said I don't have a great installer, I'm building a custom home with a well known industry tile installer. I hear from the boutique tile shops around here, he is one of the best in area. Also my builder has to approve my tile before I can even purchase it, they won't install junk in their homes.

Hey, when someone asks advice about cost effective savings it doesn't always have to equate to cheap or junky items. Sometimes it is just looking for a good value, or stretching your dollar. I didn't get to build a beautiful custom home because I throw money around!

So what waterproofing system does he use?

I actually used Kathy-merritt1 's advice this afternoon went to the tile shop my builder recomended it is only open to the trade and asked if they had any discounted tile, and guess what. I found my master bathroom tile at $3.79 a square ft. Beautiful tile, just on sale because they made it clear to me that they only have what's in stock left.

So thanks again Houzzer /kathy-merritt1

She provided me with some great basic information and it worked, isn't that what's this site is about one house lover helping another!

Sophie, I don't know. All I know is my material budget includes grout, waterproofing and backer board. Yes I have no idea what backerboard is . However I have a builder and a site contractor and for you I will ask what type of system do they use, because I know you post a lot and are very helpful and knowledgeable when it comes to this house site.

Now, I do know a little bit on what type of water proofing they did outside my home for the basement walls because we finished 1500 feet of the basement and were worried about water, but that is a completely different post.

Sophie,

My builders pretty good his garages are insulated, have drains and hot and cold water and that is basic standard for him. Now if you want a whole tiled dog or cat washing station, well that's an upgrade and you need tile, hence my tile search.

creative-tile-eastern-CT,

Thank you for the photo, that is very helpful. While I did get info to check tile ratings and wear, absorption, thickness etc, no one said hey check if they are flush with each other. Good point

I would like to use this tile for my kitchen backsplash however......is this just designer tile or is it really good tile....this is also the reason why I am trying to find inexpensive tile for the other locations in my home...this tile took all my pennies! But we love what we ❤️

https://tilebar.com/highland-marrakesh-white-thassos-with-shell.html

Waterproofing is a must have conversation. Verify trust.

Whew for a second there I thought this whole thread was gonna combust

Lol... tundra-finish-works-llc, and yes I truly laughed out loud, good one....hey I'm always up for a good discussion!!

I love that marble backsplash. I have it in my idea book. Its eye candy so its good for you, but bad for your teeth.

Tina, Of course look for cost effective ways to accomplish your goals. Here's how we work to be sure that our customers receive what they pay for: We will suggest various quality tile suppliers and will either meet you there with plans and provide consult, or set up an appointment with a designer we trust at the showroom, and they will send us your various selections after you meet (and then we consult with supplier regarding pricing, availability, lead time, finishing pieces that may be needed but that the customer is unaware of, etc. etc.. )You will not pay us for our time if we do your installation. And then... Retail price is, say $10/s.f. Our trade price is $6.70/s.f. (varies with suppliers). We measure and consider the many things that are required to assure proper coverage and then charge you $7.70/s.f. and order the tile for you (after you pay the invoice we give you as we don't want to own your tile), and then we track that order, pay the invoice from tile supplier promptly, and handle any issues with the tile itself that may arise (something broken, not right shade...??.).Pick it up, inspect it, and deliver to your home. We have the relationships with the suppliers and they will respond to our needs because of those relationships. And yes, if a potential client tells us they are getting their own tile, we have years of experience to guide us. Just adding to the "discussion" from inside the real world. Hope that's helpful.

Wow Tina, nice backsplash! This isn't the typical thread I expected.... and you've done your homework on the installation contractor. Please post photos of the backsplash when completed.

Wow, that would be a very elegant backsplash. Love products as those...just hate the pricing. Will need a second mortgage just to cover the cost of the entire backsplash. Thasos white marble is some of the purest white marble available, great product. The shell inlay (mounted atop of porcelain) is also very neat and very expensive. This is a designer tile. The quality of the product is as good as it is installed. One thing for sure, you'll have a very unique (and the neatest) backsplash around.

Interesting question and comments...but everytime I look at the title, it's like someone scraping their fingernails over a blackboard...who remembers that?

Hi Tina,

We got our subway tile and floor tile from a private mom/pop shop that has been around forever.

Remember the opening credits of the Sopranos? When Tony drove by that huge Paul Bunyan looking statue? We drove out there, the store was busy and filled with men in tool belts, the parking lot was all construction vans and pickup trucks.

We got a great deal on our beautiful high quality tiles and have no regrets.

Virgil-

You have to admit that it worked to get a lot of attention... ;-)

Hm it's nice to see another person from my home town...Boerne. Small world

/Virgil-carter-fine-art-

Virgil, stop looking...lol

Virgil is trying, but I can tell he is peeking through his fingers... ;-)

Another vote for the specialty and mom/pop stores over the big box bulk places like floor and décor or Home Depot.

Also, Cinar Interiors is 100% correct-you will not find the same quality product at home depot that you would from a marazzi/dal dealer. It's priced cheaper at HD for a reason and its bulk product. Also be aware of color matching at big box stores, you'll never know what dye lot your boxes are from. A specialty store will make sure they are purchasing your product by batch and avoid these issues.

Mohawk is a publicly traded company and is not going to manufacture two different products with the same part number. In fact, they are specifically barred from doing that.

However, they do have some leeway in how they handle lower quality items. cpartist gave a good explanation, the way most manufacturers determine quality is by a random sample of finished products, I teach a section on quality control, sample size calculations, and what happens to products that don't meet the standard.

Basically, they have to indicate second quality on the items individually or by marking the entire pallet as a lower quality, they can't just segregate it, most manufacturers will shrink wrap the pallets with a new part number on all four sides of the pallet. They can offer these lower quality items as "pallet deals" to various outlets. There are many outlets who want pallet deals and they are not limited to the big box stores, many smaller outlets love pallet deals also. In this case, the devil is in the details, these items do not have the same part number in the manufacturer's system, but the outlets may not mark them with the new part numbers. So what appears in the store as the same part number may actually not be the same part number.

To be safe, you should avoid buying in-stock items, this may include items stocked in other locations (depending on whether the big box store is ordering from the manufacturer/distributor or bringing items in from another store). Special order items will always be the same item that is distributed through any tile store (note: you still have to use part numbers). Whether or not the avoidance of in-stock items includes local tile shops is something that can only be answered on an individual shop basis. I suspect most of them are not interested in passing off seconds as first quality, but it isn't unheard of either, so you have to ask the pros in your area.

Good luck.

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ETA: Daltile appears to use printed labels, so they may actually assign every box of second quality a different part number.

Tina-How awesome you were able to find a tile you liked on sale at your installer's supplier. Amazing that the consensus is that if you splurge on a really nice tile in one space that you shouldn't save the difference on a tile at the big box store in another space. I know I will be over a normal budget on my girl's shared bathroom and also on my son's private bathroom. He wants a $300 sink....he will probably have that cheap laminate that comes on a roll. Plus side is it is easier than grout to clean! I just don't see a problem with buying some higher end items that make your heart sing and then buying some more basic items through Home Depot. Even if they are seconds. But I also buy a lot of decor and clothing at TJ Maxx. I know that those clothing items didn't make it through quality control. These are not my staple long term pieces. Often, they are my more trendy pieces. I don't see anything wrong with having high quality staple clothing pieces mixed with lower quality pieces in my wardrobe. Maybe it is because I am in the midwest, but I just don't think someone will come to my house and say "did you see that cheap Home Depot tile she used in her master bathroom?" But I will also buy 20% more than I need to, and return a few boxes of tile that didn't make it through my quality control.

B Carey....true that, i'm with you on this one!