Picking out tile? Learn from my mistakes.
A long tale of confusion, loss, and eventual redemption...
Many years ago my (now late) DH and I had a big addition put on our house, which included a mudroom. In the tile shop, DH found a sample board and tile that we both loved so we chose that. See below for the variation difference in the sample board vs the install. We grew to love it, but: if manufacturers think it looks best as shown in the sample board... why not sell it that way? Conversely, if they think the product is beautiful as is, why not show install pictures that are more representative of the actual product?
So you may think, hey chicagoans, I bet you learned a lesson from that! Well, apparently not. Fast forward to this year, when I purchased a different home and set on a remodel journey. My SO and I visited Artistic Tile at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago to look at options for a fireplace surround. We told the sales person we wanted something off white with some texture, no veining. He showed us a beautiful big sample tile - all white, cool texture - and gave us a small sample and a tear sheet with the image below. Nice, right?
This tile was on backorder for a few months, so we carried that sample around when selecting wall paint, an area rug, stone for the hearth, etc. We were so excited when the tile finally arrived from Turkey via NJ. Here are some examples of what we got:
Ugh! Not at all like the marketing photos and nothing like we saw in the showroom. My bad, because I didn't read flip side of the tear sheet on their website that showed a variation level of V3. But also, their bad, because we told the sales person 'off white, textured, no veining' and this is what we were shown. Again: if manufacturers think it looks best as shown in the sample board... why not sell it that way? Conversely, if they think the product is beautiful as is, why not show install pictures that are more representative of the actual product?
To Artistic Tile's credit, they did let me return it (after several conversations about 'variation being part of the beauty of natural stone' etc.) However, I could not return the "custom matched grout" or get credit for the $60ish dollars to ship it. That turned out to be Mapei Avalanche, which is available pretty much everywhere you can find tile. Also, I had to eat the original tile shipping cost ($250+) and the additional "in home delivery" cost ($200... to carry it from their van into the garage, 3 feet away from where they parked.) Finally, I paid $350 for "white glove service" to ship it back... and according to my contact nearly all the tiles arrived broken. (Note: that was NOT on my watch! We packed it up very carefully, in the same packaging in which we received it, and taped the boxes even more securely than when we got them.) Again, to their credit, they refunded me for the tiles.
All told, I'm out about $1000. So please - learn from my mistake!
- Be very skeptical of the install pictures shown in the tile marketing sheets and online.
- Always look for the variation level; it's V1 - V4, with V4 being the most.
- Some tile sites don't show the variation level. Email their customer service if you can't find it.
- Don't rely on a single sample tile; if you can, buy a whole box and lay them out to see the variation.
- Always check for the return policy.
- ETA: If you want less variation, you may have better luck with ceramic and porcelain tiles. Our original tile (that turned out unlovely) was a textured marble.
Ok, hopefully I learned my lesson! But you may be wondering: hey chicagoans, what about that redemption you mentioned?
Well, I was able to use the 'custom' grout for my new install. Yay! And we ultimately found tile that we like even better, for much less money, available only a few miles from home! Not only that, but we were able to return an unopened box, no questions asked, and of course we just drove it there so no shipping cost. Here's our install, just done this week. We love it!
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2 years agoAdding one more comment ... sometimes we trust more when we go to a high end store or order an expensive and/or custom product, but those can sometimes be the less reliable/consistent options.
In my previous house I ordered an expensive metallic hide to upholster a bench in my bedroom. The color of the 3" x 3" hide samples was a perfect beige/gold. This is what I got when I opened the box ...
See the sample sitting on the hide I received ... white/gold is not the same as beige/gold!
They took it back, but how did that even leave their workshop? Their sample boards had those as two completely different colors. They still said it was within natural variations, but did give a full refund. I didn't trust that a reorder would be beige/gold, so I took the refund and ordered something else.
chicagoans thanked chispa- 2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
chicagoansOriginal Author