Tiling bathroom advice

CYZMIC

Member
Mar 9, 2006
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Does have any experience with quality of shower tile (Flooring America compared to say Home Depot)? Looking at getting a white subway tile and Home Depot's tile is roughly half the cost of tile specialty stores we've looked at. Worried though that the tile from there might not hold up as well. Any suggestions on purchasing tile would be much appreciated!

Thanks!
 

mymanfreddie

Active Member
Apr 13, 2008
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STL
Does have any experience with quality of shower tile (Flooring America compared to say Home Depot)? Looking at getting a white subway tile and Home Depot's tile is roughly half the cost of tile specialty stores we've looked at. Worried though that the tile from there might not hold up as well. Any suggestions on purchasing tile would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Have tiled 3 of our bathrooms with the standard Lowes / Home Depot selection. Tile is pretty much a commodity and I haven't seen a big difference with stuff laid.
 

Bamacyclone

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Jan 7, 2012
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Does have any experience with quality of shower tile (Flooring America compared to say Home Depot)? Looking at getting a white subway tile and Home Depot's tile is roughly half the cost of tile specialty stores we've looked at. Worried though that the tile from there might not hold up as well. Any suggestions on purchasing tile would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Quality of a tile wouldn't concern me. Limited selections were more of an issue at the big box stores.

Are you having them do the instalation? Workmanship quality has been an issue with HD for me in the past. If you're doing it yourself, or having a local installer you trust do the work, then I've have no issue with using their material.
 

Incyte

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2007
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Tile has a rating system for durability so make sure you are comparing apples to apples. I usually get my tile from the Tile Store (Urbandale maybe?) as I love their selection and they are pretty good about helping me with my questions.
 

tplumm

Active Member
Mar 3, 2010
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Ankeny
To echo bama and illustrate his point with HD. I am getting ready to move. Realtor recommended I replace a casement window that looked like it might need attention. The HD window service quoted $2500. Biesser Lumber said only the casement window that cranked open needed replacement and the solid pane window that is paired with it was in good shape.

HD had one window, top of the line Anderson which drove the cost. Didn't make any recommendations when I questioned the quote given I had done other windows in the home a few years earlier for less than half the quote.
 

ripvdub

Well-Known Member
Mar 20, 2006
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I would probably worry about the underlayment and waterproofing instead of tile.
 

AgronAlum

Well-Known Member
Jul 12, 2014
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The workmanship on the install will be much more important than the quality of the actual tile.
 

Cyclonepride

Thought Police
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Apr 11, 2006
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www.oldschoolradical.com
It depends why they are cheaper. Sometimes, they are cheaper because they buy hundreds of pallets of it. Sometimes, it's a cheaper tile, and that does matter. Cheaper tiles tend to have a larger waste factor as they chip easier when cutting. The largest question is on the accuracy of the sizing. If a tile is inaccurately sized, even a good installer will have a tough time making the final installation look good.
 

SCNCY

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Slightly off topic about HD. I had HD come and give me an estimate to add a new AC and Furnace to my house (recently purchased, not moved in yet). The key thing I want to do is move the furnace in to the attic. This would require adding a small platform in the attic and new duct work for inflow, which is currently in the floors and not the ceiling. The house is 968 sqft, no basement and just one floor. They quoted me 15k-17k for the work. To just have the furnace replaced in its current position, it was 7k. Just doing some quick searches online, a furnace would cost about 1k for something that I would need. From tplumm, it sounds like HD is expensive.

When I was looking at the house, my real estate agent had an electrician come out to look at it. He said he could do the job, roughly for 3500, including AC and Furnace. Been trying to get in contact with him again, but he has been unreliable in regards to showing up to do an estimate.
 

IAStubborn

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Aug 16, 2012
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Does have any experience with quality of shower tile (Flooring America compared to say Home Depot)? Looking at getting a white subway tile and Home Depot's tile is roughly half the cost of tile specialty stores we've looked at. Worried though that the tile from there might not hold up as well. Any suggestions on purchasing tile would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

I did mine with subway from HD 12 years ago and still in great shape. I had to get some of the custom corner pieces etc from a tile store because the had more selection for the project I was doing to transition to for tile etc. Still saved me a bunch though.
 

Cyclones_R_GR8

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Feb 10, 2007
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Slightly off topic about HD. I had HD come and give me an estimate to add a new AC and Furnace to my house (recently purchased, not moved in yet). The key thing I want to do is move the furnace in to the attic. This would require adding a small platform in the attic and new duct work for inflow, which is currently in the floors and not the ceiling. The house is 968 sqft, no basement and just one floor. They quoted me 15k-17k for the work. To just have the furnace replaced in its current position, it was 7k. Just doing some quick searches online, a furnace would cost about 1k for something that I would need. From tplumm, it sounds like HD is expensive.

When I was looking at the house, my real estate agent had an electrician come out to look at it. He said he could do the job, roughly for 3500, including AC and Furnace. Been trying to get in contact with him again, but he has been unreliable in regards to showing up to do an estimate.
Have you considered those Mitsubishi wall mounted heating and cooling units? At 968 sq feet those might work better for you. My mom had the cooling unit only models installed in the bedrooms at her house. They are practically silent and would cool the room down very quickly.
 

SCNCY

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Have you considered those Mitsubishi wall mounted heating and cooling units? At 968 sq feet those might work better for you. My mom had the cooling unit only models installed in the bedrooms at her house. They are practically silent and would cool the room down very quickly.

I have not thought about that. I have lived with a wall mount heating unit before in an apartment and don't really want to deal with it. I prefer central air. Some more information. The AC and Furnace both work fine, there is nothing wrong with it. It's just that the Furnace is in a closet in the corner of the kitchen. A couple years down the road when I remodel the kitchen I want that corner in order to have the kitchen look a little better.
 

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