3 Things You Should Know Before You Buy Tile

If your reading this, you are most likely determining what type of flooring to install in your home. When picking flooring for your home, one has to consider cost/budget, layout, installation related issues, and long term into the future.

These three things, that are easily overlooked, are crucial before you buy your tile:

1. Buy extra tile

We cannot say this enough. If you pick a tile that's in stock, it's not a big deal if you run out and need to come back to get more. Plus you'll have the pleasure of seeing the smiling blonde showroom girls, and the brunette one too (let's not forget about her). But if you buy a tile that's special order and you run out, you could be looking at 1-2 weeks or even longer to get more, which can put quite a delay on your installation.

What happens if you install your tile and don't have any extra pieces when the job is done? Well this is usually what happens:

• Customer calls H. Winter & Co.


• H. Winter girl answers the phone: "H. Winter & Co., can I help you?"


• Customer: "I have this beige/tan tile, I think it's 12x12 and I need 3 pieces to replace on my shower wall. The pipe went bad behind the wall. Do you have any left? I bought it in 2001."


• H. Winter girl: "We have many beige/tan tiles, do you know what it's called?"


• Customer: "No, check under my last name, Smith."


• H. Winter girl does search under last name Smith from 2006 and finds over 100 orders with the last name Smith: "I think your going to have to come in so we can look at the tile and determine what it is."

I'm sure you can guess how this scenario works out. Customer Smith makes the drive to the showroom where he is sadly informed that his tile is discontinued and no longer available. You can imagine the headache that this causes! Save yourself the hassle and buy an extra box or two of tile and keep the extra around the house.

2. Lighting and Dye-Lots

When you take home samples of tile from our showroom, you will realize how much lighting affects the way it looks at home. Lay the tile in the space where you plan to install it and you will see how artificial light versus natural light changes the look of the tile. We can't even begin to tell you how often customers return their samples and comment on how different they look at home versus in the showroom.

Tile is made in dye-lots. If you don't buy enough tile and need to get more, you risk not being able to get more tile from the same dye-lot. If it's from a different dye-lot, the shade may be a little off and the variation and pattern could be a little different from the lot that you have. Also there can be size variations from one lot to another. When possible, always try to buy your tile from the same dye-lot. We try to avoid selling our customers mixed dye-lots.

3. Maintenance: or lack of

A tile floor such as porcelain or ceramic requires no maintenance. The thing that will cause you maintenance is the grout. We recommend using Grout Boost as an additive to mix with your grout to make it mold and mildew resistant. Plus (drum roll please) you never have to seal it! If for some reason you don't use Grout Boost with your grout and your grout needs a little TLC, we recommend using TEC's Like New Tile and Grout Cleaner. After cleaning the tile and grout, you can go back over the grout with a clear sealer to further protect it.

Never use bleach or harsh chemicals on the grout. While these products do not necessarily harm the tile, these products worsen grout issues as they break down the grout. For regular maintenance, a Swiffer wet jet works great. If your superstitious and think the Swiffer wet jet poses a threat to young children and animals, then use a light soapy water and rinse the area with warm water to clean up any soap residue.

While there's many things that go into selecting a floor, we ask you not to forget to buy extra tile, consider the lighting and dye-lot, and remember that there's no maintenance with a tile floor. Best of luck and happy tile shopping!