Subway Tile-A step up from Daltile,a step down fr Subway Ceramics
beantownrenovator
15 years ago
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dutchy7
15 years agobeantownrenovator
15 years agoRelated Discussions
white subway tile - where did you buy yours??
Comments (17)Missleah, I just went through the same thing. Check the thread titled "for those of you with white cabinets and white subway tiles..." I was in despair because I held up a (very) white subway tile we had used to tile the bathrooms next to our white-until-you-see-it-against-something-really-white cabinet door sample. It looked terrible. Little did I know there were many options out there. Luckily a lot of people on this forum came to the rescue with suggestions of tile companies with different shades of white. So far, I have gotten samples of Anchor Bay and Subway Ceramics; both have off-white tiles that look great with our cabinet. I also discovered that our local tile shop carries Irongate (Meredith) tiles; they have a crackle that goes well with our cabinets and some nice decoratives for a backsplash. Samples are definitely the way to go....See MoreSubway tile - any reason to use higher end tile?
Comments (35)kgolby, sorry I didn't mean to lump you in with the other comment, I realized they were separate. mpagmom, I was probably over reacting being sick and exhausted... and having just recently spend hours deciding to go with tile instead of beadboard after finding the affordable 23 cents/tile ($1.80/sq ft) HD and Lowes tile, I was a bit dismayed to hear it called horrible! I am sure it would not work out for every kitchen - the HD tile has a definite warm tone to it, while the Lowes product at the same price point is a purer white. With these 2 choices, probably one or the other would work for most kitchens. If your backsplash area is large like mine, the difference between $1.80 and $10/sq ft is $100 vs $500, which is the entire budget for my kitchen facelift! This post was edited by tinan on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 23:53...See Morebacksplash mainentance issues with mini subway tiles or'bullet' m
Comments (4)My opinions regarding this topic are reflective of both my tile setting experience as well as being a savvy homeowner that prefers not to be owned by the materials I select. Earlier on in my career I have installed quite a few tumbled stone backsplashes and showers for family, friends and customers, ranging from 12x12 to smaller ½”x ½” mosaics. Regardless of the size of the tiles most applications wear similarly, yes, grout being the most susceptible to staining you can argue that; more grout more problems, right? Truth is from the mid 90’s on most of our work included some sort of mosaic tumbled or textured natural stone mixed with different colored glass tiles. With regards to staining or difficulties in maintaining I have not experience any issues that I can recall. Once properly sealed, tumbled stone will provide years of durable service-providing you follow some simple care and maintenance steps. For starters I suggest using a brand name water based sealer and wiping up spills and splatter from behind the stove within a reasonable amount of time. (Define a reasonable amount of time…. Sometime after you’re done eating and before you go to bed!) I prefer water based sealers over solvents for a few reasons, most importantly the toxic fumes and VOCs and the other is I find the larger molecule formulation fill the larger pores in the grout better compared to the thinner solvent based structure. As mentioned prior, all natural stones and grouts will patina over time (unless you decide to use epoxy grouts). Sealing natural stone backsplashes in any pattern will not stop the natural patina; it will only help keep foods and beverage stains out between cleaning or before it permeates the surface. Keeping stains out is not that difficult but keeping it the same color as it was when it was installed will be close to impossible. Slight discoloration is considered normal and should not be looked at as a failure of the cleaning techniques or a breakdown of the sealer. So if the look of mosaics is what you are looking for than go for it. If you are concerned with care and use and like the looks of the cream and beige tones I would recommend selecting a tumbled marble vs. tumble Limestone; the look is similar but the performance could be drastically different. However, differentiating between the two can sometimes be difficult, make sure you ask the sales person and if he/she is not sure ask them to investigate. As a rule of thumb, tumbled limestone is naturally more porous than tumbled marble. Given the natural state of porosity, it is recommended to have the installer seal the tiles prior to grouting. Pre-sealing will only help the grout installer wipe the tiles clean resulting in easier cleaner installation. It is important to seal the entire application including grout a few days after installation, while the grout may look dry after a few hours it takes a few days for the grout to cure, grouting prior to this point will not yield the same protection. I hope this helps....See Morewhite subway tile looks blue when installed
Comments (69)My house is all painted in Benjamin Moore White Dove. The rest of the house has a lot of natural light and windows, so I chose to go with white walls and then add a lot of natural greenery. The downstairs bathroom and entryway are the only two spots that don't have the same lighting due to there only being one window (go figure!). Funnily enough, one of the guest bedrooms downstairs that will use this bathroom is white (walls, bedding) with gray blue accents (throw, pillow, art, rug) and then some natural green (olive tree). The other bedroom downstairs that will use this bathroom is white with gray and beige accents and then natural green incorporated again. Hope that gives some more background on what the rest of the house looks like. It's why I was hoping to keep the walls some sort of white so that it didn't stand out too much against the rest of the house. However, given that one of the rooms downstairs already successfully incorporates the pale blue/gray theme, I think that the bathroom will tie in nicely--just need to figure out paint and will try out multiple shades before we go with anything. Will keep you posted!...See Moreedlakin
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