Hi all, I'm at this stage of my renovation where I'm torn between the choice of tiles for my new resale flat. I opted for wood-patterned rectangular tiles for my floor. There are of course 3 major tile shops that most people go to: Lian Seng Hin, Soon Bee Huat and Hafary.

I think one of the problems with choosing rectangular wood-like tiles is that the corners may warp. In chinese, they say 砖会翘。I'm really fond of one of the tiles from Hafary, but my ID says that Hafary tiles are problematic and they tend to warp and created a lot of problem.

I personally consider the above statement an unqualified generalisation. There are many reasons tiles may warp. It doesn't mean that all tiles from a particular shop will warp, isn't it?

May I ask for you guys, do you have experience of your wood tiles warping? What is the name of your tile? How do you choose tile s that will not warp?

I have a feeling my ID wants me to get tiles specifically from Lian Seng Heng instead of Hafary because there is an internal agreement with them. I just need to verify if it is indeed true that Hafary wood grain tiles are really as problematic as my ID claims. Thanks.

Warped tiles are common, and the level of warpage is of course depending on the price and Country of Origin. In general you should expect a warpage tolerance of approx. +/-2mm for wood like tiles at 15 x 90cm. At worst case, the lippage can go as high as 4mm. To minimize this you should have a grout width of 3mm or larger, and overlap within 30% of the tile length.

I have not heard a particular agent selling worse tiles, more of the manufacturer that matters. Spain and Italy produce generally better wood-like tiles, you should select from price ranges 4.50 onward for better quality and consistency. i have friends using tiles @ 6.70/sqft and even with 2mm grout width the floor remains flat.

Edited May 28, 20188 yr by Ando Tadao

I'm eyeing on this Hafary tile that is from Italy, $4.50psf. Looks OK but my ID strongly discouraged me against all Hafary goods. I got suspicious.

So does that mean that wood like tile longer than 60cm is not encouraged?

On 5/11/2018 at 2:43 PM, Dan Wee said:

I'm eyeing on this Hafary tile that is from Italy, $4.50psf. Looks OK but my ID strongly discouraged me against all Hafary goods. I got suspicious.

So does that mean that wood like tile longer than 60cm is not encouraged?

Shorter tiles definitely yield flatter floor. But it all depends on your tolerance level.

I for one does not care too much on the lippage as long as it does not hurt my foot. But some home maker requires a penny to roll forever. 

My contractor happens to prefer Hafary as he mentioned Hafary is pretty flexible in terms of excess return but SBH not. So I think it's all about relationship than quality.

On 5/11/2018 at 2:38 PM, Ando Tadao said:

To minimize this you should have a grout width of 3mm or larger, and overlap within 30% of the tile length.

Agree with this statement. I think the minimum is a 2mm or something similar.

 

On 5/28/2018 at 3:48 PM, Ando Tadao said:

My contractor happens to prefer Hafary as he mentioned Hafary is pretty flexible in terms of excess return but SBH not. So I think it's all about relationship than quality.

Yeah. SBH got very lousy return policies. In fact, Hafary and LSH are much more systematic. I heard from my ID that he had to bring the tiles back to SBH showroom himself and made to open up the boxes of tiles and bring out piece by piece to let them inspect. Sounds dumb isn't it?