Finding matching tiles

[jpjeffery]

About five years ago Moben fitted us a new kitchen. The new (floor level) cupboards aren't as deep (front to back) as the old ones, which isn't an issue in itself, except that we discovered that the floor tiles don't go all the way to the walls, which means the floor drops a centimetre or two or three or maybe four, leaving an unsightly gap between the tiles and the new cupboards.

The feet of these cupboards are resting on the bare cement that's between the tiles and the walls, with the help of some spare bits of chip board.

My question is (and I can post photos if it helps), where can we get matching replacements for the tiles in order to at least make the space to the kick boards look good (at the moment we've brought the kick boards forwards to cover this gap, but it just doesn't look right. Also, once (if!) we find the extra tiles, how much of a task is it to lay them nice and flat?

[Timllfixit]

Installing the kitchen and then tiling up to the units seems to be common for the "trade" these days, but I think it's a daft way of doing things. There's a lot of cutting involved and any spills or water can get under the tiles from leaking washing machines etc.as there will be an unavoidable gap and of course, as you have found when the units are replaced there are likely to be gaps left!
IMHO there is no excuse (yeah maybe it's a bit cheaper) as the unit heights can be adjusted to account for the height of the tiles.
I always keep some spare tiles(these can be sit under units and won't be seen once the kick rails are fitted )anyway in case of breakages.
There's probably some straightforward, (and probably sensible once explained) trade reason why they all seem to do it, but I can't see it myself. I suppose you have to consider which will be replaced first, the tiles or the units.

Laying the odd tile isn't difficult(hey even I can do it-and it even looks reasonable), provided the floor is OK, the trickiest part for the inexperienced is probably marking out and cutting. You'll need a spirit level.

There are loads of helpful videos on u tube

[jpjeffery]

I think I didn't make clear that the tiles were not put in by Moben, but were already there and left in situ because we quite like them.

The kitchen floor tiles, and probably the old units, would have been installed by the previous-and-one owner (i.e. before the people we bought the house from), and he did an awful lot of 'funny' things around the whole house (e.g. supplying electricity to lights on the ground floor from the first floor circuit, and you should see lean-to!)

The impression I get is that he laid the tiles flush to two walls, but short - and unevenly - of the other two walls, but enough to hide under the units, then built the kitchen units.

As an aside, quite why Moben didn't point out that the new units wouldn't cover the gap I just don't understand. Not that I was expecting them to know before they started, but they must have twigged at SOME point during the build that there'd be an unsightly gap, in which case "We'd better mention this to the customer before we carry on to see what they want to do about it...".

Anyway, I've been searching the internet for suppliers of floor tiles, and have found many, but not any that have tiles that match what we have. It's all very frustrating, because this little project all hinges on getting matching tiles. It doesn't matter how easy laying the damn things is if I can't get hold of them!

[wine~o]

Pics of the existing tiles ? (including sizes)

Oh and don't blame Moben, they are there to do a job on a price...

[jpjeffery]

Pics of the existing tiles ? (including sizes)

Will do as soon as either I get home, or after my daughter sends me one when she gets home from school.

[wine~o]

Sorry forgot my manners...

[jpjeffery]

Thank you for the welcome.

The nearly-17-yr-old has come up trumps. The tiles are 9.5" square. One of these links to the photo she sent me should work.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e0urx96q62jwm ... s.jpg?dl=0

...except that it seems I'm too new to post links, so you'll have to cut and paste.

[wine~o]

Thank you for the welcome.

The nearly-17-yr-old has come up trumps. The tiles are 9.5" square. One of these links to the photo she sent me should work.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e0urx96q62jwm ... s.jpg?dl=0

...except that it seems I'm too new to post links, so you'll have to cut and paste.

Or just quote you... and then do this...

[jpjeffery]

Hey! That's my tile!

[jpjeffery]

Well, this thread has gone quiet, so I'm beginning to wonder if finding these tiles is even possible.
:-(

[big-all]

can you not rob tiles from from somwhere else like a box room ??
thats assuming they are not held down with cement ??

[wine~o]

Well, this thread has gone quiet, so I'm beginning to wonder if finding these tiles is even possible.
:-(

Don't give up, find any local independent tile retailers/wholesalers, take a pic with you, they may be able to find you a very near match.....

[jpjeffery]

can you not rob tiles from from somwhere else like a box room ??

No, the kitchen is the only place with these tiles. There's a very very slim chance that the tool shed has some spares in it, I suppose, but since there are those gaps in the kitchen floor I really don't think it likely.

[jpjeffery]

Don't give up, find any local independent tile retailers/wholesalers, take a pic with you, they may be able to find you a very near match.....

Indeed, I've not found any indies yet though, just the usual Topps Tiles and so on.

[dewaltdisney]

These will be hard to match and I think you need to start thinking of Plan B. The options uu have are making good with cheap tiles that bring it level and the having a vinyl floor laid or rip it up and lay a new floor.

You might think it will be a hard job to take the tiles up but you could buy a cheap SDS drill from Screwfix and a wide chisel blade to chop the tiles off. With the right tools you will find it not as difficult as you might think. This is the sort of drill, you turn off the rotary action and just use the hammer function : http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb278s ... 240v/97533 and this http://www.screwfix.com/p/armeg-sds-plu ... tid=180992.

Good luck

DWD