“Lovely tiles, each one different providing a host of ways to make your layout unique to your own satisfaction. Need to be handled with care because this Is a natural product and they are easy to break and chip and they are of varying thicknesses however cutting and laying them was relatively easy and once down they are just perfect for my 18th century cottage hall, full of character. The natural defects in the tiles are beautiful once I have them sealed and polished they will look as though they have been there forever.”
“The tiles look fantastic when laid. The stock I received is primarily pink, rose and purple in overall hue, rather than the more autumnal colours I was expecting, but overall the effect is stunning. The slate is quite friable, but is at the lower end of the price scale so I guess this is to be expected. However, it does make cutting very hard, and if you have intricate/small cuts, you will get frustrated. As well as the tiles varying widely in thickness, their effective depth is increased by bowing and warping within the tile, making a deep adhesive bed necessary; this has considerably increased the weight of the floor, and needs to be taken into account in floor preparation. The tiles’ sides’ lengths vary in size between 29.5 cm and 30.2 cm, sometimes within the same tile. This makes laying out and achieving even grout lines difficult – make sure to dry lay out the tiles first very precisely. Do this in the room in which the tiles are to be laid, as we found that the tiles look very different in different lights, and also when laid horizontally or vertically. In fact, if you are arranging the tiles for aesthetic purposes, the way each tile reflects light is at least as important as its colour and pattern, as their textures are very different. The tiles also vary a lot in porosity, which makes sealing more complex, and further affects the final colour, as some tiles deepen colour more than others when sealed. We used Mattstone H2O, which gives a pleasant appearance – if we had used oil-based colour improvers or sealers the effect would have been too much (as well as being more environmentally damaging). We put on five coats; the floor could probably still have absorbed more, but we are using a wax top coat to protect it. About 10% of the tiles we received were broken. However, these were replaced quickly and unproblematically, and in fact we have ended up with an excess because we allowed 15% wastage, which did not turn out to be necessary. So: five stars for overall effect and quality of service; loss of one star for size variations and friability, and lack of transparency about the environmental and labour conditions under which the tiles are produced.”
“Good look to slate.
Tiles not all square corner to corner and differ in size width by 4mm
Very crumbly slate, break very easily when handling.
Not sure how they will wear in time.
When laid the tiles look impresive with all their differing colours”
