Tiles....to buy in France or Spain?

The best place to buy this and that? Recommend shops and share your good and bad experiences.

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RichardK
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Tiles....to buy in France or Spain?

Post by RichardK »

We're about to get a whole load of tiles laid, but have yet to buy them. We've been led to believe that they are cheaper in Spain. From my perspective a few euros here and there isn't enough to persuade me to go to Spain when I don't find enough time in the day anyhow..... That said, if we were talking 25% or so cheaper I could be persuaded as we're buying quite alot.

Has anyone any direct experience of tile prices in France v's just over the border in Spain? I'll appreciate any advice people can give.
Thanks,
Richard
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john
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Post by john »

Richard. I ALWAYS buy my tiles in Spain. Quality for quality I'd say they are about 20% less compared to France.

It all depends on what you want,and of course you can buy cheap tiles in France,particularly at the Leroy Merlins/Casto's of this world. But I had some horrrendous experiences quality -wise there.

The places in Mas Guerido etc,Perpignan certainly do a wide range,and quality is excellent,but prices are high. I know some talk of discounts,but I really don't want to start haggling.

In any case the prices for comparable quality in Spain are lower,even after haggling in France,so why bother?

There are loads of places in Figueras,but even nearer is Mercader in La Jonq. The staff,particularly Montse,Laura and Ivan are very helpful. Admittedly I do have the advantage of speaking Spanish,but you should get by with French. The number of French who go there to buy tells its own story.
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Post by RichardK »

Thanks John...very interesting. So far in France we've found that the tile shops crumble on price without our saying much...well...almost nothing really. So we're looking at quoted 35 to 45 euros tiles for 22 to 25 euros. I too find it very annoying though that the quoted prices are so high, even if in reality they will be lower. It makes it difficult to know whether you are wasting everyones time...a concept I tried to explain to a shop last Tuesday.

With La Jonq being so close, I think we'll give that a go either tomorrow as a scary family outing to a tile shop (...not very intersting for 3 young kids....) or possibly me on my own next week.

Thanks again.
Richard
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Post by Serge »

They do have some very cheap deals now and again at the big Brico North of Perpignan, but you have to make allowances for breakages and get more than you actually need because they might never have them again .............
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Post by john »

If you do go,Richard,do bear in mind that they keep "Spanish " hours. They are not open Sat pm,and are closed from 12h30 to 15h30 weekdays.

I assume the figures you are quoting are per m2. If so you'll be in for a pleasant surprise there.
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Post by blackduff »

When I built my house, the salesman used to be a tile salesman. During our talks, he mentioned that the best tiles come from Italy. Both Spain and France create their tiles in two firings. The Italians manage to do the whole process in one firing.

Two items to must understand. There are a lot of good companies in Spain and France which produce great tiles.

I lived in Andalucia for six years and worked in Sevilla for three more years. During this time I visited a lot of homes. I always saw that the floor tiles were all broken.

Like anywhere, don't buy junk. Pay a bit more and get quality.

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Post by john »

blackduff wrote:
Like anywhere, don't buy junk. Pay a bit more and get quality.

Blackduff
I think we can pretty safely say that ,by the price level he's quoting,Richard is not looking to buy "junk" BD !
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Post by blackduff »

John
Here's a good web site about the tiles and the firing.

http://www.spaintiles.info/eng/informacion/quees.asp

If I understand correctly, neither method is better than the other.

Good information anyway.

I had a friend who bought all of his tiles in Spain. He said the place where he bought was on the south side of Figueras on the route national. This isn't the by-pass. It's on the right side about 1~2 kms from the center of Figueras. It's a large place, from what he said.

Trying to bring a big amount of tiles from Figueras is a big chore.

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Post by Roger O »

blackduff wrote:When I built my house, the salesman used to be a tile salesman. During our talks, he mentioned that the best tiles come from Italy. Both Spain and France create their tiles in two firings. The Italians manage to do the whole process in one firing. Blackduff
Funny, I always thought the Portuguese were the best. When we were thinking to move to Portugal (that's another story) back in the late 80s, some of the houses we saw there for "small money" around Sesimbra had breathtaking tiled installations - even in garages - with fine tasteful mosaics. There was one with a dance floor and dais all tiled in worthy of Pompei at its zenith!!
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Post by Olivier »

You do not mention if you are talking about carrelage (floor tiles) or faience (wall tiles). How many m2 do you have to lay and where?

Tiles come in 3 categories, Categorie 1 which are flawless, Cat 2 which show little defect on the whole batch and cat 3 which are reject.

Spanish tiles are often cheaper in la jonq simply because they sell cat 2 tiles or end of series. However, if you go to figueras you 'll find very good quality tiles and roughly about the same price as in perpignan.
The main difference between Spain and France is the French will tell you when the tiles are substandard.

Clients very often ask about tiles in brico depot. My answer is usually: "they are great if you want to tile your garage or cellar and you'll have to do the job yourself as none of the tilers I use will lay such c**p product.

My advice is shop around and don't be afraid of asking discount. Look at the tiles from a box and not form display if you can when they are too cheap. Make sure they are not end of series. If you go for a 60x30 tile make sure they are not warped or curved as it often happens in the heating process. Lay them in line instead of staggered.

Note that in france, regulation states that you must have and minimum of 2mm between tiles for grouting which is not necessary in Spain.

Richard PM me if you need more advise on where to go in France.
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Tiles....to buy in France or Spain?

Post by RichardK »

Thanks for the replies. Our needs are varied regarding tiles....think of a type of tile and we'll likely need it in the near future. Our immediate need is for pool (terrace) tiles for which we have c. 110m2 + 15m2 of pool house. We've decided this evening to purchase these in Perpignan but to investigate Spain prior to purchasing the rest. We visit the Figueras area every 2 to 3 months anyhow, hence it won't be much out of our way. If I was to buy tiles in Spain it has to be worth it - a few hundred euros cheaper absolute minimum for the hassle.

We have a budget regarding the tiles we buy, but that budget is really to do with feeling we're buying a good quality tile for a reasonable price (& with good service.....lets not talk about CaroPrix in Perpignan in relation to service.....). Obviously the volume makes a difference to our sentiments on price too. Everyones definition of a reasonable price is different though.

Olivier - 2 questions for you if I may:
* what's wrong with end of series tiles? &
* why lay them in a line as opposed to staggered or presumably any other design?
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Post by mpprh »

Hi

I'm further away, but found a problem most people don't think of.

Weight !

Floor tiles are typically 13kg - 15kg /m2.

So around 1.4 tons per 100m2. Then add plinths, adhesive, grout, etc.

It is a lot of runs with a typically small remorque. And it would fill the boot of your car several times ?


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Post by john »

Olivier wrote:Spanish tiles are often cheaper in la jonq simply because they sell cat 2 tiles or end of series. However, if you go to figueras you 'll find very good quality tiles and roughly about the same price as in perpignan.
The main difference between Spain and France is the French will tell you when the tiles are substandard.

.
Not true at all,Richard. There is no difference between French tiles and Spanish ones. They are often made in the same factory.

The point that Olivier makes about category 1,2,3 etc is true if you buy from stock/end of series,but if you order from the supplier (often wait 2-3 wks) you'll always get top quality wherever you buy. Its just that margins are lower in spain,so the overall cost is lower.
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Spain / France tiles

Post by TOM AND BARB »

Hi,

We have recently been through this process and spent far too much time travelling between the various shops in both Spain and France.

The weight issue is a big consideration and several Spanish companies wanted the price differential to transport the tiles just over the border to Sorede.So there was little if any saving.

In the end we went to Point P in St Andre. Fortunately they had promotion on Villeroy and Boch tiles which we liked and went for those.
Unfortunately having paid almost 2000 euros for tiles Point P then wanted an extra 90 euros to transport from St Andre to Sorede and they wouldnt budge on that.

Another problem can be delivery times in France.We had to wait 3 weeks for the tiles and 7 weeks for the skirting tiles to be delivered.

Unfortunately it seems its one of those things you just have to accept.

Can I suggest you check out Point P to see if they have any similar promotions.It may save you a hell of a lot of time and hassle.

As a side note, I have a mate who is a professional tiler. He laid my tiles for me.He is English but speaks French and did an excellent job on my tiles.If you need a tiler you would be hard pushed to get better.
If interested please PM me for more info.

Good luck whichever way you choose to go.
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Post by Rose »

I bought my tiles from the garden centre in La Jonquera. They have a showroom attached to the garden centre and they had to be ordered from the supplier. I needed both floor tiles and skirting tiles. I had to wait 3 weeks but they were delivered for 100 euros. I made a considerable saving.
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Post by Steve&Julie »

Blackduff, do you (or anyone else) know the name of this place, is it called Tile King or something like that? Have driven miles to find it but with no luck as others have told me about it! Please help!


"I had a friend who bought all of his tiles in Spain. He said the place where he bought was on the south side of Figueras on the route national. This isn't the by-pass. It's on the right side about 1~2 kms from the center of Figueras. It's a large place, from what he said. "

Can anyone say if Point P have tiles in stock or do you have to wait for them? We have to buy everything off the shelf as we are only there 1 week in 8 so can't take in deliveries. Had a quote from a brilliant young man in Mas Gueridos who spoke English - bit pricey but we would have gone ahead if it had not been an eight week lead time.
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Post by Rose »

You go almost to the end of the main road in La Jonquera towards Figueres.

There is a roundabout and a garden centre on the left of it.
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Post by Rose »

Tile place is attached to garden centre.
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Tiles

Post by TOM AND BARB »

Hello Steve and Julie

La Jonquera garden centre -- have bought tiles and accesories from there.If you haggle you can get 20% discount of a lot of the prices.

There are 2 tile places in Figueres that I know of.

One is called 'Frias' and is just off the next roundabout beyond Carrefour's in Figueras in the direction of Roses.

The other is on the same road towards Empurria Brava near a golf pitch and putt.I think its called 'Export' something. Its very big has a huge range,flashy showroom but is quite expensive by Spanish prices.

Recently we visited a tile end of range yard in Perpignan just past the Decathlon roundabout (suicide roundabout as we call it).On the next roundabout towards the prison head back in towards the town and a few hundred metres on the left you will see a big fibre glass BLUE statue of liberty.!!!
The yard has big quantities of end of ranges and we bought 70 square metres of good exterior tiles at 8 euros a metre.Apart from the price saving you have the tiles instantly without having to wait.
Bought adhesive elsewhere though as they are not that competitive on adhesive.

If you need more precise directions pm me.Will look it up on google earth for you.

Point P --- we found them expensive,not that helpful and even though we spent over 2000 euros there on tiles wanted to charge 120 euros delivery from the Saint Andre yard to our house in Sorede !!!! and didnt want to give any discount on the price of adhesive.
Tiles arrived in 4 weeks, skirting tiles took 10 weeks !!!!
Would not use them again knowing what I do now about alternative sources.At the time we were new to the area, need things quickly and didnt know where else to shop.

If you need more info pm me.

Regards
T&B
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Post by john »

Steve&Julie wrote:Blackduff, do you (or anyone else) know the name of this place, is it called Tile King or something like that? Have driven miles to find it but with no luck as others have told me about it! Please help!


.
I guess you are talking about Roi du Carrelage,Steve. It's a Spanish firm that is aimed at the French market,with branches in several locations. They've got one in Le Boulou,near Intermarché/Netto, but by far the biggest and best is in the small village of Medinya on the old main road just North of Girona. I've looked round there on several occasions,and prices seem competitive,though I've never actually bought from there.
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Post by Steve&Julie »

THat is all fascinating and really good of you all to take the time to post. We are coming over tomorrow (yippee) so will be going around in earnest hoping to buy this time for tiling at Easter so we can get straight on. We had a bit of trouble finding outside tiles in the nice plain glazed surface teracotta shade that we were told at Mas Gueridos is now 'not liked' by French folk. We adore it and the greys, browns, creams and marbles just wouldn't suit our little traditional village house. Am printing off all your comments and taking them with us (no broadband!) and will let everyone know when we get back next week so thank you all once again xxxxxx :)
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Post by Steve&Julie »

Hi we're back! What a wet week! However, dispite the rain storm we did find Le roi du Carrelage (passed it on the main N11 at Meinya on the right hand side on the way from Gerona airport) and got sorted with our tiles. For information the salesman called Alexandra speaks quite good English, is extremely patient and helpful and we gave him our budget per square M and he showed us exactly what we wanted (terracotta coloured exterior thttp://www.elreidelarajola.com/iles 20m step nose plates and skirtings). The tiles are in stock but the nose plates and skirts have to be ordered. We ordered and agreed to collect from the Le Boulou store in April. Although the place looked a bit off-putting from the outside and not at all what we had in our minds, they have everything and are really nice and professional. Their website is: www.elreidelarajola.com thanks for all your help again.
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Post by john »

Good to know you got sorted,Steve. I did not realise you could order from stock in Medinya and collect from the Le Boulou depot. Certainly a facility worth knowing in the future.
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tiles france or spain

Post by Sue »

Has anyone compared prices at the Medinya and Le Boulou stores. I would be interested to know whether the same shop is cheaper over the border.
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Post by harleybin »

blackduff wrote:When I built my house, the salesman used to be a tile salesman. During our talks, he mentioned that the best tiles come from Italy. Both Spain and France create their tiles in two firings. The Italians manage to do the whole process in one firing.
Yep, and they're all around one region in Italy, near Reggio Emilia, Sassuolo, Imola, and some in the Veneto region as well, if you can't go there (real shame as the food there is just amazing!) contact this buying agent www.sourcingitaly.com and he certainly will find you the best prices available in the whole of Italy for a small fee.
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Post by martyn94 »

A bit late, but I can warmly recommend MAT Carrelages, a few kms beyond Le Roi des Carrelages on the N11 to Figueres (just this side of a BP station). I went there originally (on the advice of the manufacturers) for some terre cuite that are also available at Point P. About 2/3 the price, and unlike Point P they knew the product and gave helpful advice about how to treat them. Fluent French and English and rapid delivery, cheaper than Point P. I have bought various other tiles since, at excellent prices: they have a good range of samples, and have always been friendly and professional.
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Post by malcolmcooper »

A bit late, but I can warmly recommend MAT Carrelages, a few kms beyond Le Roi des Carrelages on the N11 to Figueres (just this side of a BP station). I went there originally (on the advice of the manufacturers) for some terre cuite that are also available at Point P. About 2/3 the price, and unlike Point P they knew the product and gave helpful advice about how to treat them. Fluent French and English and rapid delivery, cheaper than Point P. I have bought various other tiles since, at excellent prices: they have a good range of samples, and have always been friendly and professional.
I'll second that, great shop, great service, great prices.
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Post by Bouze07 »

john wrote:Richard. I ALWAYS buy my tiles in Spain. Quality for quality I'd say they are about 20% less compared to France.

It all depends on what you want,and of course you can buy cheap tiles in France,particularly at the Leroy Merlins/Casto's of this world. But I had some horrrendous experiences quality -wise there.

The places in Mas Guerido etc,Perpignan crédit certainly do a wide range,and quality is excellent,but prices are high. I know some talk of discounts,but I really don't want to start haggling.

In any case the prices for comparable quality in Spain are lower,even after haggling in France,so why bother?

There are loads of places in Figueras,but even nearer is Mercader in La Jonq. The staff,particularly Montse,Laura and Ivan are very helpful. Admittedly I do have the advantage of speaking Spanish,but you should get by with French. The number of French who go there to buy tells its own story.
Yes, Tails in Spain are the best
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