Just your everyday 12x12” pebble mosaic. Or is it?
Within my blog posts there’s developed a certain discontent toward Floor and Decor, the local box store that homeowners love. I attempt to direct our clients away from this particular supplier because of my general overwhelmingly negative experiences with the products they bring to the market.
Here is another example of why I say the things I do to discourage you from spending money there.
The photos below are a basic pebble mosaic advertised as a 12x12” sheet. That would be 1 square foot. Now to start, we did not source this material. This was bought by an unassuming client and we picked up this job short notice. The client was tiling an 81 square foot decorative wall which was a perfect square, nothing to cut around, no corners or obstructions.
When we arrived we saw that they had 94 square feet of mosaic, and being under the assumption that each sheet was 1 square foot, we thought we had plenty, but wait! As we neared the end of the project we began to fret, “we’re not going to have enough!” How could this be, they got plenty extra.
Well, to no ones surprise…Floor and Decor strikes again.
We measured the sheets and they were actually 11.25” —- so instead of each sheet being 1 square foot, they were actually .87 square feet….Do the math. .87 x 94 = 81.78 square feet. Yes, we ended up having BARELY enough to finish the wall…but this doesn’t negate the fact that Floor and Decor misled their customers….if the box says the sheet is 12x12” —- you should be buying 1 square foot, not .87 sqft and if it is .87, shouldn’t someone mention that or shouldn’t it be written on the box somewhere?
Yes, when you’re dealing with tile you sometimes can expect to deal in “nominal” measurements, nominal meaning “in name only”. I get that. with a 12”x24” tile the actual tile will be 11 7/8” x 23 7/8” …the company is selling you the grout joint…I can understand that….but to me, there is a huge difference between an 1/8” short and 3/4” inch short, especially if you are figuring for a large area. Note how manufacturers do business, a discussion for another time.
I’d like for you to be aware of this when you’re buying tile, especially from a box store. This is another reason why you need to buy plenty of extra tile when you are doing a tile job. “Oh, my goodness, there’s two extra boxes!!!” I hear it all the time, Better safe than sorry! Expect to always have extra.
This is the reason I say Floor and Decor is a nightmare for tile guys, for people who know what they’re looking at and have high expectations from suppliers. Tile guys who’s lively hood depends on getting quality material. Being short tile on a project ruins our day. A homeowner going to Floor and Decor, it’s no big deal, to them, all tile is the same….but when you get down to the details, the esoteric stuff, the stuff non tile installers don’t care about…the place is not where it’s at and they’ll let you down. If you don’t mind spending unnecessary amounts of time in a tile store, shop Floor and Decor. Remember, your time is worth money…there will be an opportunity cost.
I’m completely willing to have my mind changed on this place. They sell Mapei products, I love Mapei products. Flexcolor grout, for example, is a great product…but when they don’t carry the full line of 100% silicone Mapesil caulking, the color match stuff… it’s a real drag on production…and a major reason why people don’t follow national standards, because it’s so difficult to. The harder it is to supply material, the less likely installers are going to take the time to get what they need to do a job right. My customer chooses a Flexcolor grout color that’s not in the store, we have to order it online, that takes a week. Of course they have the full line of Keracaulk caulking that’s absolute junk! (and not rated for inside a wet area!) I bring this stuff to the attention of the staff, I’ve been told they’re going to bring in what we need, but I’m going to wait and see! We all know how corporate bureaucracy works!
Catering to the homeowner is one thing, the reality is that the homeowner isn’t putting this stuff in and frankly, if they are, they deserve quality material, they should have the opportunity to buy quality material. Don’t advertise that they’re getting something they are not. If the box says 12x12” sell them 12x12” and if it’s not ,have customer service reps who know enough to say something.
.87 sqft is not 1 square foot.
The price of each sheet was $14.
$14.00 x 94 square feet = $1,316
$14.00X 81.78 square feet= $1, 144.92
I’d say Floor and Decor owes our client $171.08
Yes, this is sold by the “piece” but it’s labeled on the box as 12x12” as you can see. How can you figure how much material you need for a job if you are not aware that you are buying .87 square feet and not 1 square foot?
Notice: “Made in Indonesia”.
