Quality, Quality, Quality…Did I mention quality?
When I look online for pebble tile products, frankly, I am amazed at the absolute junk that’s for sale. First, let me share with you my simple, straightforward criteria for evaluating pebble tile products:
- First and foremost, quality should be obvious.
- Will my pebble tile project look like an artisan laid each pebble one-by-one?
- When I look across each tile, are all of the pebbles the same height?
- Is the price competitive?
With this simple criteria in mind, let’s look at some of the products I found on the web and then compare and contrast:
In the first example, this is perhaps the worst sliced pebble mosaic I’ve ever seen. This mosaic is horrible!
First, notice the stone spacing and orientation of each stone. After this product is installed and grouted, I cannot imagine any project looking like an artisan installed each stone one-by-one. Next, have a look at the netting. It is crudely trimmed and unless properly trimmed (I guess by you) it will no doubt cause “strings” popping out the grout. Although this is an interlocking tile, the poor quality will no doubt produce a very unsatisfactory installation with visible and obvious joint lines. What’s the point of buying an interlocking product if it doesn’t interlock properly? Finally, saw marks are clearly visible due to improper tumbling. After sealed and grouted, these saw marks will become more exaggerated and obvious. Ok, maybe it’s not perfect but it’s less expensive right…wrong. It was priced on the high-end.
In this next example, the product is much better but has serious issues.
The biggest issue with this tile is the large gaps between each pebble. After this product is installed and grouted, these gaps will be painfully obvious and a real eyesore. Again, the main purpose of interlocking pebble tile is to have a final project look like an artisan laid each pebble one-by-one. The next obvious issue is the interlocking pattern. From the picture, one can visualize how this tile interlocks: The “tabs” are inserted into the “slots”. But look closely, the slots look too big for the tabs. And they are. This is a common problem with pebble tile. They simply do not interlock properly.
So what does quality mosaic look like?
In these two examples, all the pebbles are spaced correctly (no large gaps), one can see the interlocking pattern will work, netting is properly trimmed, and the overall appearance is good:. The overall the quality is obvious.
In this sliced pebble mosaic example, all the sliced pebbles are spaced correctly and the overall appearance is good. It’s easy to believe this product will interlock correctly. The netting is trimmed and there are no visible saw marks.
So what makes for a quality tile? Price, not really. The difference is manufacturing standards, quality control processes, and attention to detail of the factory producing the product. Remember, this is a hand-made product and quality can vary greatly. Basically, there are 3 important (fundamental) items one should look for when shopping for pebble tile products.
- Remember, quality should be obvious!
- Visually inspect the tile making sure the pebbles, on each tile, have been sorted (or gauged) for thickness. The maximum thickness differential should be no more than 1/8”. Height differentials greater than 1/8” can cause “high” and “low” spots, water pooling, drainage problems, and very disappointing installations.
- Finally, price is always important. But again, pebble tile is a very competitive product and pricing varies greatly if buying from a tile store, direct importer, authorized factory distributor/dealer, or online from Ebay, Amazon, Etc. My advice shop around, touch and feel the mosaic, place it on a flat surface and check the height differentials of each stone, focus on quality and ask questions.
Following these simple steps and your project will thank you!
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