I like the feeling of Art Tile and interactions with the staff were pleasant, but they resulted in a very poor choice of tile. A recent experience there has me swearing off the place because I feel like I can’t trust their recommendations.
We are building a shower stall in simple white tile with a colored, textured band running around the stall at about eye level. The Art Tile salesperson I worked with knew exactly what we were planning. One of the sample tiles looked intriguing—an interesting sculpted pattern from a company called Local Dirt. The salesperson raved about what a nice young man the owner was and how she hoped they would make it. I noticed that the tiles seemed to vary in color shade significantly, and I was concerned about that, but felt we had resolved it so we ordered the pricey tiles.
Big mistake!
Unfortunately that salesperson didn’t warn me that Local Dirt tiles are highly variable in terms of warping/flatness too. The samples I saw in the showroom weren’t warped (carefully selected for marketing purposes, I imagine).
If I had known that 8 out of 33 tiles I ordered would be so warped that one or more of their corners protrudes 1/8th of an inch off the wall—very noticeable next to the standard tiles on the wall—I never would have selected that brand. Now my tile band doesn’t look intriguing, it looks unfinished and amateurish.
With the right project—one where everything is rough and uneven—these mutant tiles could work. But not on our project.
The Art Tile saleswoman knew what we were planning and didn’t say anything. Maybe she is just too enthusiastic about the young company. But personally I feel like I was sold a bill of goods.
Later, when I talked with her about it at the store, she really didn’t much care much. And when I wrote to Art Tile I got no response. Seems like they feel it’s not their problem. Fortunately for us there are other tile shops in town for future projects.
more