how do I know the difference between wall and floor tiles? - TilersForums.com

[Geraldine Roe]

Hallo, I am a hobbyist and was thinking of tiling my bathroom floor. Great new challenge.
I bought a job lot of tiles (without boxes) for my bathroom floor. They were sold as floor tiles, but I am not sure. Written on the back of the tiles is 'Made in France', P.123 and then a number, preceeded by T. which is not the same on each tile.
Can anyone tell me
1. how can I know if the tiles are floor or wall tiles.
2. What do the numbers and letters on the back mean?
Thanks in advance

 

[Perfect Tiling]

It's difficult to tell if they are 100% floor tiles unless you contact the manufacturer. Floor tiles can be used on walls (within the weight limits) but wall tiles can't be used on floors as they aren't strong enough to cope with the stresses....especially if it is a timber floor. Looking at the photo it's impossible to tell what material they are....ceramic...porcelain....clay...stone etc. If you wet them and they don't go darker they are probably porcelain. The numbers usually relate to manufacture codes...batch numbers and calibre (size) of the tile and should all be the same......but you said they are from France and we know what the french are like. Try to find out for sure if they are floor or wall.....

 

[Geraldine Roe]

thanks for that. They are 30cm x 30cm and 0,6 diep. They do not get darker when wet. They appear to be made in layers; cement or ceramic with a thin layer of porceline on top which gives the colour (white with a marble look. They dry quickly but don't appear to be porous.
Greetings Geraldine

 

[Dan]

Can you take a couple more pictures for us? One of the sideview to get the biscuit and the glaze, and then one of the pattern.

If you have enough, try score the face of one or two and see if if splinters off. If it does chances are the glaze whether porcelain or ceramic is too thin for a floor. If you can scratch deep and the glaze not splinter or chip off it should be strong enough for a floor.