Buying tiles abroad

kopking

hi all. this is my first time using boards so i would be very grateful if someone could help me with my enquiry. i am currently in the process of building my own house in the killaloe area in co clare. we are currently viewing tiles. however, i have found the really nice tiles(natural stones, marble, granite) very expensive in showrooms such as tilestyle in dublin. i have heard that you can save a fortune by going to spain or italy and having the tiles shipped in. i know this is not good for the economy but you appreciate that when building your own house you must try and save money wherever you can. is it much of a saving going abroad and is it easy to get them shipped in. i hope someone can contact me on this thread and help me and inform me of their own experiecnes. thanks a lot

dcom

Hi Kopking,

We are also building our own house and in the process of sourceing tiles.

I had considered the option of travelling abroad to somewhere like spain but I was too lazy and never followed through on actually pricing it. I would be interested to hear if anybody has done this and if they made much of a saving.

I know where your coming from with the the money saving tips!!!

We got a very nice 20mm marble tile 600 X 600 for our hall and they were only 63 euro a sq m in a place in liffey valley. Everywhere else we priced around Dublin they were 80-120 per sq m for the same product.
I can PM you the name of the shop if you want.

There are some great bargains to be had up north and it would be a much shorter journey for ya.

Best of luck and welcome to the boards

D

ps I just saw that this is in the arts forum..... I think if you posted in a forum like DIY or construction and planning you would get a better response, maybe one of the MODS would move it for you

Chris Arch

kopking wrote: »

hi all. this is my first time using boards so i would be very grateful if someone could help me with my enquiry. i am currently in the process of building my own house in the killaloe area in co clare. we are currently viewing tiles. however, i have found the really nice tiles(natural stones, marble, granite) very expensive in showrooms such as tilestyle in dublin. i have heard that you can save a fortune by going to spain or italy and having the tiles shipped in. i know this is not good for the economy but you appreciate that when building your own house you must try and save money wherever you can. is it much of a saving going abroad and is it easy to get them shipped in. i hope someone can contact me on this thread and help me and inform me of their own experiecnes. thanks a lot

When building their own dweling, many people do not account their time as a valuable asset. If you consider that your time has no value then you will be better off buying your tiles abroad. You can travel to spain and spend a week searching for tiles.

But, if you put a price on all the hours that you will spend by purchasing abroad, and also if you take into consideration all the risks that you will take by dealing with far away companies... Then maybe you should pay slightly more and buy within the country...

Transport is very expensive, specialy for small quantities...

Note that this is only my opinion... Based on experience...

exaisle

As a self-builder, although I value my own time, I don't have to pay myself for it. What I do have to pay for are the materials and the time of others, ie. labour.

I'd be interested to hear from anybody who has actually bought tiles (wall/floor tiles) abroad and imported them...particularly from Italy or Spain.

E.

clogher71

Hi all

I am just wondering did any one of you buy your tiles abroad??. It has now come to our turn to buy tiles and are thinking about going away for a couple of days to get away from it all, saying that we were thinking about going to somewhere to see/buy tiles as we found beautiful Italian tiles here but they are crazy money. So did anyone import their own tiles from Italy/Spain/France?. There was some one who imported from Alicante in Spain, but I cannot find the old post.

Countryripple

PM sent to Kopking

snickerpuss

Moved to Construction & Planning.

Lightning McQue

Countryripple

Could you PM please

Thanks

Lightning

clogher71

Me too please countryripple.....

muffler

If its going to be one of those threads with a litany of "PM me" posts then I'll move it to the prices/costs sub forum where the suppliers name can be posted providing the person has no connection with the business concerned.

Irlandese

kopking wrote: »

hi all. this is my first time using boards so i would be very grateful if someone could help me with my enquiry. i am currently in the process of building my own house in the killaloe area in co clare. we are currently viewing tiles. however, i have found the really nice tiles(natural stones, marble, granite) very expensive in showrooms such as tilestyle in dublin. i have heard that you can save a fortune by going to spain or italy and having the tiles shipped in. i know this is not good for the economy but you appreciate that when building your own house you must try and save money wherever you can. is it much of a saving going abroad and is it easy to get them shipped in. i hope someone can contact me on this thread and help me and inform me of their own experiecnes. thanks a lot

I have friends in the construction business who deal with Italian suppliers for contracts on the continent, but who have not have any projects in Ireland and can share the following:
Italy is considered tops for quality and design, while Spain may be cheaper on a lot of ceramics and generally have lesser quality stone, but business methods and other issues can be much more problematic than dealing with a reputable Italian supplier.
If importing, you would be advised to use half or full containers, perhaps sharing space and transport costs with someone else. reputable suppliers insist on secured payment terms but are more reliable than you may be used to with Irish suppliers, especially in recent times.
Look at the wonderful stone fireplaces, paving and combinations covering cornices, skirting, shaped cladding etc in the same stone as options to transform your home. CAD controlled cutting machines can take Pietra Leccese and shape it to cover any shape of surface in an existing building. These materials are wonderful and could transform Irish homes for a fraction of the cost of an extension or refit. Have a think.

Irlandese

Chris Arch wrote: »

When building their own dweling, many people do not account their time as a valuable asset. If you consider that your time has no value then you will be better off buying your tiles abroad. You can travel to spain and spend a week searching for tiles.

But, if you put a price on all the hours that you will spend by purchasing abroad, and also if you take into consideration all the risks that you will take by dealing with far away companies... Then maybe you should pay slightly more and buy within the country...

Transport is very expensive, specialy for small quantities...

Note that this is only my opinion... Based on experience...

This is good advice.
If you are going to the trouble of importing, which is not all that difficult, now we are in the single market, look at the options re more than just basic ceramic tiles. It might make a good business start-up idea for someone to start a co-operative or buy in bulk and sell on. The differentials are there with ceramics but the real meat should be in importing stone product, which can be pre-cut as I described earlier.
I am not sure if I should say any more on the site as an Irish business partner does a little consulting for some of the stone products selling companies for their exports to the UK and elsewhere in northern europe, so I could be seen to have an interest.

muffler

Irlandese wrote: »

I am not sure if I should say any more on the site as an Irish business partner does a little consulting for some of the stone products selling companies for their exports to the UK and elsewhere in northern europe, so I could be seen to have an interest.

Yes, well we can leave it at that.

irishguy

Has anyone got any good sites/suppliers abroad?