Should You Buy Discontinued Tiles?

Often anyone with a small budget for re-tiling a room in their home will consider searching out discontinued tiles. They can offer an opportunity to buy high quality tiles at a fraction of their original cost or everyday tiles at a bargain price. Discounts on offer can potentially bring luxury natural stone tiles such as limestone, granite or marble within the reach of a limited budget. So there is certainly a financial incentive to buy from a discontinued range.

Another reason for looking for discontinued tiles may be to match existing tiles in your home – you may, for example, have had a small extension built to house a utility room and want the floor tiles to match the existing kitchen, without the expense of replacing perfectly good flooring in the kitchen.

Or you may need to replace a damaged area of an otherwise sound floor.

Whatever the reason, there are some things you should be aware of when considering whether purchasing discontinued tiles is the right choice for you:

1. Matching existing tiles in another room

Particularly when you have had an extension or conservatory built you may want to match existing tiles in another part of your home but the existing tiles have been discontinued. You could start a hunt for exactly the same tiles, which is much easier now with so many companies trading on the internet but if they are very old this may be a difficult, or impossible task. So don't overlook some of the new tile ranges that might be very similar to your existing ones.

2. Replacing damaged floor tiles?

Before looking for replacement tiles to match some on your existing floor, it is important to assess the type of damage. If the damage has been caused by a heavy object, such as when moving furniture or installing new white goods in a kitchen, then replacing only the damaged tiles makes financial sense. But if existing tiles are cracking for no obvious reason then replacing them may be a false economy if there is an underlying problem, which might simply re-occur with the new tiles.Floor tiles especially can crack when there is movement in the substrate so a few cracked tiles may actually indicate a problem underneath the tiles. Or it could just be an area that was badly laid – perhaps the substrate was not entirely level when the tiles were installed. The best way to find out is to lift the broken tiles and check underneath.If there seems to be an underlying problem then you may need to replace all of the existing tiles.

3. Looking for a Bargain?

If your budget is your main concern when looking for discontinued tiles then do make sure you check out the cost of regular tiles. If you have decided you want limestone floor tiles but your budget won't stretch to full price ones you may still find that discontinued stock is expensive even when heavily discounted. You might also want to find out why a particular range has been discontinued. Have customers been dissatisfied with the quality, colour or style? Is the colour of the tiles out-dated and, if so, are you happy to spend money on an out-dated product? Even classic natural stone tiles have certain colours that follow current trends. So before you assume a discontinued range will be a bargain, why not consider an alternative tile flooring such asbrand new, large porcelain tiles, which are just as hard-wearing, easier to maintain and less expensive than natural stone. You then won't be restricted in your choice to only looking at discontinued ranges.

The author has written and published articles on a wide range of topics including Small Business Advice, Tax and Accounting, Interior Design, House Renovation and Project Management.