Product Review ~ Daltile Ceramic Tiles

In the current state of our world economic manufacturing processes, every company has taken the olive out of the jar (cut corners to save their bottom dollar all the while passing along, what they hope the customers will not notice, an inferior product). The companies that are maintaining their product quality, which does mean the cost of their product can be higher, are few and far between.

Just over one year ago we purchased white subway tiles made by Daltile at Home Depot and were satisfied with the quality. Oh sure these are mass produced tiles, and there were a few that had defects, I would cut them out and discard them but overall the tiles were of good quality. There was one remaining box from the guest bathroom remodel and when it was time to start on the kitchen, we calculated that we would need to purchase two more boxes. We had noticed right off that they were no longer putting paper between the squares which help the tiles not scratch each other in transit, but we thought okay, we will inspect each one closely for flaws. But when the time came to start using these newly purchased tiles it was immediately noticeable that they were different, they were thinner. This change in the tile quality impacted the project as you cannot use an older tile next to the newer ones because the thickness difference would be noticeable once the grout was installed.

Older tiles

Newer tiles

Older tile on the bottom and newer tile on the top. 

Needless to say I was fuming for most of that first day. I berated myself for not purchasing ALL the tiles to complete both projects a year ago. But done is done at this point and working out a fix was the only choice I had in front of me. At the end of the day it all worked out but I will not (if I can help it) be purchasing any more tiles from the Daltile company.