Porcelain Tile: How to Store

Porcelain Tile: How to Store

LESLIE: Beth in Illinois is on the line with a question about tiles. What can we do for you today?

BETH: Hey, I got a great deal on some porcelain tile and the measurements are 4×28, I believe. So, I bought four skids of it. I have some rental property, so I was going to take up the carpet and put that down.

TOM: OK.

BETH: Actually, I’m not quite ready but I do have to have it delivered. And they – I want to know if it’s OK to leave it sit outside with a tarp on it, if the weather would be OK. It is porcelain, though, and it is in the actual – on the pallets that they deliver it on.

TOM: I think as long as you keep it covered and out of the weather as much as possible, I don’t really see anything bad happening to it. I guess if you got water or snow in there and they got wet, they could expand and start to crack.

LESLIE: And then freeze and crack.

TOM: But if you keep them tray – yeah, freeze and crack. But if you keep it dry, I don’t see why you can’t keep them outside.

BETH: Do the best I can to keep it dry and then I can use them in a month or so?

TOM: Yeah. Sure.

BETH: I mean 60 cents a square foot. What a deal.

TOM: Yeah, that’s a great deal. That’s a great deal.

BETH: Yeah.

LESLIE: Yeah. And you want to – you’re in an area that might see some snow, so you want to make sure that if it does snow, it doesn’t get underneath. Or if there’s a lot of rain, it doesn’t kick up underneath.

TOM: Right.

BETH: Uh-huh. So as long as I keep it somewhat dry and the tarp down, I’ll be safe for the month or so.

TOM: I think so. And just remember that when you are ready to install it, bring them inside, get it all to be room temperature. Because you don’t want to have the floor surface – the subfloor being warm, the tile being cold. You may have some issues with adhesion.

BETH: Right. And so concrete floors – as long as I scrape the carpet and the padding up and get the glue up the best I can, I can put it right on the concrete. Is that right?

TOM: Yeah, I think so. Yeah. As long as you …

BETH: Without putting a subfloor.

TOM: Just remember that you have long tiles. Or you said they were 20-something inches long? They’re not going to bend, so you have to have a good, totally flat surface there. If you have any looseness under that, they will crack.

BETH: Oh, yeah. OK.

TOM: OK?

BETH: And when you go down the hallway, do you think I – and I know this one question led to another but should you go straight or from side to side?

TOM: Well, I don’t know.

Leslie, what do you think? You’re the decorator. These are 4×20-something, so they’re almost hardwood floor-like strips except they’re porcelain tile.

LESLIE: I usually – if something is in plank style, I make sure that I run the length of the plank along the longest run of the room.

BETH: Uh-huh. OK.

LESLIE: This way, it makes that hallway seem longer and more uniform. If you’re going side to side, you’re just going to see a whole bunch of staggered seams.

BETH: Right.

LESLIE: This way, it looks almost like a wood floor, like a plank.

BETH: Yeah, yeah. I think that is a great idea. OK. Well, I appreciate your help. I know you’d have the answer for me. I listen to you guys all the time.