Disclaimer

All of the below is my own opinion and solely intended for the betterment of public understanding of these Victorian tiles.

If any of this is nonfactual in any way or is causing offence please contact me and I will remove/amend those sections. victorianprojects@gmail.com. This article is being published on 18/03/2017

Olde English vs Original Style vs Sheeted Victorian tiles

Olde English Tiles installed in Twickenham on a Victorian Pathway

In this article I will provide my honest opinion of the different Victorian tiles available. I have used all of them and worked extensively with both the Olde English tiles and Original style tiles. I have only used the sheeted Victorian tiles once.

I run a Victorian Tiling service that undertakes all new installations of hallways pathways and restoration work. We also undertake associated York stone steps and features, as well as building work such as concrete bases, slate/stone slabbing and tiling etc.

Original Style tiles

Original Style tiles on a Victorian Hallway installed in Barnet

These tiles can produce beautiful floors and we mostly use them due to their lower costs.

The down sides of Original Style tiles is that they have a small bevel on the visible edges on many of their tiles (some Olde English tiles have these to). This bevel traps grout and gives the appearance of a thicker grout line that can not be avoided. We like to keep grout lines to a minimum as it looks more authentic and Original Style tiles will always appear to have thicker grout lines.

Original style tiles are also a few mm larger than their counterparts from Olde English and this does change the look a bit.

All the Olde English installations will look a little bit more intricate. It really is noticeable with the 50×50 Checkerboard tiling as the Original Style ones are 52×52 plus trap grout with the “bevel” mentioned above.

However after all is said and done price really does matter and you can get a very attractive installation with authentic Victorian tiles for a good price with Original Style. I am of the opinion that the cost of the Olde English tiles makes this work unfeasible for everyday homeowners so my personal preference is for the Original style tiles and most of the pics on my website used their tiles. http://victoriancreations.co.uk/

Olde English Tiles

Currently their more expensive prices stop me from using their tiles, however I like their many colors available and their tiles have a nice crisp square edge that allows one to get them really close and it looks great!

As mentioned above all their tiles are a few mm smaller than the Original style tiles and this creates a more intricate look in an installation. With this smaller intricate look and the lack of a bevel trapping extra grout the conclusion is that the Olde English tiles look a little better in the end.

However their tiles are usually too small to use for restorations which I find frustrating as they usually have the colors but instead the restorer needs to produce tiles onsite with their 15cm squares.

Structurally I believe these two brands are the same as they seem the exact same to work with. They score, snap,cut the same and at this point I dont think the extra cost of the Olde English tiles means that they are somehow stronger or superior.

The Olde English guys specify that their tiles must not be sealed when used outside whilst the Original Style ones must be sealed.however I installed a pathway in Olde English tiles that I did not seal. Then when I returned a few months later there was staining.

Previously I had thought that their tiles where somehow superior on account of not requiring sealing in an exterior situation, however this results in staining suggesting they are similar to the Original Style tiles

Sheeted Victorian tiles

Sheeted Victorian tiles installed on a pathway in Barnet

I am of the opinion that the skill in these Victorian tiling installations lies in using loose tiles, however sheets definitely can save allot of time.

I would definitely recommend the sheeted tiles if you have any doubts as they are going to result in a better job if your tiler is inexperienced.

And believe me most of the new installations I see these days are well below the standard and would have been better off with the sheets!!

The good points of these sheeted Victorian tiles is that they are fast and allot easier to install. So if you dont have a specialist tiler all you need is a good flat sub base and a patient tiler and you will get a good job done. However they are pretty expensive and are something like 35-45% more for these tiles on sheets.

Having installed the sheets only once I found that the “plastic on the top system” required rapid setting adhesive or so I believe and this was difficult for me. When installing these tiles I aim to keep the whole thing moving as long as I can so I can continually adjust my work as I go. This allows me to get things nearly perfect.

I personally prefer the control afforded through loose tiles however there are many good tilers out there who swear by these sheets.

However If you are going to use the sheets be sure to use the ones from a specialist Victorian tiling company as the ones found in the typical tile shop are not made the same and dont really compare to the authentic reproduction tiles. I personally would never install any tiles on a geometric floor not made by Olde English or Original Style . I am not affiliated with Londonmosaic but I would only use only their sheets if I liked using them. http://www.londonmosaic.com/

Please see a couple of snaps of my work below and contact me on 07792508073 if you need this work done.

s
s