Porcelain bathroom tiles - any advice?

[calendula]

I am going to look at some 30x30cm porcelain bathroom tiles.
I can get 12m2 for the price of 1m2, so defianately a bargain. Seller is moving house.
The thing is, I don't know the first thing about tiles and need to make a quick decision so no time to visit showrooms and compare.
Does anyone have any tips about pitfalls regarding porcelain tiles for bathroom floors? Seller says they are shiny, but not mirror polished. Thanks.

[wowfudge]

Are they actually floor tiles? Floor tiles are usually thicker than wall tiles because they have to take weight on top of them. Not sure if this is also the case with porcelain tiles.

Do you know the manufacturer/brand and design name? If so I would google that and see what info you can find on where there can be used.

[calendula]

They are 110mm thick, so should be floor tiles.
Unfortunately no manufacturer or name on the picture of the box.

[wowfudge]

I would ask for that info before you go and take a look. It's only a bargain if you can use them as you intend.

[fairgame]

DP has got porcelain floor tiles in his bathroom. He has only just bought his house and they were already installed. They are fine but you need to keep on top of cleaning them as they get show up water marks really easily (they are charcoal colour). I usually clean them with windolene and they come up lovely. The tiles in the en suite are stained around the toilet bowl, I can only assume from urine that hasn't been cleaned up properly by the previous occupier. The stains cannot be shifted at all so they don't look good at all.
I assume they are pretty robust as it was a family that lived there before dp and there are no cracks in any of the tiles. They aren't slippy or anything like that I've not gone arse over tit getting out of the shower yet.

[didireallysaythat]

We have porclein tiles on our bathroom walls (bought on eBay - worth checking). Only thing to consider is that they are a lot harder to cut than bog standard ceramic tiles - the builder had to buy a couple of new diamond tipped cutters before he found one that worked. There was some cursing. No harder to clean than any other tile really.

[pinechesterdrawers]

Are you still deciding OP?

I would only ever consider porcelain for floor tiles.

We have ceramic in our conservatory from previous owners and they are chipped and look nasty with the orange ceramic underneath. Looking forward to changing them

Dont know if they stain more easily. It must depend on the finish. We have non slip porcelain downstairs and they requires a bit more elbow grease to clean as the dirt sits in the non slip surface. We bought tiles and then got tiling quotes - tiler said porcelain was an excellent choice as hardwearing.

My parents have polished porcelain in their main bathroom and my dad needs help with bathroom stuff so definitely wanted practical. No issues with water marks but theirs are a grey beige or taupe so maybe i havent noticed.

Good advice from previous poster - ask where they were bought from.

[calendula]

Thanks for your help. Have bought the tiles. looking forward to new bathroom. Long-term project as I'm on a tight budget and am getting hold of one item at a time as they turn up.