Fake it!

What are we saying? Fake tiles have a poor reputation. They don’t fool the eagle-eyed connoisseur and if you’re not getting the real thing, why settle for less?  Unless, of course, you’re actually getting more, and this is where replica stone tiles are really coming into their own.

Mostly you can tell a ‘fake’ by looking at it closely or by the touch and feel,. However, some of the best stone reproduction tiles can fool you even then. In fact, so well does the surface mimic real stone, you might have to turn it over to see that it is in fact a cleverly manufactured porcelain tile.

This kind of fake offers you some real advantages: being thin and very strong means you can lay it in areas where the rather thicker and definitely heavier natural stone might pose a problem. You can also go for much larger tiles than would be possible with stone; as very large stone slabs need to be considerably thicker to allow them to be handled without breaking.  And of course, there’s no need to seal, treat carefully, or re-seal.  Just hoover and mop and enjoy something beautiful that hasn’t broken the bank.

Price advantage works even better with replica stone wall tiles. The thinner the tile the better, and our growing love for all types of beautiful marble would be outrageously expensive for those of us whose pockets do not match our taste.

So, all in all, some fakes can turn out to be absolute masterpieces. And if you say there’s no substitute for the real thing, these days it would be hard to see why!

This blog story was provided by Corinne Twining on behalf of the Cornwall Tile Centre.