Once upon a time (last Friday) I saw on facebook that one of my favorite local restoration shops (ReHouse) was having a “take-all-of-our-tile” sale in preparation for its big move uptown (fill a box for $5!). I’ve often scoured the assortment of used/salvaged and unused/leftover tiles that the store has managed to acquire, even scoring one here and there for myself for 10- to 50-cents a piece, but not really having good reason to invest in a mass quantity at any point in time.
This particular $5 deal, complimented by the store’s 25% off everything and 30% off lighting and plumbing sale that’s on through the end of June, was something I couldn’t pass up regardless of what tiles I was actually going to come across. Sometimes it seems like a gold mine, other times, a trash pile, but with a creative mind there’s always a way to make use of the salvaged products.
Limited only by weight, I successfully brought home a cardboard box filled with 72-pounds of tile.
Yeah, I put it on our bathroom scale when I got home, and yeah, I was surprised that I could carry 72 pounds all by myself too.
Overall, it was quite an assortment. I lucked into a bunch of unused tiles which are harder to find at shops like this, but also took a bunch of pre-mortared tiles as well. Even though they won’t be ideal for use in a hard core construction scenario (the dried mortar won’t stick properly or lay as nicely against fresh mortar the same way a clean tile would), I think they’ll be plenty nice for a plethora of decor projects.
Among my favorites is this large 12×24″ tile (originally salvage-priced at $3). It might make for an oversized hot plate on the dining room table, or a piece of wall art. I also really liked the assortment of hexagonal tiles in both marble and ceramic. Not shown in this below photo, there were also dozens of 4″ square terra cotta tiles, 3 sizable pieces of rough slate, and a rainbow of vintage ceramic tiles, even though I focused on saving the blues, greens, and teal shades.
The possibilities are endless, but I’m already in the midst of working on a new project. It’ll be nice to see it come together over the weekend.
More to come on that project next week! Hopefully it turns out as well as I’m planning.
Big salvaging plans this weekend? Remember, if you’re local, head down to ReHouse for some great moving sale deals!
3 Comments
Do you have any ceramic tiles that are 4 3/8″ square, some in a dusty mauve and some in off white colors? We have the originals that we pulled off the bathtub wall, but can’t get the fixative off the back for remounting. Can’t find these colors anywhere. If you don’t have such tiles, do you know of anyone else that could help us? Would need about 10 mauve, 20 off white, and some that are 4 3/8 x 1 3/4 , mostly off-white with a few mauve. Will give exact count once I hear back that you have tiles I need.
I doubt it, Judith. I’m sure I couldn’t easily match exactly what you need but if you’re local to Rochester, I always recommend ReHouse, and if you’re in a different town explore for a similar salvage shop that sells a variety of old tiles.
Thank you so much. Had not thought of ReHouse or Restore. Found exact tiles needed under vintage tiles of the 1950s. They were expensive though.