Most surface problems on a project are not material failures. They are process failures — a sample approved against the wrong lighting, a schedule that never reached the tiler, a batch ordered in two parts. A specification handled properly removes almost all of them, and the sequence is not complicated.
Start From the Rooms, Not the Tiles
A productive first conversation covers the schedule of rooms, the light each receives, the joinery and metalwork already selected, and the intended lifespan of the scheme. Material follows from that. Clients and designers who begin with a collection name frequently find the room resists it — a beautiful cool-grey stone effect in a north-facing Kensington bathroom is a different proposition from the same tile in a south-facing Richmond one.
Bring drawings if they exist: plans, elevations and any lighting layout. We will work faster and more accurately from them than from a description, and setting-out issues surface at the table rather than on site.
Sampling: Full Size, Right Light, Enough Time
Small samples mislead. Vein movement, shade variation and finish all read differently at scale, so ask for the largest sample available and, for slabs, view a full sheet. Take samples to the property and look at them in the room’s own light at two different times of day. This single step prevents more regret than any other part of the process. We provide a sampling service to designers and architects across London and the Home Counties, and can deliver full-size pieces to site or studio.
Schedules, Quantities and Reservations
A written specification schedule — room by room, with collection, format, finish, slip rating, grout and trim — is what keeps a project consistent between designer, contractor and tiler. We prepare these against your drawings. Quantities are calculated with layout-appropriate wastage and a retained surplus, ordered as a single batch, with the batch number recorded. Where a programme runs long or phases separately, material can be reserved at the mill and released on your dates.
Delivery, Site and Afterwards
Delivery should be scheduled for when there is dry, secure, level storage available, and inspected on arrival rather than on the day of laying. For large-format slabs and mitred fabrication, we can coordinate directly with the fabricator and recommend installers experienced in the format. After completion, care guidance and any retained stock stay documented against the project.
Where a project is running to a fixed handover, we would rather see the schedule early and flag the constraints — lead times on made-to-order ranges, templating dependencies, batch availability — than confirm a specification that the programme cannot support. Most surface delays are visible three months in advance to anyone looking for them.
We work with architects, interior designers and developers on trade terms. Appointments at the showroom are unhurried, and we would rather spend an hour on the schedule now than a week on remedial work later.
