If you are renovating in or around Parramatta, you have three realistic ways to buy tile: a showroom you can walk into, an online retailer, or a trade supplier through your builder or tiler. For most homeowners the showroom is the right answer, because tile is one of the few materials where seeing it at full size genuinely changes the decision. The practical question is which showroom, how far you are prepared to travel, and what you need to have worked out before you go.
This guide covers the three options honestly, what to plan before you buy, how much to order, and how to get it home. Iconic Tiles is a short run south-west of Parramatta in Smithfield, and the last section covers what to expect if you come to us.
Your three options
| Showroom | Online | Trade supplier | |
| You can see the tile | Yes, at full size | No, unless you order samples first | Sometimes, depends on the supplier |
| Technical data on request | Should be | Should be published | Usually |
| Batch quantity confirmed | Yes, before you order | Varies | Yes |
| Bathware in the same place | Sometimes | Sometimes | Rarely |
| Best suited to | Anyone who has not already chosen the exact tile | A repeat order, or a tile you have a sample of | Jobs where the tiler is specifying and ordering |
The showroom
The case for a showroom is scale and light. A large format tile photographed on a screen loses its surface movement, its texture and its true colour temperature, and a pattern that reads as subtle in a 100 millimetre sample can dominate a room at full size. Standing in front of a laid panel with grout answers questions that no amount of browsing does.
A showroom also lets you resolve the things that are hard to do remotely: checking one tile against another, holding a tile against your tapware or vanity, and asking someone whether a particular tile is appropriate for the place you intend to put it.
Online
Online is a reasonable choice in one specific situation, which is when you already know the exact tile. A repeat order, a top-up from the same batch, or a tile you have physically held. Buying a tile you have never seen from a photograph is the most common way people end up with a floor they do not like.
If you do buy online, check two things before ordering. That the technical specification is published, including the slip resistance classification if the tile is going anywhere that gets wet. And that the full quantity you need, including wastage, is available in a single batch.
Through your builder or tiler
If you have engaged a builder for a full renovation, they may prefer to supply the tile themselves. That is perfectly normal and it removes a logistics headache. What you lose is choice, because you are selecting from what their supplier carries. Many homeowners split the difference: choose the tile yourself at a showroom, then have the builder or tiler coordinate the order and delivery.
What to work out before you buy
Measure properly
Measure each area separately rather than taking one total. Floors and walls are different, wall heights vary, and a shower recess is measured differently from the rest of the room. Write down what is going where, and note anything that is outside, in a wet area, or going over a timber floor rather than a slab, because those change which tiles are suitable.
Add a wastage allowance
You need more tile than your measured area. Wastage covers cuts, breakages, pattern matching and the spare tiles you keep in the garage for later. How much depends on your layout, since a diagonal or herringbone pattern in a room full of corners generates far more offcuts than a straight grid in a simple rectangle, and large format tiles waste more per cut than small ones.
Your tiler sets this figure, because they are the one setting out the tile. Get it from them before you order rather than guessing.
Order the whole job in one batch
Tiles are produced in batches, and shade and calibre can vary between production runs. Natural stone varies more again because it is a natural material. Ask how much of your chosen tile is available in a single batch, and order the complete quantity at once. Going back for another box three weeks into the job is how people end up with a visibly different patch of floor.
Know your set-out constraints
If bathware is part of the project, the tile thickness affects it. Toilet set-out is measured from the finished wall and the finished floor, so adding tile changes the measurement. If you are replacing a toilet, the tile and the suite need to be considered together rather than in sequence.
Getting the tile home
Tile is heavier than people expect. A box of floor tiles is a genuine two-person lift, and a full bathroom is usually a pallet rather than a car boot. Before you decide to collect, ask what the boxes weigh and how many boxes your order is. Most people who intend to collect end up having it delivered once they see the quantity.
If you are having it delivered, work out the access in advance. Where can a truck stop, is there a gate or a driveway wide enough, and is there somewhere dry and level the pallet can sit until the tiler starts? If you are in an apartment, check whether the building requires a lift booking and whether there is a service entrance.
Time the delivery to the job rather than the purchase. Tile sitting on a driveway for three weeks is tile at risk of being damaged, and tile that arrives the day the tiler does is tile nobody can check before it is laid. A few days ahead is usually the right window, which gives time to open boxes and check shade consistency before anything goes down.
Where Iconic Tiles sits relative to Parramatta
Our showroom is at 120 to 122 Warren Road, Smithfield, in Sydney’s west. Smithfield sits south-west of Parramatta and is connected to it by The Horsley Drive and the Cumberland Highway, so it is a straightforward run out from Parramatta, Harris Park, Granville, Merrylands and Westmead without going near the CBD.
It is also convenient from the suburbs immediately around Smithfield, including Wetherill Park, Fairfield, Fairfield West, Guildford West, Woodpark, Greystanes, Pemulwuy and Prospect, and it is a reasonable drive from Blacktown, Liverpool and the Hills District.
The showroom is open seven days, which matters more than it sounds, because tile decisions usually involve more than one person and weekends are when both of them are free.
What we can settle in one visit
- Indoor and outdoor tiles, bathroom wall and floor tiles, subway tiles, natural stone and timber flooring.
- Bathware alongside the tile, so basin, tapware, toilet and shower can be chosen against the tile rather than after it.
- The technical specification for anything you are considering, including its slip resistance classification, so you can confirm suitability for where it is going.
- Batch availability for your quantity, checked before you order rather than after.
- A written quote for the materials.
What to bring
- Your measurements, area by area, with wall heights.
- A note of what is going where, flagging anything external, wet area, or over a timber floor.
- Photos of the space in daylight and at night.
- Anything already chosen, such as paint colours, vanity or tapware.
- Your tiler’s wastage allowance, or their phone number.
- Your timeline, so lead times can be checked against it.
Frequently asked questions
You have three options: a showroom you can visit, an online retailer, or a trade supplier through your builder or tiler. For most homeowners a showroom is the right choice, because tile scale, surface movement and colour temperature all change between a photograph and a room. Western Sydney has a concentration of tile showrooms, and Iconic Tiles is at Smithfield, south-west of Parramatta via The Horsley Drive and the Cumberland Highway.
Your measured area plus a wastage allowance for cuts, breakages, pattern matching and spares. The allowance depends on the layout, because diagonal and herringbone patterns and large format tiles all generate more offcuts than a straight grid of small tiles. Your tiler sets the figure because they are setting out the tile, so ask them before you order.
It depends on quantity. Tile is heavier than most people expect and a full bathroom or floor is usually a pallet rather than a car load. Ask what the boxes weigh and how many your order is before deciding. If you are having it delivered, check truck access, where the pallet can be left, and for apartments whether a lift booking is required.
Tiles are produced in production runs and shade and calibre can vary between them. Natural stone varies more again because it is a natural material. Ordering the whole job in one batch avoids a visible difference between the original order and a later top-up. Ask how much stock is available in a single batch before you order.
Together, if you can. Basin colour reads against tile colour, tapware finish reads against grout colour, and tile thickness changes the toilet set-out, which is measured from the finished wall and floor. Choosing them in sequence rather than together is how people end up with combinations they would not have picked if they had seen them side by side.
Come and see the range
The showroom at Smithfield is open seven days with tiles and bathware displayed together. Bring your measurements and whatever you have already chosen, and we will work through the options with you and confirm what is available in the quantity you need.
If you would rather start remotely, send through your dimensions and what you are tiling and we will put a quote together, or book an appointment for a design consultation.
