Schmidt and Rudersdorf Tiles experiences, quality?

Hello everyone,

Schmidt and Rudersdorf seems to be a tile dealer who does not manufacture tiles themselves. Does anyone know this tile dealer and can say something about the quality?
What do you think of fliesenmax?

Best regards,
Hans

We have tiles from SR ourselves - a total of about 250 sqm. Primarily in the price range of 50-80€/sqm. Absolutely fine and recommendable. Floors in the living room/dining room, complete bathrooms including walls up to 200x200cm. No signs of wear whatsoever (we are still in the move-in phase, so the floor is not being treated gently). However, in the basement we opted for very inexpensive tiles (30x60, 20€ per sqm) - these are of much poorer quality (joint gaps, different heights, etc.), also from SR.

However, we decided on very affordable tiles in the basement (30x60, 20€ per sqm) - these are of much poorer quality (joint widths, different heights, etc.), also from SR.

But SR is not to blame for that; it is due to the tile itself or the manufacturer/price.

We also got many of our tiles from Schmidt Rudersdorf, as our tiler shopped there. As far as I know, they do not have their own brand but sell tiles from various manufacturers. Therefore, I can only comment on the service, which was always very good. They have tiles in various price ranges and thus also different qualities. Of course, it can happen that you don't get tiles with consistent measurements. Although 20€ per sqm is not exactly in the lowest segment.

Hello Hans,

some internal matters and terms regarding the customs in the construction business:

S&R appears to be a pure specialist dealer with a showroom. The tiler has one contract with them; they also send customers for selection and behind the scenes their surfaces and parts list for your project. Then everything is delivered to the construction site on account, exactly on schedule, with appropriate logistics and in the correct quantity. In other words, the tiler has minimal effort with logistics and can focus on his core business, the laying. You will then receive the cost estimate from the tiler.

Negotiating with the specialist dealer is normally not possible. These are often the manufacturer's list prices. Self-supplied goods are, however, reluctantly processed by tilers due to logistics, incorrect quantities, warranty, and quality. Smaller one-man businesses sometimes do this upon request. The bigger they are, the less likely it is.

Often the specialist dealer offers a discount scale for the tiler depending on the quantity sold, meaning he receives a commission at the end of the year depending on sales volume, also for the goods you bought. If at all, you can try to negotiate the discount here, maybe he will play along. Given the current situation in construction, this is rather doubtful. Haggling with the specialist dealer is out of the question.

And: the specialist dealers usually carry all the major manufacturers. So it doesn't really matter which one you go to. The size of the showroom itself is naturally different. Therefore, feel free to visit another showroom (even if the tiler does not work with them), maybe you will like a tile there that you didn’t find at the first exhibitor. Then ask the first one if they can also order it for you. That’s how we, for example, got our bathroom tiles.

PS: my brother runs a tiling business.

Whereas €20 per sqm is not yet the lowest segment.

At a specialty retailer it certainly is. The same tiles would likely cost €10 to €12 at a DIY store without the three-tier distribution, and on sale then for €7.99 per sqm. That is indeed the lowest segment. You really can't expect especially dimensionally stable, calibrated, non-slip, and flat tiles for that price. At €20 per sqm at a DIY store, however, you might get them—only the tiler won't always want to work with those, see my other answer.

Showroom palaces always cost a lot of money, whether in the car trade, bathroom construction, or tiles...