Ascot Blue Skirting Tile 152x152mm

Yes. The glaze is impervious and unaffected by constant water, so these tiles are entirely at home in a shower enclosure, above a bath, behind a sink or across a wet-room wall. What matters is what sits behind and between them: a properly tanked substrate, a white flexible adhesive and a grout rated for wet areas. The tiles themselves never need sealing.

No — Artworks is a wall range only. The ceramic body is not rated for foot traffic and the gloss glaze would scratch and lose its shine quickly underfoot. For a floor to sit beneath an Ascot Blue wall, a black and white geometric or an encaustic-effect tile is the natural partner, and our team can help you pair one.

The Artworks glazes are applied over a pressed ceramic body, and slight variation from tile to tile is part of the character rather than a fault — it is what stops a large tiled wall looking printed. Ascot Blue shows it a little more than most, because the balance of blue and grey shifts across the surface as well as with the light. Order the whole of a room in one go where you can, and mix tiles from several boxes as you set out rather than working box by box.

Use a white flexible adhesive. Grout is unusually consequential on this colour, because it decides which way the tile reads. Ascot Blue sits between blue and grey, and the joint tips the balance: a cooler, faintly blue-toned grey brings the blue forward, while a warm grey or greige lets the grey side dominate. If you want it to keep both readings and stay ambiguous, match the grout closely in tone and let the wall shift on its own. The one to think hard about is brilliant white — on a colour this quiet it becomes the loudest thing on the wall, and the tile loses what little contrast it has. Grout haze shows readily on gloss, so sponge each section as you go.

The range is usually held in stock and we can normally despatch within a few working days; mouldings and trims occasionally run on a longer lead time, so it is worth a call on 01344 620211 before you plan the fitting week. UK delivery is free on orders over £1,000, and we can hold a delivery back until your site is ready.

Ascot Blue is the quiet one, and the only one that will not settle on a single reading. Original Style describe it as a blueish-grey or a greyish-blue depending on the light it is seen in — classic and understated. The other three commit: one is a warmer blue with a green cast, one a versatile mid-blue, and one a deep indigo that behaves like a dark colour. If you want a blue that behaves like a soft neutral and changes through the day, this is the one. Order cut samples of two or three and live with them on the wall for a day before choosing.

Yes. Cut samples are free to collect from our Ascot showroom, or we can post one to you for the cost of postage. Seeing the glaze in your own light is the surest way to judge how it will sit against your paint, stone and metalwork.

As a guide, add around 10% to your measured area for cuts and breakages, and nearer 15% for a herringbone, diagonal or brick-bond layout. It is also worth keeping a few spare tiles from the same batch in case a repair is ever needed.

Because that is what the colour is. It sits on the line between blue and grey, so whatever light is in the room decides which side comes forward. Cool north light and an overcast morning pull it towards grey; warm afternoon and evening light, or a warm bulb, bring the blue out. It is the most useful thing to know about this tile, and the reason a single glance at a sample is not enough. Tape a sample to the wall and look at it at the times you actually use the room — first thing, mid-afternoon, and after dark with the lights on. If you want to steer it one way, the grout does most of that work.

It is a 152 x 152mm tile with a curved, glazed foot that turns out at the bottom to meet the floor, so there is no open joint at the base of the wall to collect water or dirt. Four to a box covering 0.6 linear metres, or about 6.6 tiles to the metre. Fit it first and set the field tiles above it.