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We are looking for 4 inch by 4 inch Spanish tile for around our fireplace. Any stores in mind? This is the type of tile we are looking for.
http://www.terracottacorp.com/
http://www.tierrayfuego.com/Ceramic_Tiles/SpanishTile/index_spanish_decorative_tiles.htm
Thanks,
Harry
Ferraloza in Tibas has the largest selection of tile I’ve seen anywhere, and their prices and service are pretty good. Jaime there speaks pretty good English and has been very helpful to us. Tell him Dave Murray sent you (it’s good for a one colon discount).
Lessee . . .
Tibas is northwest of San Jose and kinda north of La Uruca. Sadly, it’s not on the map, so it’s a secret well kept from non-natives. Maravilla, if you want to actually go there, we could arrange a field trip. It isn’t hard to find; it’s just hard to give directions. My builder drew us a map. A friend drew us another map. We tried to follow both (one at a time) and got horribly lost. We did finally find the place and discovered that it’s not so hard to get to after all, but you have to know where you’re going.
As for the travertine, are you asking about travertine floor tiles? Travertine countertops or what? If countertops, I think I know a better source (yet another field trip).
Oh boy,it’s one of “those” deals! jejeje Yes, travertine floor tiles, which we want to put in the shower of our guest bathroom, and on the floor and maybe use as wainscotting. On the way to the airport from San Ramon, I saw a small sign on the side of the highway that said “travertine” but I couldn’t find any in the tile places in San Ramon — they are heavy into imported ceramic and porcelain tiles, which I used throughout my whole house, but I really want to find the travertine, which is what I have in my house in the States, but I don’t want to be driving all over the Central Valley trying to find it.
There is a stone company in Santa Ana called Ziruma which handles travertine marble for countertop applications, at least. They also handle limestone for both countertops and floors. That makes me suspect that they can cut travertine for floors as well.
You could call Olga at Ziruma at 203-4800 to ask about the floor tiles. She speaks excellent English and is very knowledgeable.
David, THANK YOU! I will call them before we come back down next month so I can get that bathroom done and then my house will be habitable.
6 ways to get to Tibas (The huge Saprissa Stadium is there):
1. There’s a large roundabout circling one of the private universities (ULACIT) where the Carretera a Guapiles (highway to Limon) starts (right by BICSA). This is just north of downtown San Jose. Take the radial going west for 1 block and you’ll come to a T. Turn right. In 1 k or so you’ll be in the heart of Tibas.
2. Get on the Carretera a Guapiles and get off on either of the first two exits (turn left).
3. From the NE corner of the SJ Post Office (Correo), 100E, 2k North (they change the direction of the one-way streets frequently in downtown SJ, might be a bit different.)
4. As you pass in front of BICSA going West, you come to a stop light (Carretera a Guapiles). Go straight through for another 100 meters, turn right at the T. You hit Tibas in 1k.
5. If you’re on the Circumvalacion Norte (The beltline, for lack of a better word), there is no designated, official, or main exit for Tibas. But if you’re traveling West, about 0.5 k after you pass the bridge over the Carretera a Guapiles, turn right 100m before the next bridge, go 100m then turn left, go 100m and turn right. You should be on the main road to Tibas.
6. Stop and ask people along the way. It’s no secret.
Thanks, GT, but I have one (perhaps stupid) question: I’ll be coming from San Ramon so will any of those 6 directions apply? The only time I was anywhere close to San Jose was when I got fingerprinted.
Coming from San Ramon, as we do, you can get off the autopista at the first La Uruca exit, go north to the first traffic light and turn right. Go generally east (sorta toward San Jose) for about 1.5 km, then bear left past the Shell gas station. You’ll be headed generally for Tibas.
After that, the route to Ferreloza is too complicated to describe. My offer to take you there stands.
Use David’s directions. Bear left at major Y. When you’re about due north of downtown (use Banco Nacional as a reference-it’s tall) you’ll cross over a bridge. Turn right just after the bridge and get onto the street below going north. This is the road to Tibas. If it’s rush hour, bring pins to stick in your eyes.
If you’ve only been to SJ to get finger printed, I’d take David up on his offer. Driving in San Jose is highly challenging. You’ll fare better if you’ve played a lot of car crash video games. Even so, with all the one-way streets, pedestrian malls, farmer’s markets, etc, there are only a few “easy” (LOL) ways to go, and you have to know them.
The good news is that you don’t really have to go to or near San Jose, whose traffic is no worse than any other major city’s, to get to Tibas and Ferraloza.
The bad news is that you have to go through La Uruca whose traffic is just like San Jose’s, but it moves slowly, so there’s plenty of time to sort things out.
Thanks for the directions, etc. I’m going to send this info to my contractor and send him out on a fact-finding (or travertine-finding) mission first.
David What about offbrands of corian or staron. The Staron here in the states was a little more than formica. When they seamed it together you can not tell where the seam is. Someone also told me that an Italian builder said he could buy Italian marble in CR cheaper than He could in Italy. Also the marble from thailand and Brazil was so hard you could not scratch it.
Thanks
StanI can’t speak to the availability of the competitors for Corian. It seems that most folks here are using granite because it is cheaper here than the off brands of “Corian” in the U.S. In my humble opinion, granite is a better choice than the thermoplastics (Corian, etc.).
That said, we’ve decided to use limestone for our kitchen countertops in the house we have under construction and sandstone for the bathroom vanities. Neither is as hard as granite, but we’re not hard on stuff and are confident these two materials will serve us well. The company we’re getting them from, Ziruma in Santa Ana, can fabricate sinks from the same materials — elegant!
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