I have a lot of issues with recommending tile to clients when I’m not sure how or where it was sourced. For that reason I typically try to stay away from companies whose product manufacturers are difficult to track down. I’m frequently asked about Floor & Decor tile “brands” and the quality of a given product the client finds online. All of F&D’s tile brands are just trademark entities owned by F&D… from what I understand about trademark law (very little) and the company’s manufacturing structure, I doubt the “brand” products are sourced from a single location/manufacturer. So one brand could actually have 60 different products manufactured in 40 different locations.

While frustrating, I can see the business sense in it- but because no one else sells their tile it’s near impossible to find where things were manufactured or under what ethical standards. If pressed, I tell my clients that product quality can’t be assessed without multiple samples on hand (as with any tile purchased online), and that the “deals” provided by F&D aren’t as great as advertised with context. I wouldn’t mind any of this nearly as much if they allowed reviews/images to be uploaded but they don’t. Is this something that can be worked around or side stepped in any way? I don’t think it’s asking for much to ask for better quality assurance when they’re making a profit on manufacturing AND distributing.

They advertise “warehouse prices” but craftily hide that they’re their own suppliers. Drives me nuts. Does anyone have further insight on this? I can’t seem to find anything online that doesn’t take me into an aggressive amount of legal paperwork.😡 F&D Trademark/Patent Filings