Another potential source for hard-to-find vintage replacement tile: Vintage Building Supply / Rosten Remodeling in Sacramento

Building on my list of 15 (now 16) places to find basic 4 x 4 tiles including replacement tile, I recently heard from a *new* company that says they may be able to help readers. The company — Vintage Building Supply — in Sacramento, Calif., says that have and continue to accumulate vintage stock — that they are eager to work with homeowners to match replacement tiles — and they even sent photos of some catalogs to illustrate some oldies but goodies they may have in stock.

Owner Andy Rosten wrote:

We have a large stock of numerous manufacturers of discontinued tile from 1930s to 2000, and we offer free identification of those seeking to match existing installations as well as many retro colors, and ship all over North America. We welcome you adding us to your source list: Vintage Tile, 1619 E St Sacramento CA 95814 916-451-8424. In addition to wall and counter tile, we also carry many 8″ discontinued floor tiles and several 12″ floor tiles from Dal and Florida Tile.

I have been a general contractor doing repairs on older homes for over 25 years. Our building is rather non-descript with just our business name, Rosten Remodeling Inc. on the front door. This has been a side business for about a year, but I am slowly developing it as a separate one. I’ve made up some business cards that say Vintage Building Supply (I also have many antique plumbing, electrical, hardware & molding items), but I haven’t yet made a sign out front and I’m working on an advertising plan. It is VERY time consuming to seek out, clean, sort, identify and inventory tiles, and I’m still trying to get everything organized. Every week I run across new items I was unaware of, and I am planning to take photos of tiles from the other manufacturers that I don’t have sample boards. The photos I sent you are sample boards that are over 20 years old. We also have several floor tiles (mostly 8″) that are no longer available to help people trying to repair their floors.

I asked Andy if they have stock of every tile shown in the boards, and if they stock sufficient to do entire bathrooms. He replied:

No we do not have stock of every tile shown. Some we have none, some we have many, and some we may only have a few or only certain pieces. However, we are acquiring new tiles all the time as we search salvage yards. We have tiles from over 20 different manufacturers, although some we only have a few.  However, I have been developing a cross reference index because many manufacturers copied colors/patterns of others so sometimes we can offer close substitutes. This is especially true for such patterns as oatmeal, golden granite (a white with tan specks) and the Dal Mayan series (which was copied by at least 6 companies).  Our specialty is helping those who are trying to repair existing installations, and we offer free identification. We are not a good source for new installations where buyers are looking for large quantities as they would sell out quickly and then we couldn’t help others.  I can also send a diagram that shows the different pieces made with their corresponding part numbers.  Most lay people do not know how to accurately describe what piece they need. We often hear customers say they need a “bullnose” and there are more than a dozen different pieces called “bullnose.”

Some vintage tile boards in Andy’s collection:

Link love:

• This company does not have a website. Contact Andy at Vintage Tile, 1619 E St Sacramento CA 95814; phone: 916-451-8424. 
• Our overview story: 16 places to find 4′ x 4′ bathroom tile in vintage colors

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