Quote:
Originally Posted by red sky
Yeah, I was actually thinking slate may be a little better for the kitchen.
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The only thing to keep in mind with slate is it is not an even surface. Now some slate is more uneven than others and any good tile installer will know how to remove the excess. If this is a job you are doing yourself, keep that in mind and ask about the type of slate you might buy. Slate as well has to be well sealed. Not a hard thing to do, but it has to cure properly before you apply the sealant. If parts of the base are still damp, and the slate is not dried completely, once you add the sealant, the color will pretty well stay the same.
A lot of the porcelain tile out has an uneven surface as well. But with porcelain, at least your surface is already sealed. You will have to cure your grout lines though and apply a sealant to them. Well I should say it is desirable, especially in a kitchen area. It will help prevent stains. If you are messy in the kitchen and spill stuff, for sure, seal your grout lines. My installer put on 2 coats of sealant initially and 6 months later, I put on another coat. You can get a small applicator bottle with sort of a little brush end, a snap to seal the grout lines.
Northland Construction has a special sealant for the grout used on floors as well. Penetrates more and is more durable than the stuff you would use to seal grout lines in your bathroom shower.
We just did a big reno in our house, took a year, but is now done. I went with porcelain tile in my kitchen area, back entrance, laundry room etc. I have a large country style kitchen, big area, so went with big tiles, 18" by 18". Keep the size of your tiles in line with the size of your kitchen. For my kitchen, having a bunch of small tiles, with a gazillion grout lines would be pretty awful to look at. The tiles I chose also have an uneven grout line, in other words, not completely straight. I wanted a Tuscany feel, something that would look like old natural stone tiles, and the ones I found really do bring out that feel. They are not uniform in color either, there is variance, so picks up the different hues in my granite countertops and wood in my cupboards. Quite a natural look and feel in the end.
There are a gazillion products out there now, all different looks, sometimes almost too much to look at, can get pretty confusing unless you know exactly the look and feel you want.