Quote:
Originally Posted by Night Shift
Most H.D. tile is not square or flat. They buy seconds. It all depends on how picky you are, and how easily you want the installation to go.
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Not sure where you're getting your info from, but that is incorrect.(please don't say the internet)
When Home Depot buys tile, they buy tile for over 2,000 stores, they buy in bulk, unfortunatley no mom and pop store can compete, there fore their prices will be higher. If you want to use them by all means do, and if you happen to find it less expensive there and it's apples for apples, HD will meet and beat that price by 10%.
Home Depot dictates price, not the Vendors. Home Depot carries ceramic tile from .68 cents a sq. ft. to over 4.00 in stock, more product available thru special order. Quality of the product(ingredients in lamens term) dictate price, it has absolutely nothing to do with not being square or flat or cut incorrectly. Have people run into issues with tile? Perhaps, but most of the time, it's mixing calibers not unsquare tile. People spend 60k on Rang Rovers and some have issues with them, most don't. You can make a case about issues with almost everything on this planet.
If you buy 10 cases of ceramic tile you'll only need to be sure of 2 things dye lot and caliber need to be the same with EVERY box. People run into tile issues, when they mix lots, and the calibers are different. You can find that info stamped on the side of the box.
Single guy living alone in a home, those 18 x 18 tiles are more than good enough. Don't bother using hardi backer, cementboard, durock, you're already tiling on a cement slab. Keep in mind the bigger the tile, the more difficult it is to install, (you'll notice any depresseions or high spots in the slab) although it does speed up the process being bigger. Use the bigger notch trowel, 1/2" x 1/2" square notch or at the very least 1/4" x 3/8" square notch trowel on the floor butter the back of the tile, it's your house, do it right.
If your floor isn't perfectly flat, you'll tend to notice it more with a bigger tile, so buttering the back will help with that.
Custom blend(thin set mortar) from Home Depot is ok, i prefer Laticrete from Lowes, just my preference, ease of application. Again just my opinion, haven't used Custom in quite some time, maybe it's gotten better. If it was a small room i'd use speed-set, stuff is great, but sets up quick. You can grout after 2+ hours. Stuff came in handy, when doing bathrooms, didn't have to come back the next day and grout, could do it all in one day. Do not use pre mix anything, that stuff is crap, use dry product, both mortar and grout. Mix it to a peanut butter consistency, should be easy to spread but also thick enough to stay on the trowel. (Grout i mix just a tad bit smoother, easier to get into the grout space) Use sanded grout if you're going with a decent size grout line. Don't use non-sanded, stuff is easier to spread, but doesn't hold up well in big grout lines, Rule of thumb, sanded for the floor, non sanded for the walls, unless you're doing granite,marble,etc.
Don't leave the spacers in, don't push them down and grout over them, remove them. Grout and thin set don't adhere to them for a reason, so you can remove them prior to grout.
I'm far from a pro, and some people might disagree with what i'm saying, just going off what has worked for me. I've done more than enough side jobs (over 15 yrs) with a retired floor guy(he's the real pro) floors, bathrooms, tub surrounds, jacuzzis, outdoor patios etc, to know a little bit about tiling. Good luck.
As far as that tile, it's well worth the price, and definitley acceptable for that application.