Hi WorldMom, I hope you are enjoying your beautiful powder bath. I have a couple of quick questions for you regarding grout. Can you tell me what color grout you used in your master bath? I'm assuming you did not use the quartz lock on it? It's probably too soon too tell, but have you noticed a difference so far w/the cleaning/wear of the Quartz Lock in your powder bath? I did a quick search on Quartz Lock and it seemed that installers gave it mixed reviews as to whether it was easier to work w/than latex. Thanks so much!

Reposted from the Old House Forum: I just discovered Subway Ceramics today. I am contemplating installing their white 3x6 for a kitchen backsplash (white Ikea kithcen--Lidingo--with oak floors, stainless steel perimeter counters and lyptus butcher block island top). Has anyone installed SC's product (or had it installed?) Frankly, I am worried that my tileman (who I am sure is proficient but no artisan) will not get the 1/16" grout lines right, which I want gray-colored. Also,I am at odds with my wife and decorator over this. They want handmade white-glazed terracotta 3x6 subway with irregularities in the size--and white grout. I'm sure it's a nice look, but it ain't what they got in the subway. I'm from New York City and had a "train pass" in high school. I'm also a lifelong subway buff who visited the old Jay St. Transit Museum at least 20 times. Wife and Decorator are from Jersey...nome sayin? Anyway, my wife is cool with me making the ultimate call on the backsplash 'cuz she is in total control of exterior and interior paint colors, but we still need to hammer out all the kinks, so to speak. Anyway, I'm wondering whether I should believe the hype that SC spews about being the only manufacturer of truly flat, square-edged subway tile. Also, is obtaining uniform 1/16 " grout lines some kind of tremendous installation challenge? Comment? (My backsplash is only about 31 sf, so cost is not a major issue.) Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.subwayceramics.com/

Hi Donna, Ugh. Well, we used a NobleSeal membrane underneath it, which is waterproof blah blah. Then the 1" hex tile was porcelain, so also impermeable. According to John Bridge and Bill Vincent, what happened was that the latex or whateverthehell from the thinset needed lots more time to evapoprate or whatever than we gave it, due to the fact that it couldn't go anywhere but through the cracks. Even though we waited about three days, it wasn't enough, and after we grouted, the stuff kept evaporating through the grout and turned it white. I defer to the experts on how long you need to wait if you didn't use so many impermeable materials. The grout package said something like 48 hours I think. But since we did use these materials, I think we should have waited several days or even a couple of weeks. But who knew?? Oh well, it's fixed now. But man was it a pita. Ivette

We used American Olean Ice White. You can get it at local tile shops or special order from Lowes for $60 per box of 100 tiles (so $4.80/square foot). When you use the ice white you can order trim pieces in more styles than the stock gloss white they carry in the store. Dal Tile also has a bright white that was slightly less expensive per square foot. We chose American olean because we were using their satinglo hex mosaic floor tile. We are happy with the quality and the installer had no complaints.