They're both subsidiaries of the same parent company, and most of their products are very similar. Even before they were both taken over years ago, they were each other's biggest competitors because their product lines were so close.

Wow,, am I glad I checked this thread. First-- Metro is annother tile company. I'm pretty sure instead of having lugs on the sides of the tiles like Dal's, it has a raised ridge that runs the whole perimeter of the tile, but does the exact same thing. As for HD, they have the very same Daltile, but they also have U.S. Ceramics, as well. Also not a bad tile. Secondly, as for matte vs brite glaze, there's no difference in maintanence. The only difference, pretty much is your taste. Third, the only problem I forsee with respect to hanging the Durock is that any time I've hung cement board where plaster was, the studs never seem to be in good alignment. But that's not a big deal. They can either be hand planed or shimmed, as needed. Other than that, it's a piece of cake. Lastly, DO NNOT take those HD classes. I sat in on one and tore the instructor to bits, to the point that he was ready to have me removed from the store. Those classes are a joke. If you want the real deal information, as well as a BUNCH of pros to pretty much hold your hand through the whole thing, go to John BRidge's forum. the link's below. They (we) won't steer you wrong. Here is a link that might be useful: John Bridge's Tile Advice Forum

We just had our bathroom tiled in the US Ceramic subway from Home Depot, I think the color is called "snow white." It's definitely off white, and how it looks with your tub will depend on your tolerance for mismatched whites. We installed an American Standard toilet and tub (Americast), and those go very well with the HD subway tile. That's partly why we chose that brand of toilet and tub, in fact. Our sink is bright white and it's fine because it's small... but I don't think I'd like the difference if the tub were that color. The white shower curtain that I brought home looked awful against the Home Depot tile. (We ended up with one that matches the wall paint instead.) Whichever one you choose, check out the in-stock trim too. Lowe's has a couple of different whites but there are different trim pieces available for them, and you don't want to be stuck having to use trim you don't like. Home Depot had limited trim pieces available for their US Ceramic snow white (the only edging was plain bullnose). I wanted a Victorian or chair rail cap and was able to find it at a local tile store that also carried US Ceramic, but I think I was lucky. I am pretty sure Home Depot also carries "ice white" tile but I can't remember if it comes in subway or only in square tile. I know they had both "ice white" and "snow white" grout, anyway. All that said, I really really like the Home Depot tile in our bathroom... it's soft and not "clinical" looking and is very pretty with our greenish-blue wall paint. But then our tub matches it, too. Good luck to you with yours! p.s. Oh yes, do remember to check out your flooring with the tile as well... we had to rethink ours when we saw it at home under the "real life" lighting. Matching whites is a bear but we got it to work out in the end.

I just want to update for 2019 and say that Marazzi has moved to new ownership recently, and I've seen reviews around the web about people complaining that there is an increased grayish tint to some of the tiles with more recent production beginning around 2018. @bill_vincent stated back in 2009 in a previous comment in this thread that the Marazzi tile he'd used wasn't always square, but we had tile layers this year who recommended it as a good-quality tile, so your mileage may vary. Upon visiting a Marazzi showroom in my area, I was very impressed with the variety and style of the tile on display. Thanks for all the comments here on Florida Tile. I believe I'll avoid it based on these reviews. We used Italian-made Happy Floors tile for a recent master bathroom project and are pleased with it. The installers said it was very square, and the style we chose was a through-body porcelain. Every word-of-mouth recommendation and online review I've read about USA-made Crossville tile has been good. Apparently they have a strict system of quality control. The one complaint is that it can be expensive compared to similar tile in other lines. However, the finish coating on some of Crossville's products is supposedly high-tech to make it more cleanable and long-lasting, so maybe it would be worth it. We've found that our area ProSource seems to offer the best price on Crossville and runs periodic sales on it. Note that there is more than one tile company with the name "Crossville," referencing the location of the city of Crossville, Tennessee, where these companies are located, but I'm talking about Crossville Inc. also known as Crossville Studios. It appears that Dal-Tile's quality is across the board and varies from style to style. Thanks everyone for the input.