I have a 7x11' bathroom. We put in 24" squares on the floor at the suggestion of our bathroom designer. Only 3 across from the shower to the vanity. I love it.

Can you do a graph paper laying them out on the floor? Back in 1976 we put 12" squares in our front entry, where 2"x6" tiles had been by the original builder for this model home. I was amazed at how much larger the area seemed with the big tiles.

Caveat- They are expensive in case you cut them wrong. But worth it grout wise!

-Babka

I agree with Babka. I used large tiles in my small bath and love them. (not as large as yours, though)
but they may be more difficult for your installer to lay well. if the installer will lay them and has confidence that the job will be done well, then I would do it.

Layout will be EXTREMELY important. You will definitely need to lay out the tile on graph paper, to scale, before you start cutting a setting tile. The subfloor and underlayment has to be dead flat because lippage and things like that are potential problems. There is a higher percentage of waste with large format tiles, so you need to make sure you will have enough.

Technique is also very important to control things like lippage. I have a friend whose bathroom had One Tile that had significant lippage on it and it was in a spot that everyone stubbed their toe on it. They actually went to small claims court or mediation (about this and some other things) and the result of the mediation was that since the Entire Floor would have to torn up and done again it would be too much of a hardship on the contractor because of one tile. My friends nearly sold the house because of that one tile. They hated the bathroom after that and had to cover most of the floor with a rug thick enough to compensate for that one tile.

Could be great--do you think your installer thought they were too big because of looks or because his skill level wasn't up to the job?

Just had a 18x36 WZ porcelain tile installed in my master bath (see link). Large irregular shaped bathroom so I had room for 4+ tiles and 7+ tiles across the bathroom. My tile installer has seen it all and had no issues with my tiles, however big or small. No lippage with the large tiles. Love the large tile area and limited grout lines.

The 2" x 2" size of the same tile were harder to get level in the shower area!

Here is a link that might be useful: WZ Stark tile

Thank you for the great input! You all made me feel much better about the large tiles. As it turned out, the installer agreed to put them in. I am hoping that it looks okay. He is nervous about breaking a tile and not having enough overage since the tiles are so large. Fingers crossed! Maybe we will even like it more than the smaller ones? :-)

You guys are terrific!

Sara

Any final photos? Just came across some clearance 18x36 and was thinking of buying it

neffproconstruction, I don't have a photo handy right now, but I will say that I LOVE the floor. It is so nice having fewer grout lines! My contractor was not happy about installing the large tiles, so you might want to check with your contractor first (unless you plan to DIY.) :-) I will try to take a few photos to post. However, I highly recommend the large tiles: could not be happier!

Eh, we have tiles that large in our church basement, which is a huge space. I can't imagine them in a small home-sized room.

Of course the woman from the store's going to say they'll look great. What else would a salesperson say about something that's already been ordered?