thanks jjaazzy! i too finally got to speak with john yesterday. my uneasiness about ordering from a source on another continent was put to rest. he is sending me three samples of the hammershell tile. i wanted to see the square and the rectangle patterns so he is making them up for me. the backing is porcelain and i knew about the coating from the website. so, for the hammershell tile the price is $28 US per square and he told me the shipping for 80 sq (my guesstimate) would be $300 US via UPS. i was planning to use it on the floor as a trim/border for marble or porcelain under the tub so it wouldn't be in a high traffic area. i had my suspicions about it's softness. i think by the tub would be safe though, just as long as we don't bring it out too far. i guess i'll make my decisions about that as we get a little closer. that's very strange about the shimmer under the halogens. i wonder if it would make a difference if viewed from another light source? i'll have to see it when it comes in. we don't have any lighting yet (they've just gotten to our roof) so i think i'll take it to a lighting showroom. THANK YOU for the heads up! in the meantime, let me know how you do with shelltile.net. i'll have to look them up as i haven't come across them before. i'll let you know when my samples come in. ...oh, and which of the tile are you looking to buy? thanks again!

How does one accomodate the smaller size of the Motawi tile in the design? If I'm understanding you correctly, you'll just have a wider joint around the decos, and that would get grouted. And how do I figure out exactly what size the niche should be framed out at to ensure that there will be no cuts needed at the sides and top (other than what's needed for the pattern). Lay some of the tiles out dry on your table. Herring bone isn't that hard to lay out. You're basically laying out steps with one row of steps laying horizontally, and the next laying vertically. Look at a herringbone design. You'll see what I mean, and once you see it in that light, it's not quite so complicated any more.

Well fooey. I checked out the Laticrete site, and I can't find any of their thinsets within a hundred mile radius of here. The big box places only carry their grouts. Also, instead of buying from hakatai directly this time (the first time I used them I purchased from them online), I am going with a local tile place where I purchased the argilla a few years ago. Although an avid net shopper, I have to give some of the local guys credit. They have been super helpful, and now carry the hakatai also. In fact, I was shocked that they're selling me only 7 sheets rather than forcing a whole box on me, and its almost $5 cheaper per sheet from them! Since they carry a lot of underlayment materials, I'm going to ask what they carry and would recommend for both the large travertine and mesh-backed glass. Any other thinset product you could recommend that I might be able to find around here? Looks like I might not be able to avoid an admix after all. I'm not so sure why I'm afraid of it, other than I just feel like keeping it simple will be better for an amateur like me.

cheri-- it depends. For installing terracotta tile (which is what you're talking about), you actually use TWO different sealers. The first is a grout release, which should be a water based penetrating sealer, such as Aquamix's Sealers Choice. The second is a top coat sealer, unless you want it to have the raw look to it, in which case, you'd just seal the whole thing after it's grouted with the same water based penetrating sealer. If the grout gets dirty before I seal it, do I have a problem? Or can I clean out the dirt before I seal or color it? OMG, yer gonna hafta rip it all out! (just kidding. :-) Did I get your heart racing?) Seriously-- if it gets dirty, hitting it with oxyclean and then rinsing it well will take care of it-- either way, for the colorant OR the sealer. Bill do you think it wasn't mixed correctly or used to much water when cleaning it? Or I heard tap water could make the grout lighter. Positano, there are more reasons for the grout to come out lighter than stars in the sky, starting with it being a chronic problem that grout charts are sometimes printed more "vividly" than the actual colors. Without analysing a piece of the grout, it would be impossible to say for sure, although your assertions are all possibilities.