I had the AO Coliseum tile installed this past week. I'm concerned because the tile guy said I had to use a 3/16th grout spacing because "anything smaller will crack". I told him I wanted smaller grout lines so it looks more like marble (1/8th inch spacing). The tile place where I got it also told me to use a smaller grout line. I feel like I let him decide for me. I'm upset about this and I hope the 3/16th grout lines will look okay. The smaller grout lines look very nice in the photos here. I'm upset that I allowed him to sort of 'bully' me and tell me what I had to do. I also later looked on the AO website and they said 1/8 spacing is recommended and the tile is 'rectified' - darn it, I saw that too late! We're having the grout put in tomorrow (white)...hopefully the grout lines won't look too big. Just venting a little here. I do like the tile as a nice option to get the look of carrara marble. One question, does anyone have any thoughts on using a real carrara marble vanity top, or possibly black matte granite?

Do you happen to know what etched the sample? I ask because I have been living with my carrera marble countertop in my bathroom with Daltile Navelli Carrera Star tile and I have not yet seen any etching. However, I am concerned about it and would like to try to prevent it from happening in the future. I did go out of my way to put in a pH neutral hand soap and have not yet washed the countertop with anything but water. If you're looking for white, have you looked into some of the white granites and quartzites (white princess, luce di luna, white fantasy, to name a few)? They are very popular in the kitchens forum and the pictures look lovely.

That problem does occur, though it is rare. Sometimes the supplier changes their formula. Have you tried contacting AO to see if they have a different lot of the tile? The numbers on the box will identify the run. They may have a small amount of the old ones left in a warehouse. If you find the right person and appeal to them, they might be convinced to take a look. AO should be concerned if there is significant difference in the tile because they focus on the architect and design trade and this would not be acceptable in a client project.

That's a nice shower. I believe we used a 2x4 accent in our 4x8 shower because the tile walls wrapped around and we wanted the smaller tile for the vanity backslash. I know you said it's not enough of a size difference for you but this is what it looks like. I wanted to use a pencil tile between the 2 different sizes but DH didn't want to because of pooling water, difficulty using the squeegee to wipe down the walls, etc. I really like the way it turned out and the clean lines!