Please read before purchasing from FastFloors. Back in January we decided to remodel our master bath. Upon a search of the internet, we found FastFloors to have the lowest price on our tile of choice but also found many poor reviews. Still the price was considerably lower, so I gave them a call. One of the first things I brought up was the poor reviews. I was assured by a very nice man named Ken, that most were due to customer misunderstandings about rebates. I told him I didn't want a rebate, just the best price up front. The next item I brought up was time of delivery as we didn't want to lose the use of our bathroom for an extended period. He said that our particular tile would take 2 weeks to round up from 2 locations in Florida and one in California, and another week to palletize and ship it all together to our location. I ordered our tile on March 28 and began demo work on our bathroom a few days later. I tentatively scheduled our tile setter for 3 weeks out . As a retired builder of upscale homes, I had always expected and depended on suppliers to deliver product when promissed. Scheduling was critical as the materials needed to be on site when the sub contractors arrived. On April 11, one week out from the scheduled delivery, I gave FastFloors a call to check on our tile status. Ken said he would have Amy, the shipping agent, give me a call to fill me in. The next day I got a call from her "CONFIRMING" that the tile was at the warehouse and I should receive it within a week. I then notified our tile setter and scheduled him to begin his pre-tile rough-in on April 16. The next morning, as the tile setters are arriving, I get a call from Amy, telling me that she is sorry but our tile has yet to arrive in California and that it would be May 5th before it would arrive "in port". What??? Nobody said anything about shipping by water! After the initial shock, I went into a very profane rant with her. I then had to send the tile setters home and break it to my wife that we would be without our bathroom for an additional month or more. Disgusted and wanting to speak to the person at the highest level, I searched and found a statement on the FastFloor website from a Mr. Cuozzo saying that if a customer encountered any issue, he could be contacted directly by email. On April 19, I sent him an email regarding my complaint. I NEVER RECEIVED A REPLY!!! On May 9th, Amy calls to inform me that our tile will leave the warehouse on the 11th and arrive on the following Monday or Tuesday. I then rescheduled the tile setter for that Wednesday. IT NEVER SHOWED UP! When I called to ask where the tile was, she said that she had no way to confirm if it had left or was still in the warehouse. I went on an even more extreme profane rant as I had to cancel the tile setter again. On May 17, I finally received "positive" confirmation from a trucking company that our tile would be delivered on May 22. It showed up late that afternoon. Due to FastFloors false promises, we have had no use of our bathroom for an extra 5 weeks. If you don't mind the poorest service ever but want the best price available, I highly recommend "SlowFloors". On a good note, Amy always kept up a professional front during my rants and the tile setter has finally started laying our tile. It is gorgeous!

We did this in our m-i-l apartment we just built and will use the same in the house. It looks fantastic and people can't believe it's not real wood. We both love the look of wood and wanted it. But for the same reasons, dogs and living on 15 acres and the dirt we knew real wood wouldn't hold up. We went with Interceramic Timberlands in Golden Saddle. The only thing I told my tile guy is that I wanted the smallest grout lines possible. He did a great job. I have a couple of pictures but they are on my office computer. I will try to figure out how to post one tomorrow. One thing I was told was to not use the really long planks. Keep it 24" because the longer tend to warp worse and are harder to lay. And if you're hoping it will be less costly than real wood..... Nope, not around here anyway. Price was comparable to a good hardwood. I love it and it will be the main flooring in our house.

The tile world is changing right now. Cutting edge tile is produced by ink jet. That means pictures of real stone are shot and tile is printed with up to 58 ink jet heads in high resolution; up to 96 different images in a series not 9 with the conventional roller or silk screen approach. So what does that mean for you. I got 2 cases of Ink jet tile; since all tiles seem different a person can not tell from a single tile. When I laid the 18 by 18 down it didn't quite work. So I tried 6 by 6. Wow it looked like real stones. I want to try a box of 9 by 9 by Panaria. The world of design changes constantly. With ink jet tiles and stain proof grout we may move back to smaller tiles. Everything goes in cycles. Lowe's (my local store; not the one 2 miles down) got two types of ink jet tiles last week by Stone Peak. I am going to use the 6 by 6 to make a countertop for a bathroom. Looks sooo real. Ask around at tile places if they have ink jet tile yet. Most will look at you like your nuts and want you to explain what you mean, but some are up to date. Alway, always look at a whole case before you make a decision; that will give you a hint as to what you will get. Here is a link that might be useful: See D' mansion and VItalyty

I would agree with hollysprings that lighting is very important. Very Important. However, I also think it is highly personal. In our kitchen we have nine sources of light: The ceiling recessed lights (there are several of them but I am counting them as one), the pendant over the sink, the light in the vent hood, the small lamp on the counter, two floor lamps, some bounce lights on top of our big oak piece, the back door entry lights, and the schoolhouse fixture. Why so many? They serve different purposes. Many of them provide pools of light in different areas and this, plus the ability to dim almost all of them, gives my kitchen the warmness that is important to me. The recessed ceiling lights were all we had when we moved in and they weren't on dimmers. Was there enough light in the kitchen? Yes. But it was very harsh and uncomfortable to me. Some people just want LOTS of light. I want to control how much light I have and where it is. There was a recent post about whether to use dimmers. You might want to read it to better understand how YOU feel about light. I don't agree with hollysprings about the strip lighting under the cabinets. I know it is popular today but I like pools of light, and strip lighting doesn't do that. I tried mocking it up with rope lighting and I did not like the effect. There also are some things on my kitchen counter that I'd rather not light up (like my microwave). We always try to mock things up as much as we can so we can see how it will be. For lighting, we use clamp ons and whatever else we can come up with. As I said, I think it's personal. Sometimes I go into someone's house and I want sunglasses because the light is so glaringly bright. Some people come into my house and they want the dimmers turned up. You said you liked my kitchen. I bet it has a lot to do with the lights and the warmth they make. BTW, your choices indicate you ARE thinking it about how it all works together. Good job on that. I think the post you wrote on super white was one of the best I've ever read on this forum; it was so informative and thoughtful and kind. Lots of people have responded so positively to that post that I bet most of us would do anything we could for you.