Marazzi has been hit and miss in terms of quality over the years. I tend to steer people away from their stuff, but some have used it. Most of the trouble I've has is with too much vairation in tile size, and with tiles being pringle potato chip shaped, slightly out of flat. Back to the "white line". I'm not familiar with the Marazzi "white line", is it right at the glaze/body demarkation? Grout won't "stain" the line, but it should cover it. It's just a matter of not wiping too much grout out of the joint when cleaning. Grout can wear over time, but it's really not that common in residential unless the installer messed up the grout and it ended up with less strength, then it could powder away over time. But again, no promises, as I haven't seen this white line for myself. My big concern is that if some tiles have the line and others don't, it's a problem of some sort. It might be a significant enough problem where it might show through the grout line, or at a cut edge. Inadequate glazing coverage? I don't know. The Villa Villeta that I've seen were pretty good tiles. DAL has several faux stones that are through-color, a few more that are glazed. I just put in an order for DAL Continental Slate, the Asian Black. A through-color. Not much "slate" color variation on the surface, just black/charcoal. Decent texture. It's a good tile.

Mirage Porcelain Tile: My name is John Tudisco, I am one of the owners of Fiorano Tile. I came across this post and wanted to first thank POSITANO for your business. I hope the shade variation did not cause undue stress. I am pleased to see they you like it and that it looks great. TO: RUFINOFOX, we do not have a NJ showroom, but we are open 7 days a week, so maybe a weekend drive would work. If more convenient, we can communicate by email and I would be able to offer an 'out of state' discount to you for shopping with us. We are NOT an internet based company, some of them you can NOT trust. We are a family owned business, and have been importing from Italy for over 32 years. My email is john@fioranotile.com You can let me know what you need, and I will make it work! Here is a link that might be useful: Fiorano Tile Showrooms: Elmont, Williston Park, Bellmore 1-800-878-TILE

We have a rustic slate bathroom which I love and am extremely happy with. That said many of the comments made here about it are legitimate thoughts to consider. The tiles are uneven, and if a tiler without a lot of experience laying slate does the job, you could have bumps in areas of the flooring that won't appeal to your feet. It can run cold, but that has not been an issue for us even in sub zero weather, it's just not something we care about. It's very hard and can be hard on one's legs if you're standing for a long period of time. The pro's are that it's very low maintenance though, seldom shows dirt and super easy to clean when it does which was important to me. I don't agree with Lakeeffect in that you don't have to get Vermont Slate. If you research it at all, you'll find there are lots of different types of slate that will work fine. We didn't get Vermont slate. I did however take the suggestion of a pro in the bathroom forum and soaked some tiles in a bucket of water for several days to see if they would break down. It didn't and it's done amazingly well in all areas including the shower. These are old pictures from our remodel just after the install and sealant. It's called Indian Autumn and the pictures don't really do it justice. We wanted everything we've upgraded with to be of natural materials and earthy, so we didn't go with a porcelain, but if it's not something you care about, I think that the Daltile would be a good alternative.

I'm repeating this because I accidentally posting it on your other thread: Corinne Masterson I responded to your other thread about looking for concrete-looking tiles. The Emser Hangar and Emser Uptown were not expensive at all! I got 12 x 24 Emser Uptown Sugar Hill for my shower walls and ceiling (steamer), and bigger tiles are usually less expensive. I got a 2" x 2" for the floor, and those tend to be more expensive, but it's a small area. For my Dad's house I got Hangar Sand 12" x 24" for the bathrooms floors, and a darker Hangar color for 2" x 2" shower floor. The tile cost is one thing, but skill, experience and pro-labor is another. My tile pro is so fantastic, he build my steamer, installed a very $$$$ entire linear mosaic wall, plus the 12 x 24 field tile walls and ceiling in my master; and believe me, I am not worried about waterproofing problems with him. AND he was able to make all the super-cheap Home Depot tile look like a million bucks in my 3 upstairs bathrooms he remodeled. The pro that you hire for the installation is more important than the tile you choose IMO. Cheap tile + cheap installer = a disaster of waterproofing problems, lippage, horrible layout, yucky and uneven grout lines, sliver cuts; don't do it!! Cheap tile + excellent/expensive installer = great for any bathroom: upstairs/ kids /guest /rentals /master: If the tile you like just so happens to be cheap, such as from HD or Lowes that's fine. An excellent installer will make it look wonderful! Seriously, my awesome installer was totally fine with HD tile for all our upstairs kids'/guests' bathrooms, and it all looks beautiful. And again, no worries about waterproofing when you hire an experienced pro and pay them for their skill and expertise. Expensive tile + cheap installer = so sad; you buy this lovely, beauitful, expensive tile, and then a hack installer ruins it and you get a disaster of waterproofing problems, lippage, horrible layout, yucky and uneven grout lines, sliver cuts; don't do it!! Expensive tile + excellent/expensive installer = the best of both worlds. We bought a very expensive mixed glass/marble/porcelain mosic for an entire wall of our master shower and the tile pro I hired did an excellent job installing it. There were some issues with the tile I selected, but in the hands of a real pro, it can all be handled. The reason I didn't type "expensive installer," is because "excellent/expensive" is the better description. I had an expensive hack trash my bathroom. Expensive doesn't always mean excellent. That's another story...