You know, it's interesting how when we travel to Europe or other parts of the world where we can see buildings several hundred years old, we appreciate the patina of age on things -- plaster showing its age, cracked stone paving, irregular color in brick, time-worn marble, and so on. In the US we always want to rip out the old, solid materials because of minor imperfectons, and replace them with something shiny, new, and not necessarily of equal quality. If there is a real problem with your tiles -- undermined and unstable surface, safety issues, water leaks, or whatever -- sure, replace them. But otherwise the older material has charm that pavers do not have, in particular with your nice brick wall and balusters. You'd want all your architectural elements to be speaking the same language.

Hi! Thanks for having me on your forum I'm a newbie here (first post). But I''ve been referring to this thread as I want to make a grave maker for a deceased pet. I wondered if anyone with some concreting knowledge could help me to choose the right material to use? I'm in Australia too, so some of the materials are named differently. I've tried regular concrete (the pre-mixed kind with gravel in it) I found the gravel made it lumpy and difficult to get a nice impression with the letters. BTW I'm using the Milestones plastic letters. My next try was with mortar (i'm sure it's called the same thing over there - here is Aus it's cement and sand) the result was better, but the block itself is pretty crumbly and I'd love to achieve a perfect smooth top and crisp letters. Can anyone help? I have heard on another forum that people have used 'vinyl' cement, but I've never heard of it - maybe it's called something else over here - and can't find it in my hardware store. Thanks very much :D

handmeouts, thank you so much,i was just goin to post to see if anyone had a cutting to spare. where do i send the envelope?your move "internationally" sounds exciting. thanks again,molly

I have a 10th grade education too. My husband is trilangual, has 2 advanced degrees, one in English (though it's his second language) and one in Physics and currently, he's in school for programming. He's the smartest person I know and yet he comes to me for advise. Go figure! He says that he may be smart but I'm the wise one. I say we balance each other out. My point is, education comes in all different forms and the opportunities available to each of us may differ but that doesn't make one any less intelligent than the other. I am always so impressed with the wide and diverse thinking that is shared here. EVERYONE brings something unique and worth reading to this forum and that's what makes it special. Just because someones' punctuation isn't on par is really no indication of what they have to bring to the table. This thread has been a reminder to me that even with the little things, tolerance is key.