Hey guys, I'm liking that Elmers glue, and latex paint suggestion, cheap, and possibly just sitting in a can downstairs, IF, it's not a solid mass of dried up crap by now, paint, that is. I have had some projects that haven't cracked, BUT, some that have. I'd always heard that HYDRATION was key in having a finished project NOT crack, you know, to hydrate it long enough before taking it off and using it. I'm hoping that IF I can't use my old latex paint that is downstairs, IF it's all hard and non usable, AND, I hit up the local WM paint section, and buy some god ugly color that is REDUCED majorly, I'm HOPING that my Hypertufa project WON'T be showing streaks of the god ugly color through it. I want to make a hypertufa planter for succulents. I'm guessing the liming effect of the cement may make the paint color less likely to be bright or showy? I remember buying a small amount of "silica fume" years ago, and never using it, I wonder IF I can use that on this project OR would it be big waste of it, that I should use on a much more delicate project? Really, anyone who knows just what one would use "silica Fume" for, please tell me, I forget what I bought it for, and, if it goes bad quickly, I am sure it has been way too long to use it now. BTW, I have an OPENED BAG OF PORTLAND Cement, it's been open for a few years at least, can I still use it? I've seen cement sitting outside in a heap outside of a place that makes and sells concrete statues, surely sitting in my basement in a bag it's fine, right?

Well, I've had flagstone but not set in concrete. It looks great with a ground cover, like creeping thyme, growing between the stones. Then it won't matter if the move a bit. I've also used fieldstone for paths and dig deep holes to bury them in, with a flat side up. They don't budge. If you want it in concrete, I guess this doesn't help much. I don't see how it can stay put with the ground freezing and thawing. It might depend on how deep the base is underneath. It will need a couple of feet of a sandy base.

Thank you all for your educational comments regarding this vendor. I was considering VTB for a solid surface shower base and will definitely NOT be ordering from them after reading the reviews. So many products arrive damaged these days that to think a seller would decline to provide replacements or offer to compensate someone who spent $$ with them is ridiculous. I was considering VTB as I had several vanities delivered by Lowes arrive with hairline cracks and damaged corners (oops dropped during shipping), and similar experiences with products from Wayfair, and Appliances Connection (stove looked like someone had run it over with a forklift), so I was broadening my search. You all have saved me some time and I appreciate it. I may just do custom since that, I can do myself, and get it right the first time. Oh well.

I just took a similar style tile out of my kitchen. Not the tile's fault -- it was the patching done as part of my kitchen reno that was poorly done and ate at me to the point that we decided to rip it out and start over while putting hardwoods in the rooms that didn't get new flooring before. We had crema marfil in our entry and powder room and the porcelain tile in the master bath ad laundry room as well as the kitchen, breakfast and family room. I always thought both looked good. I understand what you mean about the builder can say he's going to charge whatever he likes, but really, it's not like people are standing in line to have houses built these days. It doesn't mean you can't ask the builder why he feels he needs to charge more to have a tile laid in a straight line with offsetting joints instead of grid joints. It is not harder or more work. If it's that he has to communicate that to the tile setter -- offer to do it yourself and let him sleep in. I paid extra to have my tile done in a pinwheel in the kitchen and family rooms as well as on the diagonal in the master bath, but it wasn't that much and it was much more complicated to lay. It's been a while, but I think it was $1 to $1.50 a square foot for those patterns plus there was additional tile waste allowed. Your brick pattern shouldn't require more tile -- but maybe he's thinking it would? The trend these days is to have fewer flooring materials, so one in all those rooms would be fine.