Funny that you found this tile...I am planning on using the calcutta rex tile in my bath reno. My contractor was discouraging me from using the "real thing" in my shower area; he feels that moisture and marble do not mix, and I am not a maintainance person...don't want to have to seal marble, etc. I found this porcelain tile at my tile store, and currently have a 12X24" polished "marble" sample in my home. I have faked out a number of people so far who thought the tile was marble (including three designers), so I am planning on using it. The sales person at the tile shop said that the company uses many different screens to create the tiles, so the "patterns" in the tile are more natural, and do not repeat or appear as uniform as they do with some other products. I plan to mix in some marble elements... the tile line does not include many trim pieces, so I'll need to mix and match between the "fake" porcelain and the real deal. It'll work, for sure; I've put marble trims up against the porcelain, and they match quite well. Anyway, it is the solution to my problem of wanting marble, but not being able to convince my husband or contractor that marble is a good choice for our bathroom. Another note: I am pretty sure that the sales person told me that the calcutta rex comes in polished in both the 12X24 and 18X18 sizes. (also, retail price quoted was $9.99 sf; my contractor will get a discount, bringing it down to about $7.)

You have a few more problems than some missing tiles. When trenching such as yours, the exposed sides of the old slab should have been drilled and pegged with rebar from one side to the other to help reduce the chance one side will rise or fall different than the other. Was this done in your case? If there is no rebar, the edges of the slab will need to be treated as a cold joint in which case you'd need a grout joint / expansion joint above each side of the trench. Then comes the need to remove more tiles in order to install a crack isolation membrane (or similar) to reduce the chance of in plane movement in the future. This will make for some ugly grout joints. Can I interest you in some nice carpeting?

This is just my humble opinion, but a lot of the wood-look porcelain/ceramic tiles that I've seen look better quality than some of the cheapo engineered or laminate "wood" floors out there. And after a year or two, I imagine the quality of the better tiles is even more evident compared worn low-end engineered or laminate flooring. Whether you're talking about tiles or engineered wood, quality makes a huge difference. I love the more unusual looks that wood-look tiles can pull off - looks that would be hard to achieve with real wood like driftwood, etc. For example - That would be a low-maintenance rustic chic look for my busy family lifestyle. When I had ceramic tile in the kitchen, I generally found that wearing "house" flip-flops eased the hardness for my feet. We just extended top-nailed site finished oak planks into our kitchen because we have an open concept living space. Love the look but it was super expensive and I am dreading the fussing at the kids (and myself) that will be required to keep it in decent condition. High traffic areas of the new hardwood were down to bare wood after 12 years before refinishing. I think a lot of flooring looks that are popular now will look dated in a decade - including engineered wood, etc. My grey kitchen tiles weren't too bad, but the 12"x12" shape looked dated after 10 years. So, realistically, plan what will work for you for the next decade, then if you're lucky that your choices work out for longer than that, it's a bonus :) . Here is a link that might be useful: Mission Stone Tile

What did you end choosing? I have a similar design dilemma and would love to know what you decided and if you still love your choice?