I used epoxy without much fuss and I never used it before and only tiled once before in my life when I did my small kitchen backsplash area last year. So laticrete epoxy isn't that hard, honest. Once its done, your done, and you will have a durable grout. Have you considered urethane grout? It needs a 7 day cure time, without use, but other than that I've heard good reports. It is pre-mixed and the container can be recovered for use later; how long, I don't know. A high end tile shop in my locale uses it for their display floors because of the ease in use and the ability to cover and save. It is a Hydroment brand that they use. I have used the Hydroment thinset and have been very pleased with the product. They make the Ditra-Set that I used for my Ditra installation. Regarding Laticrete SpectraLock: What I did for my floor grout was mix a custom color with laticrete spectralock colors Platinum and Silver Shadow and some other grays. I did some small mixing with the small cartons of color you can get at Lowes, but I only purchased one tub of the epoxy. I prepped all my dry color combos and kept records. Then I mixed the epoxy and divided into small disposable containers mixing the dry into each. Ultimately, I came up with a 3part platinum and a 1part silver shadow that I used on my floor. I am very happy with it. I bought a large sized Laticrete kit of the Platinum online, that was linked through the Laticrete web site. I then bought a small carton of just the dry Silver Shadow color at Lowes and measured this SS amount, removed that same amount from the Platinum then added the SS. The large kit is equal to 4 small kits. So that was my 3:1 ratio. Of note the Laticrete Spectralock in the small cartons at Lowes is the "Spectralock Premium" and the large kit I got on line was the "Spectralock Premium Pro". The colorants are all the same, the epoxy, parts A&B are what differs. The Pro I think is a newer product and maybe has better application properties. As I said I ordered mine online, but you may be able to get the Pro version through special order at Lowes. Here is my finished grout, Silver Shadow on the left and Platinum on the right, My custom is the grout in the tile:

dazed, the shower works very well (we had to use it for the last 2 weeks while our bathroom had a leak). The big handle is the temperature control. You put it where you like the temp and leave it alone. (Well, adjust for summer and winter, I suppose) The two smaller levers turn on the volume of water. One for the handheld, one for the main head. Yes, you can use both at the same time. If you want chrome, the price is very reasonable. Alas, I wanted nickel. Oh, forgot to add that all the other hardware is Moen Kingsley. I like the TP holder, the rod pivots up to change the roll. No more having the spring-loaded one fall while you are trying to get it back into the holder.

one can find a saddle/threshold at the big box stores, but sounds like you need one with a "custom" cut, called "Hollywood" that bridges one height floor to another. it can be beveled on one side or both. I got mine at the local stone/granite place. pretty standard fare for them. gave them the dimensions and the height for both sides and the elevation off the floor and they will bevel it so it is just so :-)

Thanks all. We literally layed out all the tile last night. We layed out the insert also and glad we did. We discovered that it caused the first row of tile to be layed a certain way so that the staggered look could flow properly. We also decided to start the staggered look at the foyer, horizontal to the door. Where the foyer turns we will lay a decorative strip to divide where the two patterns meet. Then we will start the stagger at the garage door, also horizontal. When you stand at the T in the hall/foyer you can see the horizontal staggered pattern at both doorways. By having the stagger in hall be at the turn in foyer rather than ending at the T, it allows the hall to look bigger. Having the transitional decorative strip at the T seemed to chop the hall off too much. From way up on the stairs looking down at the tile, the strip looks good. The bath and laundry will now have a staggered look rather than a diamond angle. I will post pics when done. Magothyrivergirl- Hope you read my post in fireplaces about the paint issue I had with KozyHeat. It was a nightmare that at least got resolved. Considering a granite tile fell off wall onto the back of my head, resulting in several staples- ouch!- I was not pleased to come across this paint issue. But in the end it looks really nice. I will post pics of that once I get he floors all done.