I'm stunned at the ignorance displayed in this forum. I've been installing ceramic/stone/porcelain, as a private contractor for over 25 years (i.e. since there were only 4x4, nominal of course, tiles available on walls and only porcelain mosaics or kiln baked ceramics for floors. You know, the ones with the knobs on the bottom side. Think I know what I'm talking about? I am recognized as a superior installer in Bergen County NJ as evidenced by staying in business for over 25 years and never spent a nickel on advertising. I work 6 and sometimes 7 long days a week at a moderately competitive price all by word of mouth. Anyway, on the subject of rectified tiles and how wonderful Porcelanosa tiles are. I very recently installed 500 plus square feet of rectified tiles of which the dimensions were 26 inches by 17.5 inches. BTW no one in this forum has mentioned a tile of that size yet. The degree of difficulty is extreme at that size. I was also asked to space the tile BUTT, not even 1/16 inch joint over an extremely well poured and "flat" slab of concrete.The area to be tiled has a straight run of over 60 feet long by 9 feet wide in a printing factory. Even though I am a very careful and conscientious worker I was given a D minus on the job and was not paid. I might even get sued.The bottom line is, if the floor is PERFECTLY FLAT (which NO floor is : repeat NO floor)you will still get a degree of lippage, no matter how minimal it is. Which leads the the almighty question of how tolerant the homeowner or building owner is when they look at your job. People in this forum have used the word good job. No one has said great job. Job quality is in the eye of the beholder, but rest assured no one can EVER expect a perfect install, with rectified tile. Go to any Porcelanosa showroom or for that matter, anywhere in the continental United States and examine the sample installations for yourself. Learn what to expect before you get your hopes too high. Going from a 1/16 joint to a 1/8 joint will greatly increase your satisfaction. Don.t be fooled by someone who says he can do what YOU want to make him do. We are all trying to make a living. In ending I would love some feedback from anyone who claims to put in a perfect floor (rectified w/1/16 joint, and I am willing to travel anywhere to see this work.

Regarding my questions about sealing, I contacted Linda Kennedy, National Sales Manager at linda.encore@mac.com. I didn't ask Linda about grout. I didn't have the knowledge to have a discussion with my tiler about sanded vs nonsanded grout & the size of the grout lines. GW provides a great education. I lucked out as my grout lines look great & I don't have any visible lippage. I'm sure you know this but be sure your tiler caulks, rather than grouts, where your tile meets your countertop. Also, not a bad idea to play around with your tiles & lay them out as you want them installed in case your tiler doesn't have an artistic eye regarding the color variation.

Industry standard is a ratio to the longest length of the tile. No smaller than 3/16, even with smaller tile. 1/4" would give you the flattest lay. Make sure that they use medium bedding mortar to set it with, and no more than 1/3 offset pattern.

Thank you! This particular tile comes in 6" x 48" ... 8" x 48" .... and 6" x 24". I almost wanted to mix the three but was told that anywhere I used 8" would have to be. Full room-length run and so would stand out, and while adding a relatively few 24" might help with the randomness I want, the installers could also put too many together creating choppy looking areas that would also stand out. In one flooring shop I visited I saw a wood laminate that actually. Ones with varying lengths and widths IN THE SAME BOX! It looked awesome on the floor display, very real wood like. I wish tiles came that way.