Wow! I am dumb-founded by this but, after checking with Dawn at Sonoma Tilemakers, I've confirmed that these REALLY are their instructions for installing their crazed product in a wet enviroment. BUT, even after spending hundreds of dollars on the extra sealer and paying even more hundreds of dollars to have someone soak and towel-polish these tiles to prevent streaking, you will STILL have to keep a regular maintenance schedule to re-seal them every 6 months or so!!! I'll admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong here. This manufacturer really does insist on a 5-minute soak in sealer for it's crazed tiles. Who would'a thunk? So, it would appear to me that this precaution is solely intended to give the manufacturer some legal "cover" as it does not extend any more lasting protection than a thorough sealing prior to and following the application of grout. Shaughnn

My tiles are the creamy off white Horus, and my grout lines are quite thin. After we got them up on the backsplash, we kind of decided we liked the grid effect that showed up from the gaps between the tiles. So, even though our original intent had always been to just use a matching grout, we decided we wanted a darker grout to highlight the breaks between tiles. I went to the stores and came home with several grouts in different colors. Then, I made up a sample of the medium to darker grey color (the one that probably would have been our first choice) and put it between some tile remnants. Totally unacceptable bleeding of the colors into the crackles despite they had been sealed prior to being mounted and after installation! So, I instead went with a grout color that was just slightly darker than the tiles. As has been the experience of so many others, it dried much lighter than the store's color samples and the color indicated on the grout bag. It blends right in. It's fine. We'll live with it, and it probably is more appropriate anyway for my 100-year-old house. There are TONS of reports from people whose grout dried a lot lighter than their samples, so take this into account. And, knowing what I know now I wouldn't plan on anything other than a matching grout with crackle tiles. I need to put a grout sealer on this weekend and have found there is controversy about these too and whether they are even needed. Miracle told me that Porus Plus is their most appropriate product for a backsplash because it is intended to repel grease and oil. I may also call a couple other sealer manufacturers today if I get a chance to see if there might actually be a product that I could use as a combo tile and grout sealer that will actually seal crackle tiles.

Crl I know you feel bad, but posting more detailed misinformation doesn't really help. It's OK. We all make mistakes. To put this to bed I checked out WZ for you. Here's what they say verbatim: "CERAMIC TILE In general, most ceramic tile does not require sealing. However, ceramic tile with crackle glazes should be sealed prior to grouting to keep the grout from staining the clay body. See usage guide for specific guidelines." From the Usage Guide: "General Note about Crackle Glazes and Crazing Because they are prone to absorbing stains, crackle glaze tiles should not be used as kitchen counter surfaces. Any installation of crackle glaze tiles should be sealed with a penetrating sealer prior to grouting. In areas that experience regular moisture, such as showers, resealing crackle glazes is a necessary maintenance procedure. Crazing defines the occurrence of crackle in the glaze surface of the tile after installation. This usually occurs because of tensile stresses produced by temperature fluctuation, causing expansion and contraction of the tile body or setting bed. Crazing is a naturally reoccurring episode in some installation environments and Walker Zanger cannot accept claims defining crazing as a reason for product failure. " Actually, based on their definition, crazing only happens on installation, so like it or not you have a crackle tile. Funny, no? I think your supplier should special order non-cracked or -crazed pieces for you. Or just return them and get pieces from another supplier. WZ sees this as a defect and won't cover any further crazing should it occur after installation. Good luck.

I don't know if this comes too late, but we have Walker Zanger Gramercy Park crackle subways in our backsplash including behind our gas range top. After over 3 years of heavy use they look as beautiful as the day that they were installed. They were sealed at install, but have not required any additional maintenance. The area that takes the most abuse is behind our sink and there isn't a mark or stain on any tile indicating that they are porous and need to be resealed. I also have not seen any additional 'crackling'. I can highly recommend them to be used in a backsplash.