Your Opinion on Kitchen Tile

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pjdizzle

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I am wondering how people feel about Tile countertops. I have seen in some places that it is coming back in style. should I consider using tile on the countertop or stick with solid.
 
If you are planning on staying in the house for decades, do what appeals best to you.

If you might be selling it in 5-10 years, I would go with quality solid surface. Durable, valuable, classy.
 
I hate them for several reasons.
A royal pain to even wipe up a simple spill because of the grout lines.
Drop something out of a cabinet on them and see how that works out.
Can add a real chance of leaks where the sink meets the grout lines.
I also like them, customers buy a used home and ask me to get rid of them and install a solid surface top.
 
I agree with the camp that hates tiled countertops. Grout is somewhat soft for the hard life that a countertop goes thru. Pick a solid surface top or granite. I have granite and love them. They are very forgiving and you can even set hot pans on them with no problem. You'll never need to replace a granite countertop!!!
 
The only countertop I dislike more than Granite is Tile.
Tile has all the same flaws and troubles as granite with the added nuisance of grout lines.

We just did Granite mainly for resale value because we are hoping to sell soon, but having lived with the granite for about a year now we are now certain that we do NOT want it in our new home.
We love the LOOK and literally can not stand anything else about it.

We are going with hardwood butcher block countertops next for sure.
 
Whenever I see tile counter tops I most always think that it was a DIY job and was tiled because they were being thrifty. Tiles have grout lines, grout is porous and can be hard to keep clean. Most will use dark grout to hide the dirt and stains but it's still a place for dirt and germs.
I have a friend that has done a couple of jobs using granite tile with rectified edges, virtually no grout line, and used silicone to seal the tiny gap.
While he does his jobs pretty much to perfection, I still wouldn't want it in my kitchen.
 
I did a tile kitchen in my last house as the theme was to be “ French Country” of course I’m cheap and also a DIYer. It is what she wanted and gave it a shot. The tile was cobalt blue there was a center island that was an antique butcher block that provided the work surface and provided contrast to the tile as did the solid pine flooring. I like many here questioned the tile as standing up to the test of time. I was quite surprised it has held up and remained beautiful for 30 years now with very little special attention. I know several people who have replaced surfaces twice over those years.

If it is a look you want I wouldn’t be afraid to do it again. I used a silver gray grout with the blue and the only treatment the counter ever got was wiping down with vinegar and water. In 30 years we had just one tiny chip I never fixed but I saved a stack of about 10 tiles not knowing what to expect. If one did get broke it wouldn’t be a big deal replacing a tile. I’m sure dropping a cast iron pot on granite wouldn’t be a good idea ether, and I’m not sure how you fix that.
 
I agree if your planning on staying in your home for a long time, get whatever you like. I remodeled my kitchen in our home a couple years ago, and what I did to save money but still end up with nice solid surface countertops was looked up granite yards that specialized in commercial jobs, and asked if they had remnants… mind you I had a lot of countertop sq ft… would have had to purchase 2 slabs…I found one that did indeed do a lot of commercial jobs, and ended up getting exactly what I wanted for $450…. then had to pay for fabrication and installation another $1700. But the prices I was quoted prior to going to the commercial granite yard were all above $5000.
 
I really like what you guys did with your floors. I've been wanting to do something similar to this for the longest time now. How much did it cost you guys to get tiles like this? I'm just hoping that I'll be able to finish my kitchen by the end of the week.
 
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A last point ... Ifyou decide to go with tile, make sure you lay in a stock of extra bullnose and corners ... Those pieces take most of the damage and need replacing. If you do not keep the replacement stock, you will be very sorry in the future. :D
 
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