All that grout will be impossible to keep clean! The tile will show water spots and scratches and the grout will turn all kinds of different colors! I'll break everything that falls on the counter - particularly my valuables! It will be terribly expensive! I won't be able to find anyone to install it and if I do the installation will take forever! The installation will make a mess and endanger my cabinets and the rest of my kitchen! I'll have to remove my old cabinets and pay for an expensive remodeling job in my kitchen to get a new countertop!
Wrong, Wrong and Wrong!
We now use 20x20 and larger porcelain and ceramic tiles on countertops directly over the old Formica or over cementious underlayment directly over old Formica counters. With the proper glue and setting techniques the tile can also be installed directly over old tile, wood or even Corian!
The larger tiles result in very little grout and virtually none in the work areas. (See Photo) With 1/8" grout lines and large body tiles the amount of grout on the countertop has been reduced 85%! If the grout is properly sealed and is a color that blends with the multi-colored stone look tiles often used for countertops and floors, it virtually disappears and is not a problem to the on going maintenance of the countertop.
The tiles that currently work best are mottled in color and texture so that they do not show marks, water spots or dirt. With the ranginess of color the work surface is just that and not a decorative statement that calls attention to itself. We believe that work surfaces and floors should be functional, easy to take care of and not be decorative statements. Let the "earrings of the house", the backsplash, carry the decorating flag and call attention to itself. No one really works on the backsplash and it doesn't get very dirty very often. One of our clients joked that she doesn't have to clean her new tile until it gets sticky!
All of the large body tiles are really floor tiles and consequently they are designed for the toughest challenge to any floor - high healed shoes! If the floor can withstand the 500lb+ per square inch attack of a woman in high heals they can pretty much take anything that you want to put or throw at them on the countertop. I most cases you can cut on the tile all that you want - except that it will make your knives dull! Remember some of the best knife sharpening tools are made of ceramic!
As to heat -- no worry about hot pots, pans or cigarette burns! Tile is manufactured at well over 1000 degrees and you are very unlikely to generate that much heat in your kitchen unless you have a fire!!
