I recently finished up a large porcelain floor with a ‘basketweave’ pattern. The tile is Mannington Serengeti ‘Midnight Mist’ slate porcelain tile. The porcelain is incredible! It looks and feels almost exactly like real slate tile – without the maintenance headaches. Mannington’s Serengeti line has several different colors of porcelain that look and feel like slate.
Porcelain is normally a much better choice in living areas, as well as bathrooms. It has a much lower absorption rate than slate so it won’t stain as easily or retain water. Natural slate is normally very porous and must be sealed and maintained on a regular basis to keep it looking good. Porcelain is easily cleaned and does not need to be sealed, although it never hurts to seal your tile and grout.
The porcelain was installed throughout the kitchen, dining room, hall, bathroom and entryway. The entire installation is installed over Schluter Ditra underlayment membrane. Ditra is an ‘uncoupling’ membrane for tile installations. That simply means that any movements in the substrate are separated from the tile installation. These normal, seasonal movements in the substrate will not affect the tile and grout, helping to prevent cracked grout lines.
The pattern utilizes three different sizes of the same tile. If you plan on having a pattern installed it is much easier to purchase a tile made specifically for that pattern. With offset tile in certain patterns the grout lines will rarely be consistent unless the tile is made specifically for a particular pattern. It can still be done, but you may need to have 1/8″ grout lines on one tile and 3/16″ on the tile next to it to keep the pattern straight and lined up. With a tile made for the pattern these small measurements are taken into consideration when the tile is cut to size.
If you need a custom pattern installed just fill out our contact form or give us a call at 970-213-3682 and let us help you with your project.
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we are needing to replace a slate tile on an entry way would you know where I could fined a amer Olean tile 12×12 crystal flame porcelain paver. r102 Korjaki unpolised.
Hi Will,
If it’s still being made you should be able to either find it or order it at Lowe’s.
I just finished installing the same tile and love it. What brand and color grout did you use?
Hi Bob,
If I remember correctly we used C-Cure brand #2 Gray. Nearly any brand of grout’s normal gray will be almost identical.