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Malcolm Hoar Malcolm Hoar is offline
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Default tiling kitchen counter tops

In article .com, I'm-just-fine wrote:
And to Steve, tile can look dated if applied in that awful 70's
fashion. If you look around you can see some tile layouts that look
very tasteful and warm. We're going with a slate colored tile that's
6" square, with wood trim on the edges that will match the color of
the cabinets. I'm also setting up the ply base in such a way that I'll
be able to remove the counter tops in 5 - 10 years time with relative
ease if we decide that we want to change the look to something else.


One of the considerations relates to the thermal expansion and
contraction of the tiles, relative to the ply or whatever
substrate you've installed them over. So part of the problem
depends upon the thermal characteristics of your specific
tile material (I'm still not sure what type of tile this is).

Therefore, if at all possible, contact the tile manufacturer
and ask for their recommendations. They will likely be able
to offer some good inputs based on the porosity, thermal
and other characteristics of their specific tiles.

Frankly, it's likely to be more reliable than the pontifications
of various newsgroup participants ;-)

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about moisture rotting
the ply. That shouldn't be an issue provided everything is
installed to a reasonable standard and you don't just ignore
some obvious plumbing problem. But, sure, if you're not too
worried about cost, go for the marine grade although it's
probably overkill.

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| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
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