Actually very popular in small areas. Make sure the floor is very solid and very flat....the larger the tile the more critical "flat" will be.

Well, our house - built in early 70's - probably is not flat at all! Guess I'll get installer to check flatness b4 buying tile. Maybe I can check that with a big level?

Laurie - your floor looks great with 18" tiles! I think they would work in mine, unless my floor is not flat enough.

Thanks! I forgot to mention that we installed this tile on top of the existing sheet vinyl/linoleum. The vinyl was firmly adhered to the concrete sub floor. We used a stripper/cleanser product on the vinyl before starting this process.

Suel1452, if the floor is not flat, a good contractor can level it for you before installing the tile. So before buying finding a good contractor. I love Laurie's floor in her kitchen so much and her flooring in the rest of the house.

Large format tile is a good choice for your kitchen. My experience with installing large format tile in many kitchens convinced me long ago that the assumption that large patterns in small kitchens don't work *visually* was a preconceived notion.

Thanks for all the feedback! I like the idea of fewer grout lines, too with 18" tile. I've been given the name of a really good contractor, so hopefully he can make it happen.

If you are not on slab, be sure to have him check the "Deflection." Minimum is L360.

Yes, use a long level or straightedge. TCNA specs call for flatness deviation of no more than 1/8" over, (as I recall,) 6 feet.

Interesting, stone tech. The floor is not on concrete, has plywood under the vinyl flooring.

With standard bracing (Again, use the "Deflecto" from John Bridge dot com) You generally need an inch and an eighth for a substantial floor. You probably ought to get rid of the vinal as well....the adhesion is ONLY as good as what's underneath it.

Plan definitely to get rid of the vinyl! But don't know anything about standard bracing. Is that like putting down ditra?

Ditra is an excellent "isolation membrane" but it doesn't address the issue of "deflection." Again, go to John Bridge dot com and plug your figures into the "deflecto" at the top of the blue bar in the "forums" section to see if your floor qualifies.

You can also start your own thread there, if you like.

ok, thanks

We have 18x 18 tile in our smallish kitchen and I'm happy with the look. We removed the previous vinyl flooring, put down backer board, and used a leveling agent, but still ended up with hairline cracks across some of the tile (about 8 years after installation). I probably wouldn't use large tile again for that reason.

Thanks for that info, nansea57 ! I think I better stick with 12" squares, our floor is pretty uneven.