Yes, a staff person called me about 5 minutes after I ordered the samples online.

I got some samples and they are gorgeous! However, they are not on mesh sheets and have to be applied one at a time, which I'm sure is very costly, so I passed. Gorgeous colors though.

Their mosaics are on a sheet I believe. The larger ones aren't, but other brands aren't either.

The finished tiles are a good deal more refined and less irregular than the samples.

I really like the variation in their colors. That, coupled with tile size variations, and grout contrast.

Here are a few of my favorites, including our star and cross with a fairly bland (I recognize belatedly) grout. With this pattern, I did see that the grout can become a third key character (star, cross and grout all in different colors). Also included is youngdeb's beautiful bright backsplash. The diamond tile just makes me happy with the texture and contrasts. I guess I just love a repeating pattern:)

I'm really leaning towards a brown tile large format hex backsplash for our family room fireplace.

Good thread! I'd appreciate more input into what makes this tile stand out. (Customer service was excellent, wait time acceptable).

I think I may have ordered the color in "youngdeb's kitchen" as one of my samples!

I started recommending them repeatedly, by name, in bs threads on GW about four years ago (in fact, I think I helped youngdeb find that tile - forgive me if I'm wrong) At the time I'd become enamored with their Claymonde sheets, really gorgeous, and unique to Fireclay.

Heath ceramics also makes beautiful tile, as do many, many other manufacturers. I tend to recommend Fireclay tiles for their glazes and shapes, both of which are beautiful, as ob2b has shown, and for their website that is easily navigable.

Many of the bs threads on GW are "oh no" threads, as in, I thought I had my tile picked but now that the granite is installed the color looks wrong or the pattern too busy. When people are looking for tile that is just the right color, especially when they need it to make other disparate elements look good together, I tend to go to Fireclay's website first.

But only when it's in budget. These tiles, like those from Heath or Artistic Tile, or Mosaic House, are expensive.

This post was edited by EAM44 on Tue, Jun 24, 14 at 16:13

They are also local to many of us, being a northern California company, which means a better showroom than you get with many other tile lines.

I used Motawi and Pewabic when I was in Detroit, partly because they were local. (Okay, I'd use Pewabic again if it wouldn't look stupid in my house. You really need the right place for that stuff!)

Oh. I think I just justified a Tesla for my next car. Sweet.

Ooh, tesla. ;)

Yes, for me they are local. Which is an environmental plus. And their service with samples was outstanding. Our remodel is several months away so I haven't chosen tile yet. But when someone asks for tile backsplash help, fireclay comes to my mind for those reasons so I look there.

Crl, if you need a tiler, I have. GREAT one.