We did a heavy textured tile (each tile also has a different imprint design) in the same size but I went with white grout not to bring out the irregular grout lines too much. I feel it gives texture but not over the top! the pic u posted looks badly laid and they are different size tiles. There is great textured tile at Amber tile or colour tile (I'm in Sydney) otherwise I think like your husband suggests and go with the standard subway (but change grout to black for that industrial feel) otherwise how do you feel about a beveled subway? That would of been my next choice!

Hi Micshak, No, you're not argumentative at all - your frustrated and understandably angry about your experience and are coming from that place. I didn't say that there weren't minimums, I said that rectified tiles allowed finer than traditional grout lines. Happily for me, I've had a similar issue to Stacey and were fortune to have great building team who ensured that my problem was fixed as soon as I raised it with them and they covered fixing the issue and resulting damages from their pocket - it wasn't even a conversation topic - what I got was "absolutely, yeah, that needs to be fixed, no worries" - the difference between great people and the guy you sadly got. Your story almost bought me to tears but did bring home the advice I had from more experienced family members on personally checking license and trade affiliations such as HIA and checking the trades insurances as well as being on site every day and only paying when I was happy for the job. It goes to show - just because you're a good person, doesn't mean that everyone you meet is a good person. Know that I believe that poor tradesman and badly behaved tradesman who don't produce reasonable quality work should be publicly flogged and branded because of the heartbreak, stress and financial hardship they put people through. Stacey needs to be able to give the option of having the problem fixed and the tiler/builder the chance to regain his reputation before trying to fix things yourself - despite your horrible experience, most are tradies are hardworking good people and want to do great work for you to keep good will for their business. Sadly for you anyone who is going to prohibit this man from getting work/money isn't going to do much except be background noise. Davco, the tile supplier etc aren't able to stop him from getting work - but you sure can and I'd encourage you to go after him with unrelenting vengeance) - go to the appropriate licensing board and talk to them. Go to HIA if your tiler is a member and the Fair Trading body in your state as a matter of course - they should be able to force compensation. I would threaten to get on every website, blogsite (including TrueLocal), the local paper and social media to tell as many people as you can about your experience with this tradesman naming names and showing what appalling work was done if you don't receive a refund/compensation/a first class quality fix within 14 days - and then if you're not happy follow through with the shaming and make sure he knows about it by sending him links/snapshots/clippings naming him and his business and let him know you're so upset that this will continue to be refreshed on a monthly basis until you receive satisfaction or he's out of business. If he indicated any businesses or people that would recommend him or gave you a list of previous jobs, I'd be sending letters to them (with photos and supporting correspondence) letting them know - and copying him. Builders all talk ;) Oh - and you could always do what a friend of mine did - have friends ring the gentleman in question to book work then cancel at the last minute after you've done your shame campaign siting the fact that they heard that he was a shameless, substandard tiler and their going with a more reputable tiler. Evil, but no more than than deserved. Stacey - I honestly hope you have more my experience than poor Micshak's. Let us know how you get on.

To Australian Home Designer. Thank you for your advice but I'm not trying to replace the doors with a window. The double glass doors are on the study, and they open onto the very small balcony which measures approx 2M X 0.9M. The balcony has slate type tiles on the floor, there is a roof above and it is enclosed either side by concrete? walls. The balcony has an opening about 2 M wide by 1.5 high, which is what I'm trying to addres. The balcony is next to useless as it is and I could make more use of it if I could enclose it. I tried to add another photo to give a better idea, but for some reason I wasn't able to. So, I'm not trying to replace a window but install something in an open space to act like a window. As this area is considered common property (even though no one else can have access to it unless they walk through the apartment), I have to advise the corporate body. Chances are they'll ask for me to arrange for a by-law to be drawn up. It never ends does it? The other thing I should mention is that Council said (when I first approached them) that the developer would have used every available space to the enth degree. The developer has confirmed this with me. The block is almost 2 years old and all owners are the first occupants. Thank you for taking the time to respond. It is much appreciated.

a friendly call to the builder to let him know that everything else is great but there are a few tiles that need fixing (and any other faults) and ask when he thinks the tiler could come and fix them...hopefully he'll respond positively and the problem will be resolved but, immediately after the call send an email confirming what he said and when he said that the tiler would be coming and follow up within the stated time to ask if there's a problem and why can't they fix it to save the bother of getting involved with his insurance company (details should be included in your original contract) hopefully you'll be successful and the tiler will come in between other jobs and do the repair...in the meantime check every single tile (in case there are other hollow ones) and draw a map to identify every suspect tile so that you can check that they're all fixed and, do you have any spare tiles?...have them ready for the tiler or try and identify the tile in case you need to replace any that get broken...only other option is to contact the insurance company and tell them about the builder's response and if all else fails it should be a cheap small job for another tiler and/or you could have a go at fixing them yourself but ask the builder first if he values his reputation and his no claim bonus he'll respond positively