Why we love a 1.6 metre tile (and what it asks of your floor)
The bigger the slab, the smaller the margin for error. A field guide to substrates, lippage, and why the prep is most of the work.
We started installing 1.6 m gauged porcelain about 4 years ago, when a single supplier in Calgary was willing to stock it. Today we use it in nearly every kitchen we touch. It is the closest thing in tile to a slab of marble — minus the maintenance and minus most of the cost — but it asks more of the installer than any tile we have ever set.
The prep is most of the work. A 1.6 metre tile reveals every dip a six-foot level would miss. We grind, fill, and re-grind subfloors until a straight edge is flat in both directions across the entire room. On a 220 sq ft kitchen this often takes a full day. People are surprised by it. We are not.
Lippage is the enemy. We use a four-suction frame and two people to walk each tile down. The mortar is a polymer-modified large-format thinset, combed in one direction with a 12 mm trowel, and back-buttered to fill every void. Anything less and the tile will rock on its own weight over the first heating season.
The dividend, when the prep is right, is a floor that reads as one stone. No grout lines drawing the eye, no transitions to manage. Just material. It is the quietest finish we know how to install, and we are still surprised by it every time the last tile lands.
What It Really Takes to Build a Legal Basement Suite in Cochrane
Creating a legal secondary suite in Cochrane is a great way to increase your home's value and generate rental income—but it's important to understand that the approval process is more involved than in Calgary.
A plain-English guide to legal secondary suites in Calgary
Egress, fire separation, sound, ventilation. What the City actually checks for, and the order we tackle it in.
Where the money actually goes in a kitchen renovation
Cabinets, stone, plumbing, electrical, lighting. We break down a recent $94k Calgary project line by line.