So I was congratulating myself copiously for having found 6" tile on clearance at Home Despot so I could tile my entire kitchen counter for under $12! $6 for a 12.5 square foot box.

Then I got it home and looked it up and found that despite what the guy at HD told me, it is rated PEI 0 - NOT SUITABLE FOR COUNTERTOPS. Apparently only PEI 3 tile (and up) is suitable for countertops.

At first I thought I might keep it anyway and use it for the backsplash instead of the 12x18 tiles I picked out, but on further thought, I really DON'T want to do that after all. Besides which, if it is rated only for wall tile it might not be suitable as backsplash either, though I would worry about that use considerably less. Still. I'm not out any work or money YET so - back it goes. No problem, I can easily return it all (plus the trim pieces and whatnot that were also on clearance).

Now I am giving a second thought to going with large format tiles for my countertop. I can get 12x18 tiles that are quite nice for about $1 per square foot, or 24x24 tiles for $1.60 per square foot. But I have been concerned about any extra difficulties in setting such large tiles on a countertop, having to make significant cuts to fit around the sink, and I can't think of a way to lay the 12 x 18 tile size that doesn't risk looking funny except to alternate seams and lay them lengthwise in a double row. I think that would look ok, but every other configuration seems ... odd.

So if anyone has done this in their kitchen (preferably as DIY but I'll look at pics from a paid-for installation too, LOL!) let me know what you found the pros and cons to be in use, and difficulties during installation, or things you might have found easier than using smaller format tiles.

And no, I won't consider NOT putting in a tile countertop so move along if that is your advice, LOL! Thanks anyway.