QUESTION
How important is it to NOT put the same tile variation next to each other? My tile installer had several of the same tile installed, side by side. It was a dead giveaway that this was non-natural porcelain and NOT natural marble, which it was trying to simulate.
ANSWER
The short answer is that the appearance of the finished installation is extremely important if it matters to your client/end user, and if it makes the difference between acceptability of the finished installation and you getting paid for installing it. There are tile industry standards and guidelines for visual inspection for acceptability of finished tile work and descriptions of shade variations. There are also recommendations to create a pre-installation mockup to ensure the end user will be happy with the finished installation.
– Mark Heinlein
NTCA Training Director
