Hi Steve:
We love our tiled kitchen countertop. I used matte through-body porcelain tile (Marazzi Graniti "Emerald") that had matching bullnose pieces and I grouted with SpectraLock. Since we used floor tile, they are bigger and have fewer grout lines, so they are super easy to clean. I've even used a razor scraper for dried-on junk. The porcelain is great because it never scratches and never stains. The Spectralock is great too. I wouldn't do it any other way. I think we calculated the finished material cost was about $7/square foot. If I had to add my labor into that, it would probably be $100/square foot
The only complaint I've ever heard is that you can't roll out a pie crust on the grout lines. That's the reason why we have a big butcher block. And a big wood block looks so good with tile!
