Tile in Heath, TX

That is exactly why we order the whole job as a single lot up front instead of topping up later. Color and gloss drift between production runs, and in a Heath house with an open first floor and that much window glass you would see where one batch ended and the next began. We also stage the material inside the house to acclimate before we cut a single board.

It changes what we check first. Lots close to Lake Ray Hubbard and the creek bottoms hold moisture, and slab moisture is what makes glue-down and engineered wood fail. We test the slab before specifying an adhesive or a wood product. If it tests clean the choice is wide open, and if it does not, you find out before you buy rather than after it is installed.

Yes. In Heath's larger homes the staircase is usually the most visible piece of carpentry in the house, so it gets treated as carpentry, not carpet removal. We build treads and risers to match the floor they meet, mitre the returns on the open side, and match the nosing profile. It is slower than a flat run and we quote it that way rather than rushing it.

Porcelain, in almost every case. It is denser, it absorbs almost no water, and a through-body product will not show a pale scar where it chips. Ceramic is a fine wall tile and fine in a guest bath, but on a floor taking the whole family and a dog every day the glaze wears through before you are ready to replace it.

It can, which is why the membranes and movement joints exist. An uncoupling membrane lets the slab shift underneath without dragging the tile along, and a soft joint over every control joint gives the floor somewhere to relieve stress. That covers the seasonal movement Blackland Prairie clay produces. No membrane survives structural failure, so a slab that is actively separating gets addressed first.

Porcelain does not, since there is nothing for a sealer to soak into. Natural stone always does, before grouting and periodically afterward. Cement grout is porous and benefits from sealing in showers, entries and kitchens. A high-performance grout is far less absorbent from the day it cures and takes most of that maintenance off your list.