Tile fails at the joints and at the substrate, never in the middle of a field. So the layout is set out before a sheet is cut, and the waterproofing is flood-tested before anything covers it. Porcelain, ceramic, glass mosaic and stone tile, set to whatever pattern and tolerance the drawings call for.
A curbless entry needs the fall built into the floor, not faked with trim. Bonded waterproofing membranes, niches set plumb to the tile course, and joints that carry through from wall to floor. Primary, guest and pool baths in Kihei and Lahaina.
Zellige and handmade ceramic arrive with uneven edges and shifting color — that is the point, and it changes how the joints are set. Slab marble has its veining matched across the seam. Subway and mosaic are laid to the cabinet lines, not the wall.
Wide-format porcelain shows up every dip in a slab, so the floor is flattened before it is tiled. Indoor-outdoor thresholds run level across the door track, set in materials rated for a lanai that gets rained on.
Waterline tile sits in the harshest inch of the whole pool. Thinset and grout are chosen for the water chemistry — chlorine and salt attack them differently — then glass mosaic, stone or porcelain goes over the top.