Our dishwasher gave out and flooded our kitchen. The dishwasher and cabinets are original from when house was built in '04, and the floor they were on is linoleum. A few years ago, we took the linoleum out in the kitchen and installed laminate floors (including kitchen, living rooms..etc) but the cabinets and dishwasher were left on original linoleum.

We are now going to install tile in the kitchen, and transition it into the living room. We are removing the cabinets to install the tile. We are also going to take advantage and refinish the cabinets and install a new counter-top.

I was told there are different grades of tile? Are some more resistant to breaking than others? If so, how are they graded? We found some nice looking tile at a flooring warehouse and the price is much cheaper than major retailers.

Any info and insight greatly appreciated!

 

Since you are redoing the countertops, will you be removing the cabinets as well? That really wasn't a question. I would take advantage of the situation and remove the cabinets as well, since you will have to lay down 1/4" concrete backer underlayment to install your tiles. Installing the cbu and tiles will raise the floor up too high to accommodate your dishwasher (in most cases). By doing the entire floor, you alleviate that problem and it looks better.
As far as quality and breakage.....I'll be honest, I have HD Walton tile 12 x 12 in my kitchen (don't laugh...57 cents per square foot). It was either that or a more expensive tile that was similar in color. Wifey liked the neutral look.....I liked the price. It has a great resiliency to things being dropped on it so far. Dishes break, so you have to kiss them on the way down. I haven't tried an iron skillet yet, but I doubt anything will survive that.
With that in mind, go shopping for color, size, etc. Land on one. You'll be happier than trying to figure the grade.

 

We buy ceramic on clearance (50¢ a tile for the last couple pallets) and have had no problem

You may need to strengthen the floor - ceramic requires a stiffer subfloor than vinyl

 

be removing the linoleum, we are down to concrete, we even used adhesive remover...do we still need to use underlayment? i thought tile could go down right on concrete..?

 

You can tile directly on the slab but be aware that it has to be perfectly flat and clean.

You can buy ceramic tile, procelein tile and stone. Ceramic is the cheapest but porcelein is usually harder. Stone can get very pricey. I have ceramic in all my baths and have never had a problem. You can get some very good deals on ceramic at places like HD and Lowes.

 

thank you
we found some really good prices at floor and decor...a warehouse style store. some 16x16's for around a dollar

 

Sounds like a good deal to me

As stated, you can go right on top of the slab if it's clean and level (big if)