Do-it-yourself tile: new Edge flooring offers ease at a price.(CR home)

Until now, if you wanted the look of a tile floor, you had two basic choices: Opt for real stone or ceramic tile and spend days cementing and grouting it in place or choose a plastic-laminate floor, which only looks like the real stuff, yet is easier to install.

Edge-brand flooring promises the best of both worlds. Currently sold only through Lowe's, Edge combines an upper layer of real stone or porcelain tries with a tongue-and-groove, fiberboard substrate. Two 12-inch porcelain, marble, or granite tiles are bonded to a 12x24-inch board that interlocks and "floats" over a foam underlayer without cement. You fill in the joints with grout from a can that would look at home in the Cheez Whiz aisle.

Edge says that its flooring can take light traffic an hour after grouting, cutting a day or more off the process. While we have yet to test Edge's long-term durability, the product lived up to its installation claims, with a few caveats. But as we found, that appeal doesn't come cheap.

Tiles joined effortlessly, though we had to weigh down the underlayer to keep it from curling. Our 11x14-foot floor took 10 hours and was ready to walk on an hour after grouting as promised.

Applying the grout was another story. We used nearly twice ...