Hi,

I'm tiling the floor of my front entryway/vestibule, and in the lay-out I have designed, have a 2" tile border with a 1/2 inch space on either side running around the perimeter of the 4' square space (larger 6" tiles are fill the centre of the space with 1/4" spacers). I wanted to know whether I might have problems using grout when having that wide a gap around the border (would it be more prone to cracking when used in wider areas?), and whether I should use cement instead. Is cement stronger than grout?

1. Don't use cement. It's not fine enough.
2. Double check the packaging of the grout at Lowes/HomeDepot to confirm the maximum space it will work for. I've never used it to fill a gap that wide, but I'd guess you'll find that it will be OK.
3. Consider an alternative: Instead of a 1/2" gap, use thin pieces of tile. They sell thin pieces right alongside the square ones.