Like many of us, you'd like to have ceramic tile in your home. But perhaps you're a little reluctant to install it because you've heard that grout maintenance with tile can be a pain. Or you've heard that tile has a tendency to crack or chip.

Grout maintenance and cracking are cause for pause when comparing tile to other water-resistant surfaces. But there are other factors that weigh heavily in favor of going with ceramic tiling.

Viewing the surface of ceramic tile through a microscope reveals very small pores. Because of its low surface porosity, dirt doesn't cling well. This makes ceramic tile easier to clean. It is forgiving too. Because it is so hard, occasional abrasive cleaning is all right and the surface will come out shining.

When we toured residential areas and remodels in Southern Europe we discovered that tile is a symbol of status and wealth. Yes, marble was used predominantly over "wet surfaces" on the interiors of homes. That's because marble is cheap in Europe. However, ceramic tile patterns in solid colors and murals were prominently displayed on the exteriors of expensive homes in almost every country we visited.

For proper maintenance of the grout, be sure the proper additives are used to make it more stain resistant; Keep some for repairs later and reseal the surface every year or so. And clean regularly.

Occasionally, tiles crack. However, this is not a serious problem if you have replacements. If you don't have replacement tiles on hand now, try to buy some before the color and-or pattern go out of production. It's easy to repair a cracked tile if you have a matching tile with which to replace the damaged one. The trick is to remove the cracked tile without damaging surrounding tiles.

Since the tile to be removed will have to be shattered, it is important to reduce the transfer of vibration to surrounding tiles. This is done by excavating the grout all the way around the tile that is to be removed. Use a grout saw. It looks kind of like a tiny wood saw on a toothbrush handle. With the grout out of the way, the tile has room to move as you chip away at it. A cold chisel and a hammer are the proper demolition tools for this job. The chisel must be very sharp.

Some experts recommend that an "X" be scribed in the tile with a glass cutter before the breaking process. If you aren't careful you might slip and end up cutting the surface of adjacent tiles. This is a technique that requires caution.

Once the broken tile has been removed, use a putty knife or a scraping tool to clean the area to be patched. All loose debris also should be removed. Adhesive should be applied to the back of the new tile you want to install. It is not necessary to apply the adhesive to the area where the old tile was removed. However, it is important to apply enough adhesive to the back of the replacement tile so that its surface will be slightly higher than surrounding tiles when first set in place. Adjusting down is easy; up impossible.

A piece of soft material, such as a scrap of carpet or several layers of heavy cloth, tacked to a small piece of plywood will help you align the surface of the new tile to surrounding ones.

Give the adhesive 24 hours to dry and then regrout. A grout trowel is the proper tool for this purpose. If you have only one tile to grout, you can use your finger as long as the grout is packed tightly into the space between the tiles. An ice cream stick could help.

Q. A deck we built in 1989 is a problem. The surface is cracked and water leaks to the underside which is unfinished. Mildew, fungus and rot have set in. The deck is made of three-quarter inch thick plywood covered with two coats of fiberglass matting and resin.

A. Fiberglass is about as waterproof a surface as you can apply to wood. But the wood must be stable. If not, it can move enough to cause the fiberglass to crack.

And it's important to determine why the fiberglass cracked so that the condition does not reoccur.

Homes constantly move as do the decks attached to them. This usually is caused by ground movement. This can be checked by measuring the deck length, width and on the diagonal and then remeasuring in six months. A quarter inch shift in any direction can crack fiberglass.

Since the underside of the plywood is unfinished, the possibility exists that improper installation and moisture are the culprits. When humidity is high plywood expands. Two sheets of plywood that are butted together will push away from each other as they expand. This can crack a fiberglass surface.

When plywood is used as the substrate for a solid surface material, a gap of an eighth of an inch is maintained at all joints and edges adjacent to other building members. This gives the plywood room to expand and contract naturally without damaging the waterproof surface being supported.