so after ripping up the old carpet and old vinyl tiles in the family room and a trip to home depot to look at some ceramic tiles, i came across the marble tile section... now i never even considered this route because i thought it would be too pricey... but the one i wanted was $4/sqft and since the room is not too big, approx 185sq ft... <$1k shouldn't break the bank too much and i think that it would look pretty badass...

but i never had any prior experience with marble tiles before so i had a few questions...

is marble much stronger??? visually the marble is about 1/8th thicker than ceramic and looks much more durable... if i drop something on the marble, will it hold up better than a ceramic tile???

am i likely i bust my @$$??? i don't have any children yet but it is possible in the future and since this is the family room, when i have guests over, most likely the children will be playing here when indoors... i don't want lawsuits from their parents because their kid ate a faceful of floor cause they can't walk on it... and i ain't the most graceful person in the world either...

is it any different to lay these tiles compared to ceramic??? i have done ceramic installations before but never marble... i noticed that the bottom of the marble tile is completed smooth and not grated like a ceramic tile... does this mean there is a special adhesive that has to be used instead???

finally, what kind of maintenance does these tiles require??? do i need a drum polisher or something???

thanks in advanced..

 

There might be an issue of your floor supporting the weight of the marble tiles. They'll obviously weigh a hell of a lot more than the vinyl you took out.

When my parents went from ceramic to travertine in their house they had to reinforce the subfloor with cement board over the plywood.

You'll also want to be sure there are no moisture issues beneath the subfloor that will cause your grout to crack.

 

the subfloor is concrete slab...

 

Well then, no structural issues.

Check for moisture though. Might need to put down a moisture barrier.

 

1 note of caution, you have to make sure the marble "fits" with where your planning to go with the renovations of the house. If you upgrade here and then cheap out other places the marble may be too upscale for the decor of the house. Not to say that your going to do that, it's just something to be mindful of.

 

well this is the only floor aside from the basement that i need to completely renew... the first and second floor of the house have carpet on top of hardwood floors which i plan on refinishing... but i can see where you are going with cheaping out...

 

Are you talking about polished marble or tumbled marble?

If polished, you're going to want to fit them flush (i.e. no grout lines) and make damn sure each one is perfectly level. Reflections will show the discrepancies pretty easily.

If tumbled, then it should be pretty similar to ceramic, but you will definitely need a wet saw and take your time with the cuts.

Either way, get the proper adhesive - one specifically for natural stone that will probably be near white.

 

i was thinking about polished tiles... i never knew that there are no grout lines??? the sample in home depot showed with a very thin gorut line... i will keep that in mind...

 

I think you still go over it with grout to fill in any small gaps (so, unsanded grout), but with the hard corners of the tiles, you don't really want to put spaces between them.

FYI - I have never done smooth marble, only tumbled marble. So, I'm not talking directly from experience.

 

How will you level it? Most concrete floors I've seen are far from flat when you look closely.

 

A whole lotta thin set

 

self leveling concrete???

 

I tried to level a concrete floor in the kitchen in my first house once. It was a pain in the ass and it really didn't come out well at all -- and I was just putting on lineoleum tiles. I can't imagine trying to tackle that job for something like marble that will show the flaws so easily.

 

ever though about granite tiles?

 

do they have light colored granite??? since the room is small i am looking to brighten it up a bit with a light color... hmm okay i may just rethink my original plan then if this is going to be that much trouble...

 

For tile, you want the sub-floor/slab to be relatively level, but you can accommodate some flaws with the adhesive. It's the tiles you need to make perfectly level, not necessarily the slab.

Still - personally, I would not put a polished tile in a family room. It seems a little cold - both in appearance and feel for a family room. Maybe a dining room or foyer. But that's just MHO.

 

IMO, I dont think marble tiling for the living room is all that. It makes the room look "cold" in a way and the floors will be icycold in the winter. And also, being as hard as it is, you wont be sitting on the floor and walking barefoot gets to be a drag. I think that flooring like that should be used in a room where you wont spend alot of time in, maybe like the foyer or kitchen.

 

This is the type of tile (travertine) my parents put down in their family room, kitchen, hallway, and foyer.

I think something like this (a tumbled stone) would look much better and easier to install than a polished marble tile.

 

^I Agree.

 

Doing shiny marble tile without grout lines ups the ante on the levelness significantly. I agree it's pretty easy to do with most floor tiles, but this particular choice of materials would be a pretty daunting challenge for the DIYer.

 

Travertine>marble IMO

 

Travertine FTW.

 

I agree. You have to make sure the floor, or at least the tiles, are absolutely flat when laying them down. They most likely will crack after years of abuse if not laid down right.

 

last night when i walked into the lobby of my g/f's apt i just realized that the entryway is marble tiles... and the transition from the marble to carpet, there is a HUGE crack going through the width of the entrance... i was like wow... FTL...

 

stopped by costco today and saw that they had tavertine tiles for $23 per box... they are 18"x18" so it came out to approx 2.39 per sq ft... i was sold... 23 boxes later and an aching back, they are sitting in my garage waiting for next week

 

Be very careful with travertine it stains very easily and requires a lot more sealing and maintinance. I was going to lay this in my kitchen but feared it would get wrecked from dropping food and liquids.

 

Marble is great for bathrooms and highend foyers.

Other than that...not my choice. My fiancees grandparents have it throughout their entire house and it just seems gaudy to me. Where something like wood is more inviting and warm.

 

Don't go too crazy on your first house.
Just go with ceramic or porcelain tiles.

 

Just make sure you seal it well after the install. Then you'll still need to reseal once every year.

Well, they are Persian, right?

 

pic of the tile...

 

Sweet.. look great

 

okay a few updates... the floor is done, and sealed...







just have to paint... and finish up the half bathroom that is adjacent to that room... tile is down... just have to grout, then install the new sink and toilet...

 

Great job! What size tile is that you used in the LR? Looks bigger than 12x12.

 

those are 18x18... at first i thought the larger tiles would end up being cheaper in the end... boy was i wrong... my tile saw was too small so i ended up having to rent it at home depot... so expensive for the bigger saw... like $80 for the day and like $56 for 4 hours...

so we ended up laying all the whole center pieces down first... and then rented the saw for 4 hours and doing all the cuts at once... then layed those down last... worked out well...

anyone know a quick and easy way to put down sealant so that it comes out smooth??? i used a sponge mop but i get patchy spots where it does look even... i may seal over again...

 

Man, NICE job!

I saw those tiles at Costco as well, and thought "Hmm.. That would look nice in my kitchen."

 

Same here! And OP once again, great job!

 

We have travertine in a lot of our house....it looks nice...


....but it can get hella cold in the winter. :shiver:

 

BTW, nice job!

Looks good!

 

but u live in howston...

 

I coul probably handle it for both weeks of winter here in Arizona.