marble tile - House Reno Tips

The Benefits of Marble Tile in Your Bathroom / Shower

When remodeling, the use of marble tile floors in your bathroom provides a number of advantages in addition to the rich swirling beautiful designs inherent in the stone with its interesting coloration and veining effects, not to mention the variety of densities of the material that are available. Here are a few of the reasons why considering the installation of marble flooring may be ideal for your next bathroom renovation.

Cleaning marble tile is easy if done on a regular basis, and with minimal care and effort it will look attractive for many years. It is durable and cost-effective because it will exponentially add value to your home if you choose to eventually sell. To get the most from your marble tiles, it is also important that you understand the basics of marble such as what kind of regular maintenance is required and the drawbacks of using the material.

Marble tiles, just like ceramic tiles, makes an excellent bathroom floor material. Hardness is the main factor in determining the price of the marble floor tiles. Depending upon the density of your choice of marble, you do have to be careful when initially handling the tiles but once they are set and bonded to the subfloor with a cement-based thin-set mortar, the marble is solid and will resist any cracking or separation along the veins.

The only stipulation is that your subfloor be solid and flat with no bounce when installing the marble tile to avoid your floor cracking when you walk on it from the unevenness. This can be resolved by installing your marble on top of a leveling membrane and making sure your floor is completely even.

Because marble does have such interesting swirling patterns, the orientation of your tile is a design decision you should take into consideration. You should be aware that natural marble tiles usually cannot be laid out in a visually seamless manner because the many diverse patterns will not permit an ideal match. So finding a set of visually and texturally well-matched tiles for your design can sometimes be quite time consuming. It is important to get this right since the only time that any amount of consistency can be ensured is during the installation stage.

Read more: Bath Renovating For Dollars!

While it is easier to align the marble tiles parallel with the walls of your bathroom, the visual effect will be a lot more eye-catching if done at a forty-five degree angle. This however will require a bit more skill when cutting the pieces of tile to fit. A one eight gap between the tiles is a good conventional measure and the grout should have the consistency of chilled cake icing that will not run if you tilt the spatula on its side. And it is also important to provide enough thinset thickness to enable adjustability of the tiles.

If a tile does crack then you can clean the broken piece with acetone and then glue it back in place with epoxy glue. While marble is stain resistant you should clean any stains as soon as possible so they don’t become permanent. Stains can be cleaned readily with polishing agents and to prevent further staining and scratching, a layer of sealant should be applied.

Marble is a natural stone that is formed when limestone is heated and subjected to intense pressure. Sand and acidic liquids are marble tile’s main antagonists, so be sure to avoid using abrasive cleaners with acidity. Your best bet is to go to a store that just sells stone products and ask them or just use soap and water. Regular cleaning with a sponge or rag is a prerequisite to keep the marble sparkling for years, once every week or so is a good maintenance schedule. It’s really important not to let grime build-up to the point where you have to scrub intensely to get it off or you may scratch the stone.