marble stone tiles without grout?

[joriginaloak]

I have some amazing marble tiles which i want to but joint without gaps. The patern is awseome after carefully picking each one individually and aranging them to seem like one seemless wall plate. I wish to install them in the shower area without any grouting or spaces to spoil the effect. The edges are cut with sharp straight angles and butt upto one another great. could someone advise on the best way to achieve a seemless finish so that i may enjoy these tiles and my shower experience please?

 

[david campbell]

:welcome:to the forum

where are they going? walls/floor?
what is the substrate? concrete/platerboard/plaster?

this is something i wouldn't recommend due to movement but someone may offer a suggestion!

 

[joriginaloak]

hello David

Thanks for your speedy reply...the tiles I want to have on the walls in the shower...the walls are plasterboard freshly fitted.

cheers

 

[dagger]

dont even think about it.......for starters the tiles may not all be the same size, as stone tiles are very often sizy, secondly there needs to be an amount of movement especially in a wet area, thirdly you should never butt join tiles unless there are very strict circumstances in place, and they are never in place on walls!!!

best wishes!

Dagger.

 

[joriginaloak]

thanks for your comments Dave

Having seen it in a number of hotels i just wanted to know how they achieve this look...

so there has to be a way to create a seemless finish no?

 

[andy-p]

Same advice as dagger , you are going to give yourself big problems, minimum 1.5mm gap..

 

[Rav daniels]

as dagger says, its a big no from me, bs standard is 2mm on walls, butt it has been known to use 1mm, but no recommended, i personally wouldnt dream about butt jointing, and wouldnt do a job if the customer insisted on it, i dont go below 2mm on walls,

 

[david campbell]

there is absolutely no way this is possible on plasterboard,even bumping against the wall would probably cause enough movement to damage the tiles!

 

[dagger]

in hotels they use epoxy grout and a 1mm joint, then after tiles and grout are installed, they then get a cleaver machine and grind of any lips and repolish the stone, and then they repolish monthly and over time the floor ends up like a mirror....its just not practical in an abode, and that aside....all hotel wall tiling has grout joins!!!!

 

[joriginaloak]

which kind of grouting would you advise....i've been looking at the american forums and they mention a sandless grout which can allow for movement and minimise the lineage....is this true and is it available in the UK?

 

[andy-p]

i would use mapei ultracolor grout, its flexible and you can acheive a flush finish as well..

 

[joriginaloak]

Thanks Guys

much appreciated!

 

[Terry Cottar]

The finish in hotels you are talking about is called a monolithic look. It is achieved by flood grouting the 1mm joints and then grinding, honing and repolishing with diamonds. Unsanded grout is more common in the USA than here but it is available in the UK from Mapei. It is used over sanded grout for tight joints on Marble for two reasons: Firstly there is less chance of variation when grouting because there is no grain/grit/silica in it so therefore you get the grout in more evenly and secondly when polishing the stone with diamonds there is no chance of getting grit under the diamonds and scratching the marble when you are honing or polishing however both sanded and unsanded are available as modified grouts and therefore flexible allowing some movement.

Having said all this it sounds as though from your description you have "Book Matched Marble" and if this is the case you would be better off leaving a 2mm joint to comply with BS and then grouting with an epoxy coloured grout to suit each part where it joins. Painstaking but effective. Furthermore, and finally you need to check the weight prior to fixing the marble to plasterboard (32Kg is the max weight reccommended including grout and adhesive) and if it is going in a shower area I would strongly still consider tanking the plasterboard prior to fixing and sealing the marble thoroughly after fitting.

tel