Marble floor / limestone floor

[edwardk]

Hi I have a bathroom to tile in my house and went to look at tiles/stone.

I liked the look of marble (browny one without much swirl/contrast - quite subtle) and a pale limestone.

How hard are these to lay ? (upstairs over joists/ply floor).

Someone told me that marble was soft and cold so might not be ideal for a bathroom.

It's a bit more than the limestone but am doing all the work myself so thought the cost isn't too bad and hopefully it'll last a while.

Any horror stories with marble in bathrooms ?
Hard to cut ? Fragile ? Scratches oer time ?

Is limestone easier to work with ?
Is it harder wearing or is this not an issue in a bathroom ?

I liked the travertine as well but wanted something a bit different and seem to see alot of travertine around these days.

Thanks
Ed

 

[david campbell]

with most natural stone you will have to use matting to compensate movement and temperature rises and decreases as it will not expand and contract with the substrates, if it was my bathroom i would prefer polished marble from your choices,limestone can stain easily even when laying,nomatter what stone you use it will all need wet cut and sealed

 

[grumpygrouter]

And yes, marble is soft and does scratch easily, you may also find it might be slippery when it is wet so procede with caution before you make your final decision.

 

[Pebbs]

Go for the marble....you can get a non slip shiny sealer if your worried about slipping on it. Ive never had a complaint from a client about slipping. Let your imagination run wild and have what you really want...

And heres one I did earlier....

 

[DHTiling]

If you are worried about slipping then think about a honed finish over polished ..

 

[edwardk]

Going to work out the floor area tomorrow and buy something in the next week (will have a look again and look at other shops too).

Does one tile under baths and loos and showers ?! Silly question but I am a beginner !

Got some quotes for boards and was going to go with 10mm Marmox on the floor and 12.5mm Marmox on the wall (cheapest board over here in Guernsey) - so if I went with a natural stone floor I should buy a matting floor instead of a board floor ? I think they have the Schluter (sp) and afew other matting floors over here.

Not too worried about slipping but good to know that there are sealants that introduce a degree of non-slipness.

Can you re-juvenate marble floors once they do get a bit worn ? Is it a case of polishing or something else ?
Surely bare feet and a clean floor should mean minimum wear ?

Loved the posh floor pic above ! Wow - alot of work and looks like bookmatched flooring too.... my place is only a little cottage so will go for something less regal - nice work though.

Thanks for all advice - Ed

 

[Pebbs]

Ed if you wanted to treat yourself to some luxury think about under floor heating...I do love warm toes on a frosty morning! Im going to leave the sub-strate questions for someone else as a lot on here love talking about them. Yes you can have your floor polished every so often it really depends on how much wear the floor will get.

Pebbs

 

[edwardk]

Thanks for the help.

I went and picked up a stack of Marmox 12.5mm for the walls yesterday and some 10mm for the floor.
I forgot that I was going to get a decoupling matting but ended up with the 10mm Marmox.

# Will this be ok with marble if I put more noggins in and make the floor super stiff ?

I got emailed a price list of all the stone I'm interested in.
There seems to be quite a range of prices.
The marble for the floor seems pretty reasonable but I only have 7 metres square to floor.

# Do I put marble over the whole floor ? Or put the bath / shower / basin / loo in first and tile around them?

I have about 20 m sq. of bathroom wall to tile and picked a pale limestone (so far not fully decided on).

# Do you normally tile the whole walls ? I was thinking if I went half way up the wall I might save on tile costs but is this false economy ?


In the kitchen and hall way I have about 23 m sq. to tile and have been looking at a pale/light travertine without too many holes.
I found a few that look sort of 'cottagey' - a bit rough (tumbled edges?) and look quite smart too.

In terms of laying / patterns I was planning on the following but am ignorant !
Bathroom floor - 600 x 400 tiles - room is squarish but probably running the long side in line as you come into the room. This ok ?

Bathroom walls - I wanted a mix but not sure if it's normal. I thought a horizontal band of larger rectangular tiles (600 x 300 or 400) and then alternating band of smaller tiles (400 x 200 ?).

Kitchen/hall floor - probably just 600 x 400 tiles but not sure what orientation to lay them in.

# What sort of cutter should I be looking at (ie wet cutter or dry sliding cutter ?)

Thanks,
Ed

 

[edwardk]

So...
# Will a stiffer floor be ok for marble ?
# Do I put marble over entire bathroom floor? Even under bath/shower?

Help !
Got all the prices now and looking at them this weekend...
Ed

 

[diamondtiling]

Thanks for the help.

I went and picked up a stack of Marmox 12.5mm for the walls yesterday and some 10mm for the floor.
I forgot that I was going to get a decoupling matting but ended up with the 10mm Marmox.
I would get a de coupling matt
# Will this be ok with marble if I put more noggins in and make the floor super stiff ?

I got emailed a price list of all the stone I'm interested in.
There seems to be quite a range of prices.
The marble for the floor seems pretty reasonable but I only have 7 metres square to floor.

# Do I put marble over the whole floor ? Or put the bath / shower / basin / loo in first and tile around them? Fit the tiles first, leave out the row that will sit on the bath or if the bath after you have tiled the floor

I have about 20 m sq. of bathroom wall to tile and picked a pale limestone (so far not fully decided on).

# Do you normally tile the whole walls ? I was thinking if I went half way up the wall I might save on tile costs but is this false economy ? That is personal choice


In the kitchen and hall way I have about 23 m sq. to tile and have been looking at a pale/light travertine without too many holes.
I found a few that look sort of 'cottagey' - a bit rough (tumbled edges?) and look quite smart too.

In terms of laying / patterns I was planning on the following but am ignorant !
Bathroom floor - 600 x 400 tiles - room is squarish but probably running the long side in line as you come into the room. This ok ?

Bathroom walls - I wanted a mix but not sure if it's normal. I thought a horizontal band of larger rectangular tiles (600 x 300 or 400) and then alternating band of smaller tiles (400 x 200 ?).

Kitchen/hall floor - probably just 600 x 400 tiles but not sure what orientation to lay them in. All down to personal choice

# What sort of cutter should I be looking at (ie wet cutter or dry sliding cutter ?) You need a wet cutter for natural stone

Thanks,
Ed

Answers above

 

[edwardk]

Right just lifted in alot of stone to the house

It's arrived

Some mess up with the supply before Christmas but finally here.
The Hi-Ab that delivered it cracked an inch off the corner of 6 tiles - do you normally take them back or just use those for cut pieces?

Questions:

# Wet cutter - what should I go for?
Got 7m of marble to do (bathroom floor)
23 m of limestone (kitchen floor)
15 m I think of bathroom wall to do (limestone).

Don't mind spending some money with the view to keeping it either for future projects or sell it at a reasonable second hand price. Just don't want something that is plasticy and going to break - or worse something that is inaccurate and might cause the stone to break more than usual.

Vitrex QEP Pro 750 any good ? Tradetiler Tilers Starter Tool List

# Basic tools.
I found a list here before (Tradetiler Tilers Starter Tool List) is this still a good place to start?

I've been renovating the house for a while so have levels/buckets etc but was planning on getting a sponge (from the list) and a grouting float.
And a notched trowel (6mm or 10mm or 13mm ?)
2mm tile spacers ?
Hole cutters ... I think limestone and marble are 'soft' - will need to cut some holes for pipes in the bathroom - any advice ?

# Adhesive - the shop delivered Ardex X77 a white slow setting adhesive - is this the stuff to use ?

#Grouting - white I guess with limestone and pale marble ? What brand etc ?

Thanks for any advice - Ed

 

[dilz000]

You will need to seal before grouting

 

[edwardk]

Thanks - any tips on:

# wet cutter brand/model?
# notched trowel size ?
# sealant type?
# grout type?

Thanks
Ed

 

[justmarble]

hey stiffer floor will be fine

 

[markrushworth]

id have thought limestone would be less durable and more prone to wearing?