Another beautiful floor tile each with its own unique qualities similar to granite has to be marble tiles. Again these are comprised of glass-like properties and can scratch so very easily, so the idea of placing them in a main walkway where people are prone to wearing shoes is really unadvisable. Even when laying marble floor tiles, great care should be taken to prevent any topside scratches from occurring before actually sealing the whole floor.
Marble tiles are certainly a high-maintenance floor tile, and need sealing consistently to prevent them from losing their natural sheen. When grouting, the use of non-sanded grout is a must, and like granite tiles also require a grout spacing of either 1/16″ to 1/8″ inch. A naturally heavy tile also, the use of a 1/2″ by 1/2″ notched trowel is a necessity when laying a deep mortar bed to compensate for its weight.
Same as granite, marble floor tiles should be laid using white mortar and nothing else but, as any other darker colored mortar will most certainly bleed through and spoil the beautiful natural stone look. If not sealed properly, they can also stain with settled water over long periods of time, and cutting again must be done with either the wet tile saw with a glass blade or the angle grinder with a diamond tipped blade cutting upside down in reverse from the side which will be showing.
When it comes to buying marble floor tiles, one piece of advice is to not try and cut costs by buying cheaper tiles. Splash out on good quality marble, as if you decide to choose the low-end varieties, no matter how good they look in the store, when it comes to cutting them you may find that they will just crumble away. This can be anything but frustrating to both your patience and your wallet.
One final aspect with marble tiles is that each and every one you buy will be noticeably different from the other. Like fingerprints, no two tiles are the same in pattern and color, but some will be similar. Therefore before laying, it is best you go through each and every tile and match them up into different categories, such as making separate piles of your blacks, browns, greens, and whites etc, and then deciding on which layout you wish to follow depending on the amount of different tiles you have in each pile, and whether you wish to incorporate a design into your floor pattern using these variables.
