The Best Way to Lay Marble Tile

What is the best way to lay marble tile? That question is asked quite often with the popularity of house flipping. Marble will add value to your house. Marble tile can be expensive and that is why so many people want to know the best way to lay marble tile. It will save money doing it yourself. Youve already taken the first important step. RESEARCH. The next step is preparing your floor. Start with a clean, dry and level surface. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Doing this will ensure that your tiles will not loosen or crack. Not doing this can be costly. Make sure that your floor is strong enough to hold the weight of the marble. Have someone bounce on the floor. If you can feel it you may want to strengthen your floor. If you dont feel anything your floor should hold the tile just fine. You will have to remove your baseboards and cut through the door casing at the bottom. Hey, maybe youll want to get new modern baseboards. If not paint your old before you put them back on. Before you install marble tile plan your layout. You will want to do a preview. This will ensure that you enough tile and hopefully a little extra just in case of emergencies. Find the exact center of your project because this is where you will begin laying the tiles. If you are doing a very detailed design you may want to make a pattern on paper to size. And remember; dont tile yourself into a corner. You dont want to step on the tiles yet. Keep in mind the color of the marble when you choose your thin set. Nearly all light colored marble tiles have some amount of transparency to them. If you use the wrong color of thin set when you install marble tile it may change or distort the color of the tile. You mix the thinnest use cold water. Warm or hot water will speed up the hardening process. Mix the thinset until it is the consistency of frosting. Making sure that there are no lumps. When you are ready to spread the thinset, use the proper size trowel and spread only an area that you can finish in fifteen minutes or so. This way the thinset wont set before you have had a chance to set your marble tiles. Keep the thinset level throughout the whole project when you are spreading it. When installing tile use spacers. They will ensure that you have equal and proper spacing between tiles and that your tiles are aligned throughout your project. Let dry overnight. Now you are ready to grout your tile. Grout comes in different colors. You match your tile or highlight it. Use unsanded grout on marble tiles; sand will scratch the polished face. Grouting is fairly easy just make sure to read the directions on the bag and follow them. Remove the spacers and clean up any thinset that came out with the spacers. Using a grout float (it has a soft rubber pad on the bottom) put some grout on the marble tile. Spread with the float held at an angle. Pushing grout into the cracks as you spread it. Make sure all grooves are well packed as you go. Use the edge of your float to scrape off excess grout. Now you just wait the amount of time stated in the directions on the bag then using a damp sponge start wiping your tile off. Dont wipe the grout out of the cracks. Wipe the tile. You will have to rinse your sponge quite often and make sure to wring it out really good. Seal the grout after it is cured to prevent stains, mold and mildew. Now you have beautiful marble floors. Clean them properly and they will last you a very long time. To clean them vacuum or use a soft bristled broom to sweep them. To mop them just use warm water. Dont let your marble floor air dry. Marble will waterspot. Dry them well with a soft cloth or towel. Follow these suggestion and I truly believe that you have found the best way to lay marble tile.