I am building a marble shower and was going to install 2″x2″ tile on the floor as I was concerned the marble would be too slippery and dangerous with soap and water. The installer said putting the tile on the floor with nice 12″x12″ marble walls would look poor. He said cut the Marble in 6″x6″ and lay diagonaly with grout lines. I said OK but make them 4″x4″ so there are more grout lines. Anyone know anything about style and safety?
Edited 1/16/2009 12:30 am ET by PaulMarcelSummerlandCa
Edited 1/16/2009 12:46 am ET by PaulMarcelSummerlandCa
Replies
Style is style, & mine might not match yours.
Safety has rules that are easier to define.
Marble is a soft stone.
"Polished" marble will be slipery, while "honed" marble can provide a bit more traction.
Style: It's NEVER about the grout, it's the tile or marble or whatever.........
I recently finished a shower with marble walls and floor. The shower walls were the 12", and the shower floor was 1". The main bathroom floor was the 12", too. Both walls and floor were the honed finish. I used a grout that was similar in color to the marble.
The customer was very happy with how it turned out. Using a color grout minimizes the impact of the grout lines.
Don't abandon the 2" squares. They look good with tiles of any size...from small 3/4" mosaic to large format tiles.
Your tiler might be trying to just hold you to one type of material so he can use the same material on the floor (but cut up) he uses on the walls.
When I buy tile there is sometimes a "whole box" requirement for ordering. Example, if 12" square tiles comes 10 tiles, or 10 sqft per box, and I'm restricted to whole box ordering, to get 11 sqft I have to order 2 boxes, or 20 sqft.
If you do opt for a larger size, 4" squares on a sloped pan would be the max I'd recommend with honed marble. I'd even be inclined to knock that down to 3" squares.
Hones marble is less slippery than polished. Honed marble is more porous than polished.
Edited 1/16/2009 11:49 am ET by Mongo
Isn't it common for people to use bath mats in showers?
Thus negating the slippery issue...
Not in these parts.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
I've seen mats used in tubs, but never in a shower.
Haven't seen a bath mat in 15 yrs.
2x2's (likely on mats) are very easy to install and will conform will to the compound angles or curves of you base that allow the water to reach the drain.
2x2's in matching species is very common.
I'm not a tiler and don't play one on TV, but there are products out there now to make tubs and showers safer. Rather than the old stick-ons, this is a chemical that, from what I understand, makes almost, if not microscopic pours that provide traction. You can find it on the net. It came with good reviews. Here are a few sites to start your search:
http://www.adgoddard.com/traction-plus.php
http://www.tractiontough.com/traction_safe.php
http://followmewobbly.tripod.com/tiletractionltd/
http://www.superior-industries.com/traction_kote_400_product_173.html
Edited 1/16/2009 6:33 pm ET by dejure