Project - Marble.

[paceyjg]

Hi can anyone offer me some advice and guidance on a new project I am about to undertake?

I recently took up an old parkuet floor in the hope of restoring the old Victorian quarry tiles underneath.

The parquet was fixed down with bitumen, 95% of which I have now scraped up over 2 days of hard graft. The remainder is just a thin "paint" type left on the old tiles.

The Quarry tiles, although nice around the border, are plain terracotta and damaged in places so we have decided to tile over using marble.

What should I use to seal the floor with and do I need to use a latex compound? The floor is quite level.

Also any tips on tiling with marble? The surface area is around 15sqm.

Many thanks in advance

 

[tpt]

you need to be careful here. real marble is a very cold product and also has a nasty tendency to suck in things it comes into contact with resulting in staining showing on the face from things its sucked through from the back.

being an old house with no decent DPM marble may be a bad choice from a damp and temperature point of view.

if you go ahead the bitumen on the floor needs to be covered with a self leveller or membrane. The tile using a white powdered adhesive.

 

[paceyjg]

It has to be some form of tile and Marble does look the best.

I know it will be cold but the house was built in 1913 so should have an adequate damp course.

What should I seal the bichumen with or can I go straight ahead with the self levelling latex?

 

[Nigel_Cro]

I very rarely have enough knowledge, experience or skill to offer advice on here - but in this case, I will add my threepenny worth...

I fully agree with tpt - think again before using real marble - it will stain, it will fade/brown in sunlight, it is soft so will chip with ladies heels.

I think you will regret it in the long run - we did!!

 

[tpt]

a 1913 house wont have a DPM. i'm talking under the screed, not blues etc on the walls.

have a look at some good quality porcelain, go top end and it will look just as good as marble and save you some cash

 

[paceyjg]

Well you guys have certainly given me something to think about.

Thanks I think

I always thought Marble would be very hard wearing due to its price and the locations you find it in - Hotel lobbies etc?

 

[tpt]

it can be if laid well on a good base. but it is a soft material. its used in a lot of foreign hotels cos its a LOT cheaper in the country that quarry it

 

[paceyjg]

If Porcelain is tougher how thick will it be? The Marble was 12mm.

 

[tpt]

porcelain - 8-12mm. 10-12mm most common if its decent stuff.

 

[paceyjg]

Thanks tpt!

A couple more things if I may now that you have got me started

Any particular colours to be avoided? I quite fancy black and white together!

Will they need sealing? I think a polished look is what we want to go for.

And anything else that you think may be relevant???

 

[tpt]

black and white is fine, but i'd advise against polished flat colours as they show marks\dust\smears easily. try for something with a light colour variation

if you go for a nano polished then you wont need to seal them

 

[tictic]

The quarry tiles in old properties are the dpm....this is what they fixed to the floor to ..help...stop dampness ect...

But as tpt as stated its not blue/black and it won't stop dampness ect moving UP the wall...

Marble on a floor with virtually no dpm ....won't last more than a few months before,..more or less breaking up...

If you can?...maybe look into lifting floor replace with dpm(run up the wall 150mm) then re-screed...or a paint on dpm up the wall/floor (f-ball)then latex slc to mfr spec then some nice porkies as tpt as said..