White carrara marble for shower stall and bathroom floor

Having reservations about installing high polished white carrara in custom shower & bath floor ( not a high traffic area) Love how it looks and am not afraid of maint. I have various samples from the same lot but they are not exacty the same thickness. Why not ? My installer say he will adjust depth when setting the marble in thinset. Also had samples from another supplier that seemed to have tiny water marks all over the tile which could not be removed. What is wrong with it ?He also wants to butt them with very litte grout gap. Seems like 1/16 should apply so grout fills in along sides ot tile. Please help me better understand what I am about to get into here. Thank you ed

 

Dear Gandy:

 

“ I have various samples from the same lot but they are not exacty the same thickness. Why not ? ”

 

Because the processing of stone to be made into tiles can't deliver absolute precision.

 

“ Also had samples from another supplier that seemed to have tiny water marks all over the tile which could not be removed. What is wrong with it ? ”

 

I don't know for sure. Just don't buy those tiles.

 

“ He also wants to butt them with very litte grout gap. Seems like 1/16 should apply so grout fills in along sides ot tile. ”

 

Butt-jointing will inevitably lead to an installation failure. It's a sure thing. Not only do you need a 1/16” grout gap, but a good setter will also make sure, and spend more time doing so, that the grout is pushed deep in between the tiles. Better yet (and this I my very favorite and what I have in my own marble shower stall for over 6 years) I recommend using color-matching (white in this case) latex-based siliconized caulk instead of grout. Even in this case it is important that the material is pushed deep in between the tiles. Caulk is stain-less, water-proof and mildew-resistant. What more could one want from grout?! J It will cost a bit more, but more than well worth it.

 

And, of course, you will refuse to let your setter apply an impregnator (what he may call sealer) to your marble tiles.

 

Now remember, it's never too early to think about the proper maintenance of your stone. The issue of what you'll be doing day in and day out to your stone is – as it should be intuitive – vastly more important than its sealing (if and when possible and/or advisable) and it's all too often neglected. As you can tell by reading many of this site's postings, you're not likely to get good information about routine care from your dealer or installer. Don't become another statistic! By logging into the Helpful Hints section of our website at:   http://www.mbstone.com/HH_promo/helpful_hints.htm , you will be able to get the short version of our maintenance guidelines at no charge. The full version of it – a 7-page document considered by many as an industry benchmark – is available in pay-per-download format in our Educational Literature section at:   http://www.mbstone.com/literature/literature.htm .  

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