We are thinking of using polished travertine tiles on the walls of the bathroom including around the bathtub/shower. Our contractor advised us not to use it on the floors but instead use noche tiles which we had a sample of. How resistant to stains are these noche tumble marble tiles to common bathroom chemicals found in toothpaste, cosmetics, etc.? Also, how resistant to cracks would these floor tiles be to heavy objects like a hair dryer accidentally being dropped on them?

 

Dear Norman:

Noce (sometimes wrongly spelled Noche) is the name of a travertine, not marble. But it really doesn't matter.

Because of the way they're finished (tumbled) they are resistant to just about any of the chemicals you mentioned much more than their polished counterpart.

Of for their fragility, if they're installed properly and you drop your hair-dryer on the floor, it is most likely that it will break, rather than the 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 .  

And remember, every single penny of the cost of the literature will be used to support this site and its cause: your cause.

While you are in the “Helpful Hints” section, do spend some time reading all of the interesting FREE articles you'll find in there!

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Thank you  

Ciao and good luck,

Maurizio Bertoli

 

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