When remodeling your shower, you’d want to choose a material that offers style and functionality for your walls and floors. In addition, it should be easy to install, comfortable, and safe. This begs the question; can you put marble tiles on the shower floor or walls?
You can install marble tiles on shower floors or walls if you choose the best type and design and take care of the tiles appropriately. Choose honed marble for the shower floors and polished marble for the walls. Seal the tiles and use mild body and cleaning products.
Marble tiles make a great choice of durable, water-resistant, stylish options for shower floors and walls. However, they mainly contain crystalline calcium carbonate, which is highly porous. Hence, they may absorb minerals from water, body products, hair products, dyes, and shampoos that may cause discoloration.
Marble tiles have a high concentration of iron that may rust due to constant exposure to water, causing yellow discoloration. Thus, seal marble tiles properly during installation and every year afterward.
Choose the correct type of marble tiles to ensure safety in the shower. Use honed marble for shower floors. It doesn’t have a shiny appearance but provides better traction. Use polished marble for shower walls because it is more glossy and slippery than honed marble. In addition, use mild body and hair products and cleaning agents to avoid damaging marble tiles.
Should You Put Marble Tiles On Shower Floors Or Walls?
Marble tiles take you on a trip to ancient Greek and Roman empires where classical buildings, including the temple of the Olympus and the Theseum, existed. However, installing them on shower walls and floors comes with several challenges.
The section below identifies the major problems when installing marble tiles on bathroom floors and how to tackle these challenges.
When installing marble tiles on shower walls and floors, you may face problems including rusting, staining, discoloration, etching, and cracking. Seal the tiles during installation and every twelve months. Wipes spill immediately and use mild body and cleaning products to prevent these problems.
Marble tiles are highly porous thus absorb hair dyes, shower gels, and shampoos to form stains. Additionally, they have high iron content that reacts with water to form yellow discolorations due to rust. You can prevent both problems by sealing correctly during installation and every twelve months.
Marble tiles may crack due to proper installation if you don’t allow enough time for concrete to cure or leave a gap between the tiles and the subfloor. Install the tiles properly or contact a professional to do it if you are a beginner.
Marble is highly alkaline; thus, it reacts with acids from cleaning agents and hair products to form dull etching stains. To prevent this, avoid using cleaning agents containing vinegar or ammonia. Additionally, wipe spills on your shower floor and wall immediately before the reaction starts.
What Tools Do You Need To Put Marble Tiles On Shower Floors Or Walls?
Installing marble tiles on shower floors and walls can be a successful DIY project when you have the right tools to complete the job. The following section discusses the must-have tools to complete the process smoothly.
When installing marble tiles on shower walls and floors, you should have a mixing paddle, wet tile saw, plumbers level, notched trowel, tape measure, safety goggles, a pair of gloves, utility knife, a grout float, tile nippers, a sponge, chalk line and a rubber mallet.
You must have the right tools to install marble tiles on shower walls and floors. Otherwise, you risk losing money and time from a failed project.
If you have done several home improvement projects, you most likely will have most, if not all, of the above tools. Check your toolbox and purchase or hire what you don’t have from your nearest home improvement store.
You must have a tape measure to determine the size of your bathroom and the number of tiles you need. In addition, you should have a tile cutter or a wet tile saw to cut tiles into your preferred size and shape. Wear goggles to protect your eyes from dust and debris and gloves to protect your hands from accidental cuts.
A mixing paddle will be handy when mixing the mortar, while tile nippers will make irregular cuts on tiles that a wet tile saw cannot. You will need a chalk line to draw straight lines when defining the tiling area and a carpenter’s level to make diagonal, horizontal, and vertical lines on the shower walls to ensure they are level.
You should have a rubber mallet to gently tap on the tiles during installation and a notched trowel to spread tile adhesive across the shower floor or wall. In addition, a grout float will be handy for spreading the grout across the tiles.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on October 24, 2022.
Although it may be tempting to use a regular sponge to remove excess grout from tiles, its sharp edges may remove grout from joints. In addition, it may not be practical due to its small size. Hence, a standard grout sponge with rounded edges is used to complete the project.
Use our tile floor calculator to find out how much it’ll cost you to put tile on shower floors or walls.
What Preparations Do You Need To Install Marble Tiles On Shower Floor Or Walls?
You can transform your shower floor and wall by installing marble tiles. However, you should prepare adequately, considering that laying heavy materials vertically is not easy. Read the following section to discover how to prepare for marble tile installation on bathroom walls.
When installing marble tiles on the shower floor, remove the existing floor materials and inspect the base layer for cracks or damages. Install an underlayment of cement or tiling board to increase water resistance. Define and mark the tiling area and cut the tiles into your desired shape or size.
To install marble tiles on shower walls and floors, remove the existing materials and inspect the base layer for visible signs of cracks or damages. Replace the base layer with a layer of cement or tilling board to increase its water resistance instead of laying the tiles directly on the wall. Clean up dust and debris from the surfaces to avoid interfering with the tile adhesive.
Measure the wall and floor dimensions to calculate the number of tiles you need to complete the project. Order the tiles online or from your nearest home improvement store. Define the tiling area and mark the middle using a chalk line.
Divide the area into four equal parts and lay down the tiles to see what the actual design will look like. Cut the tiles into your desired shapes and sizes according to your desired design, and be ready for the installation process.
How To Install Marble Tiles On Shower Floors Or Walls
Although many home improvement experts will argue that installing marble tiles on shower floors and walls is not a simple DIY project, you can still get it right if you do it correctly. Keep reading to discover how to complete the project successfully.
To install marble tiles on shower floors or walls, mix mortar and spread it across the wall or floor. Lay the tiles and press gently, allow 24 hours to dry. Apply grout and leave it for 24 hours before applying the seal.
Check the following steps to install marble tiles on the shower floor or wall.
Step 1: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to mix Mortar and spread it over the base layer using a notched trowel.
Step 2: Lay the tiles on the floor or wall and gently press them into place. Use a rubber mallet to tap and fix them firmly. Remove excess mortar and leave them to dry for 24 hours.
Step 3: Mix grout according to the manufacturer’s instructions and spread it over the tile joints using a grout float. Remove the excess grout using a sponge and allow it to dry for 24 hours.
Step 4: Seal the grout to reduce the tiles’ porosity and allow the recommended time by the manufacturer to dry.
Step 5: Reapply the grout seal every six months.
You can install marble tiles on shower walls and floors if you choose the best type, design, and maintenance method for the tiles—choose polished marble for the walls and textured marble for the shower floors. Seal the tiles during installation and avoid harsh detergents and hair care products.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on October 24, 2022.