Marble Flooring used to be prominent in the 80s, but are considerably more exquisite nowadays due to inflation caused by the ever ongoing demand & depleting of its natural resource in return.
However, we would be able to understand and accept the willingness of individuals who would fork out more once we have fully understood the pros & cons of natural floorings, especially when considering the renovation of our dream home is also a life-long investment in disguise. Let’s take a look at how imminent they can be.
Marble tiles come in many but limited amounts of varieties. However, for those whom have the apple in the eyes, these design/patterns are more than sufficient to create everlasting interior concepts of all kinds since most of them are in warm or universal adaptive colours.
Different Connecting Patterns
One point to take note during the purchase of marble tiles is the fact that marble being natural stones, all the tiles will come with different yet connecting patterns (only applies when they came from the same batch of ores).
Hence, if the quantity involved in the purchase is considerably large (which is pretty common as marble is usually laid in the living/dining area), suppliers will usually suggest a chargeable (usually $1PSF) “virtual dry lay” which they will reserve a quantity slightly larger than your purchase (reason why marble will incur larger wastage compared to man-made tiles) and lay them out on an open space at their warehouse as close as possible to your home layout.
Home owners will then be able to preview and visualise the end product like a big portrait from bird eye view. One can also select certain pieces that seem unsatisfying on the spot and replace them with alternate pieces from the same batch just for perfection, considering the already high cost invested and time spent at the warehouse.
This is also especially useful to tilers as a reference of the placement since suppliers will label the arrangement at the back of tiles along with a tabulated placement layout before & upon shipment respectively, which will in return avoid unnecessary discrepancies during the renovation process.
Time To Lay & Finish
Natural flooring will usually take longer time to lay and finish. In the case of marble flooring, tilers will need to apply a different methodology called the dry lay, unlike the common wet lay method used for homogeneous/ceramic tiles, along with the use of white cement which will not affect the colour of the tiles upon laid.
This literally suggests that a craftsmanship intensive screeding is required to ensure the evenness of the flooring before laying the thicker marble tiles (20 mm for marble, 7-10 mm for man-made tiles), while the heavier weight of the tiles itself involved during movements and, better and more material required to lay them, generate to a higher overall cost of laying marble flooring.
Additionally, once the marble flooring is laid, a layer of water proofing is required to seal up the tiles so as to prevent stains from being absorbed into the pores of the natural stone where finally, minimum of 2 rounds of polishing will be required (1 round for existing marble flooring ONLY) has to be done to ensure the evenness and shine of the final product.
More Costly
On average, if you are considering marble/natural stone flooring, one should expect an overall of 4-5 times the cost required compared to laying man-made tiles, being the fact that the tiles itself costs 6 times than man-made tiles and the labour & material cost 2 times, excluding grinding & polishing.
Many would definitely find it hard and pain to accept. But if you are looking on a longer time span, the cost is considerably worth the effort and here’s the reason why:
1. Despite the fact that natural stone flooring absorbs stains, it can be easily removed to the minimum along with those scratches, wear & tear through normal polishing which would cost only like a grand plus or minus and it would look exactly like new tiles from those that were laid even from 10 years ago.
2. Natural stone flooring tends to be cold even on hot weathers (indoor only) when stepped on compared to man-made tiles
3. Lastly, once the tiles are polished, one will not be able to feel the grouts literally compared to man-made tiles, giving them a “true smooth” surface when stepped on
4. Yet, most importantly, you get to call for a higher price if you plan to resale your place as all the factors above would literally mean lower renovation cost to your buyer, say cheese~
So how do you think of our advisory? Do click the like button and let us know in the comments below what are your takes about natural stone flooring.