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I got a great deal on marble!

slipgate
I went to home depot yesterday to get a new floor for my hallway. I picked out a really nice marble with rose colored veins throughout. The price was listed at like $5.85/tile. It is a small area (40 sq ft) so I figured what they heck. I also got a bunch of other stuff. When I got to the register it rang up as $160 for everything! I thought he rang it up wrong but when I looked at the reciept the description was right and the SKU was right but the price was listed at $1.60 each! Woo Hoo!

I have one of those cheep home depot wet saws that I will use to cut this - it says it will do stone. I am wondering what kind of edge I will get? All of my cut edges will be hidden on the edges but I am worried about the stone cracking or splitting. Does anyone have any experience cutting marble? This is my first marble job I have just done ceramic time.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • brier-49
    Yeah, cut outside away from everything and wear a real good mask!
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  • spryor
    If using a good diamond blade, i don't know why it'd be any different than tile.
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  • mango tango
    I've never cut marble but I did use a cheap wet saw on 1/2" granite tiles and it cut very easy. Just be careful, marble breaks very easy, it's the veins going thru it that weakens it. Cutting not a problem, but if you drop it or bump it during installation, it can break easily!
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  • Marc1301
    A wet saw with a good quality diamond blade will work.
    If you have any exposed edges, simply use a power sander, starting with 80 grit, and working up to 400 grit extra fine.
    Polish the edges with a polishing wheel and buffing compund.
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  • slipgate
    Is it wise to cut everything before I start? It is a very small area - like 9x4, most of the pieces are edge pieces that will need to be cut. The center is only 2 wide.
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  • fishkiller41
    quote:Originally posted by slipgate
    Is it wise to cut everything before I start? It is a very small area - like 9x4, most of the pieces are edge pieces that will need to be cut. The center is only 2 wide.
    That depends if you're going to "mud-set" the pieces, or just "thin-set" them. If you are just going to use a notched trowel, to set them(like tile) you will need to "Back-butter" each piece with "dry" (means no sand in it)White thinset.
    Their is really alot more to this than you think, and could take me a life-time to teach/tell you all the details.
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  • slipgate
    I am going to just thinset them with a notched trowel like I do ceramic tile. I didn't think that I had to back-butter them though! The top is very polished but the bottom is rough.

    I had thought about butting them as close as I can together as I think this will look better, but the 3 surrounding tile floors (bathroom, foyer and kitchen) all have mortar joints and I think it might look funny. The kitchen is next to be replaced though and I was thinking also of using marble or granite.
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  • sig232
    Make use you put down enough thin-set to prevent hollow spaces, that can break the marble over time. A good diamond blade will cut any of the granite, tile, marble, etc that you use for flooring. Many sizes available at home depot or lowes. Marble is softer than many of the other tiles available and should be sealed to prevent staining after installation.

    By the way Lowes will cut the tiles, marble for you if you buy the product from them. Home Depot will not.
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  • otisredbut
    quote:Originally posted by slipgate
    I went to home depot yesterday to get a new floor for my hallway. I picked out a really nice marble with rose colored veins throughout. The price was listed at like $5.85/tile. It is a small area (40 sq ft) so I figured what they heck. I also got a bunch of other stuff. When I got to the register it rang up as $160 for everything! I thought he rang it up wrong but when I looked at the reciept the description was right and the SKU was right but the price was listed at $1.60 each! Woo Hoo!

    I have one of those cheep home depot wet saws that I will use to cut this - it says it will do stone. I am wondering what kind of edge I will get? All of my cut edges will be hidden on the edges but I am worried about the stone cracking or splitting. Does anyone have any experience cutting marble? This is my first marble job I have just done ceramic time.
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  • Hunter Mag
    Be carefull how you handle the tile. Marble is very brittle until you get it set. Don't cut the tiles ahead of time, you'll regret it. Use a 1/4" notch trowel not the 1/4" V notch trowel that is used for ceramic wall tile.

    You don't need to butter the back. Use grout lines, I recomend 1/4" and get/use the grout spacers. That way it's nice and even. You can get any color grout to match the tile. Marble tile is hard to remove if you screw it up not to mention expensive as you know.

    I used to professionally install all kinds of tile for a living.
    Wood,ceramic,vinyl,marble ect.
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