10 Steps To Marble Tile Installations

Marble, a sign of luxury can give the house an excellent appearance. Ten steps for marble installation can help a person to know more on installation of this natural stone.

1. Prepare the surface
Preparing the surface for marble installation is extremely important. One should clean the surface and remove everything from the surface. The surface should be spray cleaned by using household cleaners and left to dry. Circuit breakers should be turned off and the electrical outlets should be removed from the surface. The switch plates and covers should also be removed before installation.

2. Set your guidelines
One should set the guidelines for his work. He should mark the area with pencil and level. Layout of marble is an important task. One should draw the gridlines carefully to make the proper layout of marble before installation.

3. Apply the tile
Spread mastic or adhesive on the surface for fixing the tiles. One should be careful about the spacing of tiles. If the mastic gets into the surface of the tile then one should clean it properly; else it can damage the tile.

4. Tile cutter or tile scriber should be used
Tile cutter or tile scribers should be used for laying the tiles and cutting them into appropriate size. The difference between these two tools is that tile cutter is a tabletop tool while tile scriber is handheld tool. With the help of nippers, one can cut odd shapes and curves from the tiles.

5. Leave the tile for drying
Once the laying work is completed one should not disturb the tiles. The tiles should be left for drying. To know the time required for drying up the tiles, one can follow the instructions given on the packages.

6. Apply grout
When the adhesive has dried, one should remove the spacers that he has used. One should wear rubber gloves while handling grouts. The grouts should be mixed according to the direction of the manufacturer. It should be applied carefully and to enhance the beauty of the tiles, one should try to leave the surface of tiles clean.

7. Cleaning of tiles
One should clean the surface with damp sponge when the surface of grout becomes firm. The grout lines should be cleaned up properly. Then the entire surface should be cleaned with damp sponge. One can use clean rag to buff the surface vigorously when it dries.

8. Seal the grout
Sealing of grout is necessary. Grout sealers are available in convenient cans. One should use grout to keep the moisture away from grouts and protect color of the tiles. It is recommended to check the instructions on grout package to know the waiting time before applying sealers.

9. Fill the gaps
When everything gets dried out, a person can use silicone caulk along edges of tiled area as this will fill the gaps. One can get it smoothed by using wet fingertip.

10. Time
Time needed for installation of marble tiles depend on size of the project. One should outline the area to know the time he will need for the job.