Marble tiles have always been a popular choice, but have often been outside the reach of those with a modest budget. But the new tile technology that has enabled porcelain tiles to be produced in highly realistic marble designs has meant that marble tiles (or rather marble-effect tiles) have seen a resurgence in popularity. The wide range of design, colours, textures and effects now found in porcelain tiles is astonishing and couple with their durability has seen their popularity grow.
Ceramic tiles are not so durable and can quickly start to chip from the smallest impact and show the raw material underneath the glaze. That’s not a problem with through body porcelain tils. To be fair it’s not a problem with real marble tiles either but you will certainly pay much more for them and have the extra worry of treating and maintaining them over the years. Real marble is also probe to staining from everyday items like lemon juice so in kitchens porcelain tiling is a more sensible choice. But if natural products are your preference plenty of people are willing to do the maintenance and be care for their natural products to have the unique beauty of natural stone.
Some of the advantages of natural stone tiling are their individual characteristics and distinctive colours but either you go for porcelain floor or walls tiles or natural stone tiles probably the hardest thing is to choose from the huge variety available.
Extra large tiles are great for large open spaces but may not work in smaller or odd shaped rooms so also think about the tile size when making your choice as this will affect the ease with which they can be installed and the amount of wastage and hence cost.
To help with you choice of marble tiles whether natural or porcelain here are some of the most common types available:
Carrara Marble:
A beautiful, fine marble from the Italian area of Carrara, it has a predominantly white background with veining in either black or grey although some verge on brownish so do check samples. The amount and colour of the veining is an indication of the quality. The purer and whiter the tile, the more expensive they will be and tiles with a lot of black or grey veining will be least expensive.
Marfil Marble:
A well known type of marble from Spain, which can have a range of colours and veining that affect their price. The least expensive type will have a lot of veining but are still very attractive tiles for floors or walls.
Marquina Marble:
This is a rare (and very costly) marble with a black background and white veins so only used in expensive tiling installations.
There are many other types of marble including Calacatta from India which is much more cost effective than European types; or, as already mentioned, marble effect porcelain tiles that come in a range of colours and prices so there is a huge choice for anyone looking for a sophisticated marble look in their home.