Marble/slate tile question-I am redoing my bathroom and want to do black marble floor/slate walls.?

Question

would this look ok? The flooring is black with orangey/red veining and the slate looks dark gray with shades of rust. I also wanted to know as my bathroom is smaller, would larger tile on the wall be ok or do I have to stick to 6X6? Can I do 6X6 on walls and then the larger 12X12 or 18X18 in shower area?

If I do stone in shower/tub area, do I have to have stone on all bathroom walls?

What type of grout do you use for stone and marble?

ANy ideas would be appreciated.

Answer 1

First Marble will be way to slippery when wet for a floor in a bathroom, (unless its the tumbled marble) you should probably think of something else.  The other thing is black or any dark colors will make your bathroom seem even smaller, you might be better with a lighter color scheme.  The larger the tile the larger the room will look. If you use small tiles they break up the space into small squares therefore it looks smaller.  You can use the same grout for stone and marble as for porcelains or ceramic tile, but you need to get special grout that is water proof, or seal the grout with a sealer.

Answer 2

The bathrom is yours to design so tile size and placement is up to you speaking from a home remodeler's point of view.  From a resale point of view smaller on the walls and larger on the floors is what we generaly do these days.  Years ago we did the 4 by 6 on the walls and 12 by 12 or 6 by 6 on the floors.  The key for the larger tiles is that you must seat them with proper ammounts of floring glue or cracks will soon appear due to their size.  You may want to duct tape a few tiles up on the wall in a spot to see if large tiles make a small bath look bigger or not.  Play with it a little.

Answer 3

For the shower area, if you are talking shower floor; the smaller the tiles the better for traction.  Larger tiles are bad for "wet" floors for this reason.  Also, be sure to check the slip rating.  There are lots of tiles out there.  Be sure you get one that is less slippery.

As far as the walls go. You can use 6x6's on the walls.  Remember though if your bath is small say 8' x 8'; and you choose to use larger tiles say 12 x 12, it may be less appealing to have only 7+ large tiles width-wise across the wall (assuming grout lines than 15+ across the same wall using 6x6's.

If you wish to use larger tiles on the shower walls, consider a diamond pattern with 6x6's or small decos as accent pieces.