grouting tumbled marble

[bctile601]

i went to install a backsplash today for one of my builders, who, keeps me in the dark as far as which tile goes where, what rooms are getting done, which house is his proirity house, ....etc.

anyway, i pick-up the material and find it to be 4" tumbled marble, with a medallion. i had to space these with 3/16" spacers, so how many different ways are there to grout this tile?

in past experiences with this material i have grouted the natural divits full, then washed the floor's surface, and got mixed reviews. but, thank God that was how i was told to grout it. other times i have worked with it, there weren't any ' divits '

somone somewhere said not to fill these ' divits ', but how do you not ?

[Davy]

You did a fine job Brian. I don't give people a choice, if I grout it the holes will be filled, simple as that.

[Cisco]

Nice job Brian!

I always grout the holes and divits. If the client wants the holes not filled I offer them to pick a grout that closely matches the color of the stone. If they choose to not fill any holes I offer them another tile contractor...


Cisco...

[John K]

Very nice Brian.

Cisco,

Ditto on what you said. Give them a new contractor or a toothpick.

John K

[Derek & Jacqui]

Fill the divots when its grouted and sealed it looks great.
Nice work.

[Jason_Butler]

I tell 'em I can fill the divits with grout or they can fill it with the conconction of their choice - ( dirt, grease, food, bird nests, etc).

It's gonna get filled with somethin' , might as well be grout

Jason

[jay f]

Looks great! But you got lucky, I just did one last week, same tile same medalion, on diagonal.

[bctile601]

lol, thanks for the replies fellas. i like the idea of another contractor, but i like the idea of eating too !

i think i will fill everything and rinse her down smooth. but, i willl advocate as close as possible grout color

[JC]

You guys had it easy!

I just did one two weeks ago that was striaght from the firey place.
1/2 inch mosiacs of marble...polished finish.

Inserted it is to some 12 by 12 polished biance Carrara that was also set on a diagonal but the kicker was the only logical place to put it was centered with the Jaccuzi which in my case ment I had 4 radius cuts that were only 3/16 thin in the middle!
That was the easy part...the bad part was that
Since I did not want to accept anything bigger then 1/16 grout where the medalian butted to the floor tile and and the medalian had irregular out side edge and since the white marble floor tile would show it the circle was not perfect..I came up with the not so bright idea of rounding off the medalian pieces on the wet saw....worked great till the next day when I had to pick up the plastic faced medalian pieces to set them......they fell apart after the water soaked the glue!!!! 4 days of contact cementing and screwing around with this I finnally got it....I guess I learned that lesson the hard way...I was hating life!
Did Mcgyver together a kick ass radius tools though. Picture this a 2x4 jig with a securly mounded dremal tool/tile cutting bit on one end with a sliding door top hardware roller screwed to the end for hieght adjustment and to protect the tiles from scratching and a lazy susan ball bearing spindal on the other...could actually screw it to the floor and just spin it all the way around cutting about 1/8 depth at a time only needs one pass cause it you take out an 1/8 groove the rest is easy on the wet saw...it will cut all the way through also and did a couple of the little pieces with it that way...one cheapo 5.99 bit lasted great the whole job and is still good....can take pics if any one is interested.

-jc

[Bri]

I just did one last week, same tile same medalion, on diagonal.

Hey Jay.....how do you put a circle on a diagonal?

[jay f]

Easy, tilt head 45 degrees

[Bri]

Jeez, to do that I'd have to use a straw with my beer.